Grand Casino Renews PBA FireLake TOC Partnership, Adds Second Event
9/16/2016SHAWNEE, Okla. - T he Professional Bowlers Association's successful relationship with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Grand Casino Hotel & Resort, and FireLake Bowling Center and Arena will expand in 2017 when the Shawnee-based organizations will again host the PBA's signature event, the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions, and add a second to-be-announced summer event.
The premier event for PBA champions will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 19, with live ESPN coverage of the five-player stepladder finals staged in a special installation inside FireLake Arena. All preliminary rounds will be conducted next door at 24-lane FireLake Bowling Center.
In addition to t he Tournament of Champions, Grand Casino will host the annual PBA Hall of Fame dinner and the sponsoring organizations will partner with the PBA in creating a new tentatively-titled FireLake Oklahoma Open tournament during the summer months. Dates have not yet been determined.
"Since 2014, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Grand Casino Hotel & Resort, and FireLakeBowling Center have been outstanding partners," said PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark, "and our relationship continues to grow. The 2016 championship finals in FireLake Arena were spectacular, one of the best venues we've ever had the pleasure to work with. It's great for the PBA and its players to not only have an opportunity to return to Shawnee for the Tournament of Champions, but also for a second event we're working on right now."
Last year's pre-Super Bowl timeslot for the Tournament of Champions drew nearly one million viewers to the ESPN live broadcast. At the time, the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions finale was the highest-rated PBA telecast of the 2016 season, a 17 percent viewer increase over the previous year's TOC telecast. "Our tribal leadership is a firm supporter of
the PBA, and the growing numbers of spectators at events inside our facilities and on television show that support is well founded," said FireLake Bowling Center Director Chris Skillings. "This community loves hosting the PBA, and we're proud to bring a professional sporting event to FireLake and the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort."
Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com
