November 22, 2023 Nolan Hughes

The rebranded PBA Elite League features a true regular season with 10 televised matches and a six-team playoffs

A new era of the PBA League is on the horizon.

The revamped team competition, now known as the PBA Elite League, will feature an expanded schedule that will encompass the entirety of the 2024 PBA calendar.

The regular season will include head-to-head matches at each PBA Tour stop through April’s Tournament of Champions.

The top six teams at the conclusion of the regular season will advance to the PBA Elite League Playoffs, which will be held in September at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine.

A rematch of the 2023 Elias Cup Finals between the Portland Lumberjacks and Waco Wonders highlights the first-ever round of PBA Elite League action, taking place as part of January’s PBA Players Championship in Wichita, Kan.

The rematch will look a little different, as Parker Bohn III will be taking over Waco’s managerial duties for the retiring Johnny Petraglia. Similarly, Jason Belmonte will be elevated to the manager of L.A. X.

Rosters for the PBA Elite League will expand to six players per team as the league shifts to an eight-team field.

  • Waco Wonders, managed by Parker Bohn III
  • Portland Lumberjacks, managed by Tim Mack
  • Go Bowling! Dallas Strikers, managed by Norm Duke
  • Las Vegas High Rollers, managed by Amleto Monacelli
  • New Jersey KingPins (formerly NYC KingPins), managed by Carolyn and Del Ballard
  • Akron Atom Splitters (formerly Silver Lake Atom Splitters), managed by Mark Baker
  • Motown Muscle, managed by Jason Couch
  • Bowlero L.A. X, managed by Jason Belmonte

Format

The regular season will consist of 14 rounds of head-to-head baker matches. Each team will face the other seven teams twice.

Ten matches will air on FS1 and all additional matches will be livestreamed on BowlTV. All postseason matches will be televised as well.

Matches on BowlTV will take place following the practice session of each 2024 PBA Tour stop, excluding the U.S. Open and USBC Masters, through the Tournament of Champions.

The oil pattern for each round of PBA Elite League competition will match the oil pattern of that week’s PBA Tour stop. The Mark Roth pattern will be used for the PBA Elite League Playoffs.

The Race-to-Two baker format will be used for all regular-season matches, including televised rounds.

The top six teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the PBA Elite League Playoffs. The top two teams will earn a bye through the quarterfinals.

Any ties in the standings will be broken as follows:

  1. Head-to-head match results
  2. Total pinfall accumulated throughout the season

The 2024 PBA Elite League will feature an estimated $500,000 total prize fund with $100,000 going to the championship-winning team.

Draft

The draft will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on BowlTV.

Team rosters will be expanded to six players, allowing each team to have a substitute or injury replacement on hand.

Team managers will be able to protect up to two players from their 2023 roster before the draft. Players not kept by their teams, as well as players from the retired Milwaukee Pounders and Chicago Breeze, will enter the pool of draft-eligible players.

With matches being held at each PBA Tour stop, roster priority will be given to those who will have priority entry into 2024 PBA Tour events. Therefore each team’s first five selections, including protected players, must be players who finished top 50 on the 2023 points list or have been on a 2023 PBA League roster and have won a PBA Tour title within the past 10 years.

Waco’s Parker Bohn III and L.A.’s Jason Belmonte would become player-managers if protected.

After the initial 40 roster spots are filled, players who were on 2023 PBA League rosters but were outside the top 50 in points and do not have a PBA Tour title in the past 10 years will be eligible to be selected. 

Final standings from the 2023 PBA League Playoffs will determine the first-round draft order:

  1. Bowlero L.A. X
  2. Motown Muscle
  3. Akron Atom Splitters
  4. New Jersey KingPins
  5. Las Vegas High Rollers
  6. Go Bowling! Dallas Strikers
  7. Portland Lumberjacks
  8. Waco Wonders

2023 Rosters

Players are listed in order of 2023 points

Waco Wonders
Jason Sterner, BJ Moore, Frank Snodgrass, Ryan Ciminelli, Parker Bohn III, Johnny Petraglia (manager)

Portland Lumberjacks
Kyle Troup, Kris Prather, Graham Fach, Arturo Quintero, Wes Malott, Tim Mack (manager)

Go Bowling! Dallas Strikers
Matt Ogle, Bill O’Neill, Tommy Jones, Shawn Maldonado, DJ Archer, Chris Barnes, Norm Duke (manager)

Las Vegas High Rollers
AJ Johnson, Matt Russo, Andrew Anderson, François Lavoie, Ildemaro Ruiz Jr., Amleto Monacelli (manager)

New Jersey KingPins (formerly NYC KingPins)
Packy Hanrahan, Marshall Kent, Kyle Sherman, Darren Tang, Michael Tang, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (manager)

Akron Atom Splitters (formerly Silver Lake Atom Splitters)
Chris Via, Jesper Svensson, Santtu Tahvanainen, Tom Daugherty, Richie Teece, Mark Baker (manager)

Motown Muscle
EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen, Sam Cooley, Mitch Hupé, Nathan Bohr, Del Ballard Jr. (manager)

Bowlero L.A. X
Jason Belmonte, Jakob Butturff, Kevin McCune, Stu Williams, Thomas Larsen, Andrew Cain (manager)

Milwaukee Pounders
Sean Lavery-Spahr, AJ Chapman, Sean Rash, Dick Allen, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Marshall Holman (manager)

Chicago Breeze
Dom Barrett, Keven Williams, Tomas Käyhkö, Jake Peters, Tom Smallwood, Jason Couch (manager)

2024 PBA Elite League Schedule

Italicized matches to be televised on FS1 at another date/location; all other matches will be livestreamed on BowlTV

Rounds 1-2 | Jan. 9
Bowlero Northrock | Wichita, Kan.

Lumberjacks vs. Wonders
Strikers vs. L.A. X
High Rollers vs. Muscle
KingPins vs. Atom Splitters

Strikers vs. High Rollers
L.A. X vs. Atom Splitters
Lumberjacks vs. KingPins
Wonders vs. Muscle

Rounds 3-4 | Feb. 5
Bowlero Mount Prospect | Mt. Prospect, Ill.

Atom Splitters vs. Lumberjacks
Muscle vs. L.A. X
High Rollers vs. Wonders
KingPins vs. Strikers

Muscle vs. Kingpins
L.A. X vs. High Rollers
Lumberjacks vs. Strikers
Atom Splitters vs. Wonders

Rounds 5-6 | Feb. 13
Enterprise Park Lanes | Springfield, Mo.

Wonders vs. Strikers
High Rollers vs. Lumberjacks
KingPins vs. L.A. X
Atom Splitters vs. Muscle

High Rollers vs. KingPins
L.A. X vs. Wonders
Lumberjacks vs. Muscle
Strikers vs. Atom Splitters

Rounds 7-8 | Feb. 19
Dave Small’s Championship Lanes | Anderson, Ind.

Muscle vs. Strikers
L.A. X vs. Lumberjacks
Wonders vs. KingPins
Atom Splitters vs. High Rollers

Lumberjacks vs. Wonders
Strikers vs. L.A. X
High Rollers vs. Muscle
KingPins vs. Atom Splitters

Rounds 9-10 | Feb. 27
Mid County Lanes and Entertainment | Middletown, Del.

Strikers vs. High Rollers
Wonders vs. Muscle
L.A. X vs. Atom Splitters
Lumberjacks vs. KingPins

Atom Splitters vs. Lumberjacks
Muscle vs. L.A. X
KingPins vs. Strikers
High Rollers vs. Wonders

Rounds 11-12 | April 3, 6, 7
Thunderbowl Lanes | Allen Park, Mich.

Muscle vs. KingPins
L.A. X vs. High Rollers
Lumberjacks vs. Strikers
Atom Splitters vs. Wonders

Wonders vs. Strikers
High Rollers vs. Lumberjacks
KingPins vs. L.A. X
Atom Splitters vs. Muscle

Rounds 13-14 | April 22, 27
AMF Riviera Lanes | Fairlawn, Ohio

High Rollers vs. KingPins
L.A. X vs. Wonders
Lumberjacks vs. Muscle
Strikers vs. Atom Splitters

Muscle vs. Strikers
Wonders vs. KingPins
L.A. X vs. Lumberjacks
Atom Splitters vs. High Rollers

Regular Season TV Schedule

Round 2
Wonders vs. Muscle
Lumberjacks vs. KingPins
Royal Pin Woodland | Indianapolis, Ind.
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 4 p.m. ET on FS1

Round 10
High Rollers vs. Wonders
KingPins vs. Strikers
Suncoast Bowling Center | Las Vegas, Nev.
Sunday, March 30 | 7 p.m. ET on FS1

Round 12
Wonders vs. Strikers
High Rollers vs. Lumberjacks
Thunderbowl Lanes | Allen Park, Mich.
Saturday, April 6 | 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1

Round 12
KingPins vs. L.A. X
Atom Splitters vs. Muscle
Thunderbowl Lanes | Allen Park, Mich.
Sunday, April 7 | noon ET on FS1

Round 14
L.A. X vs. Lumberjacks
Atom Splitters vs. High Rollers
AMF Riviera Lanes | Fairlawn, Ohio
Saturday, April 27 | 4 p.m. ET on FS1

PBA Elite League Playoffs

Bayside Bowl | Portland, Maine

Quarterfinals | Race-to-Two baker match
Sunday, Sept. 15 | 5 p.m. ET on FS1
No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed
No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed

Semifinals | Race-to-Three baker match
Monday, Sept. 16 | 7 p.m. ET on FS1
No. 1 seed vs. No. 4/5 seed advancer
Race-to-Three Baker 

Semifinals | Race-to-Three baker match
Monday, Sept. 16 | 9 p.m. ET on FS1
No. 2 seed vs. No. 3/6 seed advancer

Finals | Race-to-Three baker match
Tuesday, Sept. 17 | 7 p.m. ET on FS1
No. 1/4/5 seed advancer vs. No. 2/3/6 seed advancer

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