2022 PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon Returns This Week to FS1
Prior to the televised stepladders, seeding rounds will be streamed for free on the PBA YouTube channel
The PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon returns to Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, to compete for the 2022 PBA League Elias Cup Championship. The teams in the Anthony and Carter divisions will each bowl six games of qualifying to determine seeding for the stepladder finals, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1 on July 6 (Anthony) and July 7 (Carter). The division champions will then meet in the Elias Cup Finals Sunday, July 10 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.
In a change from previous years, each player during the qualifying rounds will bowl full games rather than team baker games. The cumulative totals for each team will seed teams into the stepladders and the individual scores will qualify players for the Strike Derby and PBA League All-Star Clash competitions. The qualifying rounds will be held July 6 (Anthony) and July 7 (Carter) beginning at 10 a.m. ET, streamed for free on the PBA YouTube channel.
Lumberjacks Seek Third Straight Elias Cup Victory
The last time the PBA League was held in Portland, the hometown Lumberjacks won the 2019 Elias Cup. The following year, the PBA League competed at Bowlero Centreville in Centreville, Virginia with no fans in the building due to the pandemic. The Lumberjacks won again. After a year off in 2021, the Lumberjacks will return to Portland as two-time defending champions looking to become the first team in PBA League history to win three consecutive Elias Cups.
New Team Names
Three familiar PBA League teams return to competition under different names this season: the Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitmen (formerly Philadelphia Hitmen), Snickers Waco Wonders (formerly Brooklyn Styles) and Pabst Blue Ribbon Milwaukee Pounders (formerly Brew City Ballers).
PBA League Debuts
Six players are making their first ever appearances in PBA League competition: Santtu Tahvanainen (Dallas), 2021 PBA Rookie of the Year Matthew Russo (Las Vegas), Brandon Novak (Silver Lake), Arturo Quintero (Portland) and Michael Tang (NYC).
Barnes’s New Home
After eight seasons with the Silver Lake Atom Splitters, during which he won the Elias Cup three times and the Mark Roth PBA League MVP twice, Chris Barnes was left unprotected in the draft by Atom Splitters manager Mark Baker. During the draft, Baker swapped his picks with Lumberjacks manager Tim Mack, after which Andrew Cain selected Barnes to join the L.A. X.
With Barnes, who was the original franchise player of the Atom Splitters during the League’s inaugural 2013 season, leaving the team, only three players remain with their original teams from 2013: Pete Weber (NYC), Norm Duke (Dallas) and Jason Belmonte, who will be Barnes’s new teammate with L.A. X.
Check out the full 2022 PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon draft recap
View the complete 2022 PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon rosters
PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon Schedule
Bayside Bowl – Portland, Maine
July 6 at 10 a.m. ET on PBA YouTube – Anthony Division Qualifying
July 6 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 – Anthony Division Finals
July 7 at 10 a.m. ET on PBA YouTube – Carter Division Qualifying
July 7 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 – Carter Division Finals
July 10 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1 – Elias Cup Finals
PBA League Elias Cup Champions
2013 – NYC WTT KingPins
2014 – Silver Lake Atom Splitters
2015 – Silver Lake Atom Splitters
2016 – Dallas Strikers
2017 – Dallas Strikers
2018 – Silver Lake Atom Splitters
2019 – Portland Lumberjacks
2020 – Portland Lumberjacks
2021 – event not held
Mark Roth PBA League MVPs
2013 – not awarded
2014 – Chris Barnes
2015 – Dick Allen
2016 – Tommy Jones
2017 – Norm Duke
2018 – Chris Barnes
2019 – Wes Malott
2020 – Wes Malott
2021 – event not held
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.