June 22, 2023 Nolan Hughes

This weekend, the PBA’s top eight players over the past two seasons convene at the PBA Tour Finals. The stars will return to Strikerz Bowling in the Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in Arlington, Wash. for the second consecutive year. The Tour Finals represents the 15th title event of the 2023 season.

All five rounds of the PBA Tour Finals will be aired live on CBS Sports Network, featuring nine hours of PBA action on June 24-25.

Seven of the eight finalists are returners from last season’s PBA Tour Finals: EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen, defending champion Jason Belmonte, Dom Barrett, Jakob Butturff, Kris Prather and Kyle Troup.

Meanwhile, Packy Hanrahan will make his PBA Tour Finals debut. The two-handed southpaw charged into seventh on the 2022-23 points list following his win at the Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Championship with Mitch Hupé and 16th place showing at the PBA Players Championship.

Bill O’Neill could have usurped Troup by winning the season’s final major title, but his semifinal loss to Butturff at the PBA Players Championship allowed Troup to hang onto the ultimate spot in the field.

Though players will be competing on different oil patterns this year, fans should be prepared for a torrid scoring pace. Last season, players averaged over 228 across 20 combined games during the stepladder finals.

Not to mention both Troup and Belmonte shot a perfect game as they became the first players to bowl a PBA televised 300 on the same day.

All previous PBA Tour Finals champions will be represented in the event's seventh iteration. Tackett and defending champion Belmonte have each won the event twice, while Troup and Simonsen have also taken home the trophy.

Tackett, the 2017 and 2019 Tour Finals victor, has a chance to tie the single-season titles record this season. With five titles already under his belt, Mark Roth’s 1978 record of eight titles lies within reach if Tackett can win all three remaining title events.

The PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles in July and Storm Lucky Larsen Masters in September are the final two title events of the 2023 season.

While supplies last, tickets are available for the Tour Finals here.

Format

The format for the PBA Tour Finals will be the same as last season: Players will be split into two groups based on their point totals over the past two seasons.

Group 1 comprises Tackett, Barrett, Butturff and Troup, while Simonsen, Belmonte, Prather and Hanrahan make up Group 2.

For Saturday’s positioning round, each player will bowl two games on the 38-foot Webb pattern and two games on the 43-foot Anthony pattern to determine seeding for Sunday’s stepladders. Group 1 competes on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET, while Group 2 hits the lanes at 5 p.m. ET.

On Sunday, competition shifts to a dual-pattern format for the group stepladders beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The final match of each group stepladder will feature a Race-to-Two format; if the players split the two games, a ninth and 10th frame roll-off will decide the winner.

Advancers from each group stepladder will meet in Sunday evening’s championship, another Race-to-Two match (6:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN).

PBA Tour Finals Competitors

Stats based on 2023 season through PBA Players Championship and entire 2022 season

EJ Tackett
65,860 points, $573,125 in earnings, 7 titles, 15 top-five finishes, 22 top-10 finishes

Anthony Simonsen
62,460 points, $585,675 in earnings, 4 titles, 17 top-five finishes, 23 top-10 finishes

Jason Belmonte
57,410 points, $607,150 in earnings, 6 titles, 11 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes

Dom Barrett
37,020 points, $270,695 in earnings, 2 titles, 8 top-five finishes, 12 top-10 finishes

Jakob Butturff
34,946 points, $247,625 in earnings, 1 title, 10 top-five finishes, 14 top-10 finishes

Kris Prather
33,437.50 points, $254,150 in earnings, 1 title, 3 top-five finishes, 5 top-10 finishes

Packy Hanrahan
28,445 points, $158,035 in earnings, 2 titles, 5 top-five finishes, 9 top-19 finishes

Kyle Troup
27,212.50 points, $302,300 in earnings, 1 title, 4 top-five finishes, 10 top-10 finishes

2023 PBA Tour Finals TV Schedule

All times are listed in Eastern.

Saturday, June 24 | CBS Sports Network
3-5 p.m. — Group 1 Positioning Round
5-7 p.m. — Group 2 Positioning Round

Sunday, June 24 | CBS Sports Network
2:30-4:30 p.m. — Group 1 Stepladder finals
4:30-6:30 p.m. — Group 2 Stepladder finals
6:30-7:30 p.m. — Championship

Past PBA Tour Finals Winners

2017 — EJ Tackett
2018 — Jason Belmonte
2019 — EJ Tackett
2020 — Kyle Troup
2021 — Anthony Simonsen
2022 — Jason Belmonte

More information on the PBA Tour Finals is available here.