Super Bowl will bowl for charity
When in Detroit, do as Detroiters do.
And in Detroit and its suburbs, we bowl.
So when the NFL Charities was looking for a replacement for its annual bigwig celebrity golf tournament the day before the Super Bowl -- no golfing in metro Detroit in frigid February -- the choice was obvious: Ditch the clubs and grab a few bowling balls.
Considering bowling's blue-collar image -- think sweaty shoes, polyester pants, smoky halls -- it might not sound like the greatest tradeoff, especially for out-of-towners already leery of a cold-weather Super Bowl host.
The big surprise is that the event looks to be an early hit, so much so that the NFL is already planning a 2007 version at Miami's Super Bowl. So the NFL has turned what looked to be a problem into a positive, and the bowling industry gets to work on its image by partnering with one of the most successful brands in sports.
Normally, the Super Bowl is held in warm weather states, and NFL Charities hosts a golf tournament the day before the big football game, raising at least $200,000 each year, and drawing at least 75 celebrities, mostly former and current football players. Earlier this year, they held a scaled-back version at the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, but still wanted an event Super Bowl weekend.
Alternative plans were tossed around in meetings in the New York offices. The decision was important: The golf tournament is considered to be one of the top events connected to the Super Bowl.What could possibly take its place, organizers wondered? Indoor miniature golf? Nope, that was ruled out. NFL Charities staff flew in to ask real Detroiters what would make sense.
The answer, again and again? Bowling. Doesn't matter what the weather looks like outside, people eagerly head inside to knock down pins.
"Once we started to float the bowling idea out to our players -- both current and former -- we found the sport of bowling was immensely popular among even our own athletes," said Beth Colleton, director of community affairs for the NFL. "Our own Jerome Bettis, who is one of your own, too, was a bowling champion in high school," she said, referring to the Pittsburgh Steelers star. He played at Detroit's Mackenzie High School and at one point, thought about being a professional bowler.
Invitations will begin going out this month. In years past -- the golf tournament is a 20-year tradition -- NFL Hall of Famers such as Dick Butkus, Marcus Allen and Tony Dorsett have participated alongside fans who could foot the entry fee, which earlier this year in Jacksonville cost each golfer $1,500. The bowling event will fetch $750 per bowler, though individual sign-ups are limited.
The NFL folks won't be sure who'll be bowling for a few weeks, but they say the early buzz has been overwhelming. Scores of phone calls have already been made by local bowlers looking to sign up, and it caught the NFL a bit off guard.
"The U.S. Bowling Congress told us this was going to be an incredibly popular event. But we weren't prepared for just how popular it's becoming," Colleton said.
A logical location
"Detroit is the capital of bowling," said Mark Voight, who with his wife, Diane, owns Community Bowling Centers, which includes more than 20 bowling facilities in Michigan and Indiana. With NFL event organizer Nick Nicolosi and their director of operations, Roger Philipi, the Voights are teaching the league how to put on a bowling tournament.When Voight talks about the popularity of bowling in metro Detroit, he isn't overstating the case. The region has more than 90,000 registered certified bowling members, leading the country in bowlers who want to compete in tournaments and awards programs.
The state of Michigan has more than 260,000 league bowlers. This doesn't account for the recreational or part-time bowlers, which, if included, brings the number of bowlers in southeastern Michigan up to about 1 million.
"It's a very blue-collar sport and we're in an area that has been very industrialized," said Tim Otteman, a sports history professor at Central Michigan University, in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services department. "The automobile industry in Detroit creates that environment. It was very affordable and very accessible for those folks to be involved, versus to go to a country club. You can't learn to play golf without clubs. But you can rent shoes and get a ball. There's public bowling alley accessible to everyone in every community."
The Voights, who live in Farmington Hills, will be hosting the event at their Canton alley, which coincidentally is named Super Bowl. The Canton center is their biggest; it's 60,000 square feet and has 60 lanes. Putting on the Super Bowl event will mean a lot of extra work for the Livonia-based business. They have 10 staff members working on the tournament logistics, and expect it'll take at least 100 volunteers to staff the event that day.
One of the perks that will come with participating in the tournament is a gift bag that with at least $500 in merchandise. Bowlers will get a limited edition Super Bowl XL bowling ball, a regulation pin that will be signed by the participating football players, a bag and several pieces of Reebok apparel.
The bowling industry is excited to be a part of the event, and sees it as a way to promote the sport in a different arena.
"When you really look at what bowling is and what it does, it's just a great sport. ... For years, we've got this image that we've had. I think we're getting out of it," said Frank DeSocio, president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry.
"The NFL is the premier sports brand in America, and we as the United States Bowling Congress love partnering with a sport as great as football," DeSocio said.
Detroit may have hipped the NFL to a new fund-raising outlet, one that they're considering using beyond the Miami Super Bowl in 2007.
"A lot of our Super Bowls are hosted in major metro markets where there may or may not be golf courses accessible," Colleton said. "But there are always bowling centers."
Contact KELLEY L. CARTER at 313-222-8854 or carter
@freepress.com.
And in Detroit and its suburbs, we bowl.
So when the NFL Charities was looking for a replacement for its annual bigwig celebrity golf tournament the day before the Super Bowl -- no golfing in metro Detroit in frigid February -- the choice was obvious: Ditch the clubs and grab a few bowling balls.
Considering bowling's blue-collar image -- think sweaty shoes, polyester pants, smoky halls -- it might not sound like the greatest tradeoff, especially for out-of-towners already leery of a cold-weather Super Bowl host.
The big surprise is that the event looks to be an early hit, so much so that the NFL is already planning a 2007 version at Miami's Super Bowl. So the NFL has turned what looked to be a problem into a positive, and the bowling industry gets to work on its image by partnering with one of the most successful brands in sports.
Normally, the Super Bowl is held in warm weather states, and NFL Charities hosts a golf tournament the day before the big football game, raising at least $200,000 each year, and drawing at least 75 celebrities, mostly former and current football players. Earlier this year, they held a scaled-back version at the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, but still wanted an event Super Bowl weekend.
Alternative plans were tossed around in meetings in the New York offices. The decision was important: The golf tournament is considered to be one of the top events connected to the Super Bowl.What could possibly take its place, organizers wondered? Indoor miniature golf? Nope, that was ruled out. NFL Charities staff flew in to ask real Detroiters what would make sense.
The answer, again and again? Bowling. Doesn't matter what the weather looks like outside, people eagerly head inside to knock down pins.
"Once we started to float the bowling idea out to our players -- both current and former -- we found the sport of bowling was immensely popular among even our own athletes," said Beth Colleton, director of community affairs for the NFL. "Our own Jerome Bettis, who is one of your own, too, was a bowling champion in high school," she said, referring to the Pittsburgh Steelers star. He played at Detroit's Mackenzie High School and at one point, thought about being a professional bowler.
Invitations will begin going out this month. In years past -- the golf tournament is a 20-year tradition -- NFL Hall of Famers such as Dick Butkus, Marcus Allen and Tony Dorsett have participated alongside fans who could foot the entry fee, which earlier this year in Jacksonville cost each golfer $1,500. The bowling event will fetch $750 per bowler, though individual sign-ups are limited.
The NFL folks won't be sure who'll be bowling for a few weeks, but they say the early buzz has been overwhelming. Scores of phone calls have already been made by local bowlers looking to sign up, and it caught the NFL a bit off guard.
"The U.S. Bowling Congress told us this was going to be an incredibly popular event. But we weren't prepared for just how popular it's becoming," Colleton said.
A logical location
"Detroit is the capital of bowling," said Mark Voight, who with his wife, Diane, owns Community Bowling Centers, which includes more than 20 bowling facilities in Michigan and Indiana. With NFL event organizer Nick Nicolosi and their director of operations, Roger Philipi, the Voights are teaching the league how to put on a bowling tournament.When Voight talks about the popularity of bowling in metro Detroit, he isn't overstating the case. The region has more than 90,000 registered certified bowling members, leading the country in bowlers who want to compete in tournaments and awards programs.
The state of Michigan has more than 260,000 league bowlers. This doesn't account for the recreational or part-time bowlers, which, if included, brings the number of bowlers in southeastern Michigan up to about 1 million.
"It's a very blue-collar sport and we're in an area that has been very industrialized," said Tim Otteman, a sports history professor at Central Michigan University, in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services department. "The automobile industry in Detroit creates that environment. It was very affordable and very accessible for those folks to be involved, versus to go to a country club. You can't learn to play golf without clubs. But you can rent shoes and get a ball. There's public bowling alley accessible to everyone in every community."
The Voights, who live in Farmington Hills, will be hosting the event at their Canton alley, which coincidentally is named Super Bowl. The Canton center is their biggest; it's 60,000 square feet and has 60 lanes. Putting on the Super Bowl event will mean a lot of extra work for the Livonia-based business. They have 10 staff members working on the tournament logistics, and expect it'll take at least 100 volunteers to staff the event that day.
One of the perks that will come with participating in the tournament is a gift bag that with at least $500 in merchandise. Bowlers will get a limited edition Super Bowl XL bowling ball, a regulation pin that will be signed by the participating football players, a bag and several pieces of Reebok apparel.
The bowling industry is excited to be a part of the event, and sees it as a way to promote the sport in a different arena.
"When you really look at what bowling is and what it does, it's just a great sport. ... For years, we've got this image that we've had. I think we're getting out of it," said Frank DeSocio, president of Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm of the bowling industry.
"The NFL is the premier sports brand in America, and we as the United States Bowling Congress love partnering with a sport as great as football," DeSocio said.
Detroit may have hipped the NFL to a new fund-raising outlet, one that they're considering using beyond the Miami Super Bowl in 2007.
"A lot of our Super Bowls are hosted in major metro markets where there may or may not be golf courses accessible," Colleton said. "But there are always bowling centers."
Contact KELLEY L. CARTER at 313-222-8854 or carter
@freepress.com.
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