Tournament of Champions Returns to ABC
ESPN has reached a three-year extension with the Professional Bowlers Association which will run through 2013. As part of the agreement, the record $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions will air live on ABC Saturday, Jan. 22, at 2:30 p.m. ET from Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas. The event last aired on ABC in 1997.
ESPN has a long-standing relationship with the PBA, which dates back to the network’s launch in 1979.
The new agreement includes more than 20 telecasts per year on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, including multi-day coverage of the PBA World Championships and the 68th Lumber Liquidators US Open as part of the 2010-11 season. ESPN will also continue to televise the Geico PBA All-Star Shootout.
Further details of the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, which will begin Sunday, Nov. 28, on ESPN at 1 p.m., can be found on www.pba.com.
ESPN, Inc.
ESPN, Inc., is the world’s leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of more than 50 multimedia sports assets. The company comprises six 24-hour domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes) and ESPN 3D, an event-based network. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS HD are simulcast services. Other businesses include ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (46 networks, syndication, radio, websites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN3.com (broadband sports network) ESPN Mobile Properties, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV and other growing new businesses, including ESPN on Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is an organization of more than 3,800 of the best bowlers from 13 countries who compete in Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, Regional and Senior Tour events. Nearly one million ESPN viewers watch PBA Tour on Sundays during the tour season and thousands watch PBA activities online by using PBA’s video streaming service, Xtra Frame. PBA sponsors include Barbasol, Bayer, Brunswick, Budweiser, GEICO, Go RVing, Golden Corral, Lumber Liquidators, One A Day Men’s 50+ Multivitamin, Pepsi-Cola, Storm Bowling Products and the USBC, among others. For more information, log on to www.pba.com.
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