2026 PBA Tour season
| 2026 PBA Tour season | |
|---|---|
| League | Professional Bowlers Association |
| Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
| Duration | February 16–TBD |
| PBA Tour | |
The 2026 PBA Tour season, the 67th season of play for the U.S. Professional Bowlers Association's ten-pin bowling tour, began on February 16 with the pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ) for the PBA Players Championship.[1] The season currently includes 16 singles title events (eleven standard, five major), two doubles title events, and two non-title team events.
After the end of the 2025 regular season came news that the PBA and Fox Broadcasting had terminated their television contract. On April 30, 2025, the PBA announced that The CW had acquired the television rights to air ten live PBA Tour final rounds on consecutive Sunday afternoons, beginning February 22, 2026.[2]
The PBA then announced on May 29 that all events of the 2026 and 2027 PBA World Series of Bowling will be covered on CBS stations. CBS Sports Network will have live coverage of four animal pattern events (including play-ins), while CBS terrestrial stations will host live coverage of the PBA World Championship finals.[3] CBS broadcasts will also be live streamed on Paramount+. The May 9–12 telecasts for the four animal pattern events of WSOB XVII will include the semifinal and final rounds of the PBA event, plus the final round of a concurrent PBA50 World Series of Bowling event (including the PBA50 World Championship on May 12), marking the first PBA50 Tour television broadcasts since 2009.[4]
The PBA Tour Finals, a postseason event which has aired on CBS Sports Network since the 2017 season, is being replaced with the PBA Norm Duke Open, in which eight finalists from qualifying will compete in five hours of live coverage.[4]
Season overview
There are currently 18 telecasts totaling 55 hours over the 2026 PBA Tour season. The CW will air ten title events. CBS and CBS Sports will air six title events, plus two special non-title events (USA vs. The World and PBA Elite League Battle of the Brands).
As in 2025, the final rounds of all five major events will be broadcast live on over-the-air network television (four on CW network and one on CBS). These include the finals of the PBA Players Championship on February 22, the U.S. Open on March 8, the USBC Masters on March 29, the PBA Tournament of Champions on April 26, and the PBA World Championship (part of the five-event PBA World Series of Bowling XVII) on June 13.[4]
Tournament summary
The announced events to be held during the 2026 PBA Tour season are shown below.[1][4] Major tournaments are in bold. Career PBA title numbers for winners are shown in parentheses (#). Winner's share prize money is shown in US dollars ($), except where indicated. The number shown with oil pattern names is the oil length in feet.
Tour points are awarded for most events. Besides the season-ending Harry Smith PBA Points Winner award, points are one consideration for Player of the Year voting and some postseason events.
- Tier 3: PBA short format or limited field tournaments (2500 points for first, and descending thereafter)
- Tier 2: PBA standard tournaments with an open field (double the points of Tier 3 events)
- Tier 1: PBA major tournaments (triple the points of Tier 3 events)
Sources for table below:[5][4][6]
| Event | Airdate | City | Preliminary rounds | Final round | Oil pattern | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBA Players Championship | Feb 22 CW | Euless, TX (qualifying & match play) Arlington, TX (finals) |
Feb 17–20 (PTQ: Feb 16) |
Live | Badger 50 & Viper 37 (PTQ: Mike Aulby 39) |
Brandon Bonta, USA (1) | PBA members-only event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize.$ |
| PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic | Mar 1 CW | St. Peters, MO | Feb 25–27 (PTQ: Feb 24) |
Live | Dick Weber 45 (PTQ: Shark 47) |
Graham Fach, Canada (3) | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. |
| Go Bowling U.S. Open | Mar 8 CW | Indianapolis, IN | Mar 3–7 (PTQ: Mar 1) |
Live | Four custom patterns of 40, 47, 35 and 43 feet. 43-foot Pattern 4 used for match play & finals. | Patrick Dombrowski, USA (1) | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. |
| Groupon PBA Illinois Classic | Mar 15 CW | Decatur, IL | Mar 10–13 (PTQ: Mar 9) |
Live | Carmen Salvino 43 (PTQ: Scorpion 44) |
Anthony Simonsen, USA (17) | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. |
| PBA Indiana Classic | Mar 22 CW | Fort Wayne, IN | Mar 18–20 (PTQ: Mar 17) |
Live | Mike Aulby 39 (PTQ: Don Johnson 40) |
Marshall Kent, USA (8) | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. |
| USBC Masters | Mar 29 CW | Allen Park, MI | Mar 24–28 | Live | USBC Custom | Open event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| USA vs. The World | Apr 4 CBS+ | Columbus, OH | None | Live | Randy Pedersen 43 | Non-title event. The top US and international players of the last 25 seasons (E. J. Tackett and Jason Belmonte) captain teams of four players. Event features four singles matches and a six-point system (one point per match and two points for team total pins). One-ball roll-off used as tie-breaker.# | |
| Pilgrim's PBA Ohio Classic | Apr 5 CW | Mar 31–Apr 2 (PTQ: Mar 30) |
Live | Dragon 47 | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | ||
| Surfside PBA New York Classic | Apr 12 CW | Rochester, NY | Apr 7–10 (PTQ: Apr 6) |
Live | Bear 38 | Open event (Tier 2). $30,000 top prize. | |
| Owen's Craft Mixers PBA Roth-Holman Doubles Championship | Apr 19 CW | Portland, ME | Apr 15–17 | Live | Mark Roth 43 (left lane) Marshall Holman 38 (right lane) |
Open event (Tier 3-limited field). $50,000 top prize (team). | |
| PBA Tournament of Champions | Apr 26 CW | Fairlawn, OH | Apr 22–24 (PTQ: Apr 21) |
Live | Don Johnson 40 | Invitational event (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB XVII Cheetah Championship | May 9 CBS Sports* | Brooklyn Park, MN | Apr 30–May 1, May 9 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) |
Live | Cheetah 35 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | |
| PBA WSOB XVII Chameleon Championship | May 10 CBS Sports* | May 2–3, May 10 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) |
Live | Chameleon 41 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA WSOB XVII Scorpion Championship | May 11 CBS Sports* | May 4–5, May 11 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) |
Live | Scorpion 44 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA WSOB XVII Shark Championship | May 12 CBS Sports* | May 6–7, May 12 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) |
Live | Shark 47 | Open event (Tier 3-short format). $20,000 top prize. | ||
| PBA World Championship | Jun 13 semifinals CBS Sports Jun 13 finals CBS+ |
Brooklyn Park, MN (qualifying) Allen Park, MI (match play & finals) |
Apr 30–May 7, Jun 12 (WSOB PTQ: Apr 29) |
Live | 4 animal patterns (qualifying) Earl Anthony 43 (match play & finals) |
Open event for WSOB entrants (Tier 1). PBA major. $100,000 top prize. | |
| PBA Elite League Battle of the Brands | June 20 CBS Sports | Bethlehem, PA | 2026 season singles events | Live | Randy Pedersen 43 | Non-title team event. Six bowling ball manufacturer teams (Brunswick, Hammer, Storm, Roto Grip, 900 Global and MOTIV) earn points during the 14 season singles events (through PBA World Championship) to determine seeding. Top prize $33,000 (team). | |
| PBA Norm Duke Open | June 21 CBS Sports | Sinking Spring, PA (qualifying) Bethlehem, PA (finals) |
Jun 15–19 | Live | Norm Duke 39 | Open event (Tier 2). Top eight from qualifying (four A Squad, four B Squad) compete in televised semifinals, followed by televised finals. $40,000 top prize. | |
| PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles (aka "The Luci") | Aug 2 BowlTV | Houston, TX | Jul 30–Aug 1 | Live | Custom Kegel pattern | Open PBA and PWBA event. | |
| Storm Lucky Larsen Masters | Aug 31 | Helsingborg, Sweden | Aug 21–30 | Live | Not announced |
- $ = Brandon Bonta won an additional $10,000 for rolling a 300 game in the title match.
- + = Also live streamed on Paramount+.
- * = Broadcast will also include a PBA50 World Series of Bowling final round.
- # = Tackett and Belmonte competed in a captains match on February 15, with Tackett winning. This gives the USA team choice of starting lane and the decision on which captain must set his lineup order first. Tackett chose Andrew Anderson and Ethan Fiore as his captain's selections, while Belmonte chose Dom Barrett and Jesper Svensson for the World team. The fourth player for each team will be filled by the highest American and international player in competition points following the PBA Indiana Classic on March 22.[7]
References
- ^ a b "2026 PBA Tour Schedule". pba.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
- ^ "The CW Network and the PBA Strike a Deal for Multi-year Broadcast Agreement Set to Launch in 2026". PBA Tour. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
- ^ "CBS Sports Secures Media Rights to PBA World Series of Bowling in New Two-Year Agreement". pba.com. May 29, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Headlines 2026 PBA Tour on CBS". pba.com. December 11, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
- ^ "PBA and The CW Network Announce 2026 Tour Schedule". pba.com. October 1, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ^ "2026 PBA TV Schedule". pba.com. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ^ Hughes, Nolan (February 15, 2026). "Tackett Prevails in PBA USA vs. The World Captains Match over Belmonte". pba.com. Retrieved February 16, 2026.