It’s no secret that the media in the United States is geared towards certain sports more than others. Football especially takes the cake when it comes to media coverage and for good reason.
The sport has legions of fans and it is great business for media outlets. The sport gets people talking and invested in sports news. Then you have your second tier that includes baseball and basketball and all the media coverage that comes with it.
Because of this, this leads to lack of media coverage concerning sports such as water polo, cricket, and bowling.
Yes bowling, bowling is a sport. Did you even know that bowling was a sport? If you didn’t know, I don’t blame you.
Especially, when you have Google’s ai assistant and various other knock off sites telling you it isn’t. What’s worse is that this narrative has been accepted due to the fact, of journalists and the media at large not covering the events and showing how truly inspiring the sport is and the people who play it.
I recently attended the 72nd Arizona State USBC (United States Bowling Commision) Women’s Bowling Tournament and I have to say, it was one of the coolest sporting event experiences I have had recently.
The culture, the ambiance, and the people were truly very unique. Women from the ages of 18-88 competed in the tournament. I didn’t think that anyone at that advance age could be that active, but they were.
In fact, they give some 20 year olds I know a run for their money.
The event was held at the AMF Lanes in Chandler and the competitor got to play for $32,000 in prize money. While playing for a piece of the $32,000 is certainly an incentive, after speaking with these fine individuals it was surprising to find out that that is not the main motivation as to why they attend.
They attend because they love the game and the relationships built playing it.
“ What I enjoy about it is the comradery. It doesn’t matter what state you’re in or what bowling alley you’re in, you walk in and it’s a family atmosphere” said 10 year veteran bowler Virginia Young.
So, my question is if there is money at stake, and there are some of the best bowlers competing in this tournament, Why is there no coverage of it?
I was the sole member of the press attending the event. It’s completely and utterly absurd. To answer my own question about why events like this don’t get coverage, it’s because the event and the sport itself is not mainstream.
People like what is trendy, what’s new, what’s in style, not necessarily what actually has stories of substance.
Don’t get me wrong, the stories of Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, and Mike Trout are what pull people in and what makes said sports great. However, there are other stories out there in other sports.
There are stories such as this one that are about community, comradery, and culture in sports like bowling, like archery, sports that don’t get enough attention.
There should be room in the media space to cover events like this. Not everything has to be about clicks and views. Its stories like this that may motivate people to try new things and expand their horizons.
As a whole the media’s performance of showing diverse stories across a multitude of sports is about the equivalent of throwing a gutterball almost every time in the sport of bowling.
It’s time to change that, and I believe we can.
