April 14, 2025 Nolan Hughes

The regular season of the 2025 PBA Tour is set to conclude at the game’s most hallowed grounds: AMF Riviera Lanes hosts the PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila.

In addition to the major title and $100,000 top prize, the coveted final berths in the postseason fields are on the line in this week’s regular season finale.

The top 12 players in this season’s points and the top eight players across the last two seasons will qualify for the PBA Playoffs and PBA Tour Finals, respectively. 

All qualifying rounds and match play rounds Tuesday through Thursday will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

On Friday night, Bill O’Neill, Sean Rash, George Branham III and Dave Schroeder will be inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be free to watch on BowlTV.

The TOC’s two-part stepladder finals includes a prelims round Saturday at 5 p.m. Eastern time on FS1 and the championship round Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

Storylines

PLAYOFFS

Both Ethan Fiore and Ryan Barnes, who finished first and second in the PBA Players Championship, elevated themselves into the PBA Playoffs picture. They rank seventh and eighth in points, respectively, entering the TOC.

EJ Tackett, Andrew Anderson, Tim Foy Jr., Jason Belmonte, Chris Via, Graham Fach, Fiore, Barnes, Anthony Simonsen, Kyle Troup, Matt Ogle and Bill O’Neill occupy the current playoff berths.

O’Neill holds the coveted 12th position by a mere 28 points over Boog Krol, who is followed by Jakob Butturff, Tomas Käyhkö, Kevin McCune, Jesper Svensson and Kris Prather.

With 5,000 points awarded to the TOC champion and the top 15 positions each earning more than 1,000 points, the opportunity to rise up the leaderboard is available.

Barnes, however, is not eligible for the TOC as a non-champion. His postseason fate rests in the hands of his competitors.

TOUR FINALS

Marshall Kent hasn’t been able to replicate the success of his magnificent 2024 campaign. However, the defending TOC champion finds himself in strong position to qualify for the PBA Tour Finals, an event in which he finished second to Anthony Simonsen a year ago.

Tackett, Simonsen, Belmonte, O’Neill, Troup, Anderson, Kent and Via make up the current field for the PBA Tour Finals.

Graham Fach, Krol, Svensson, Ogle, Zach Wilkins, Tom Smallwood, Foy and Matt Russo are the first eight players outside the number.

ELITE LEAGUE

Motiv, which has led the PBA Elite League: Battle of the Brands powered by Beatbox since EJ Tackett’s U.S. Open triumph in February, bolstered an already deep roster for a postseason push.

Ethan Fiore’s victory on Sunday made him eligible for the PBA Elite League and manager Brett Spangler added Fiore to the team without hesitation. Spangler said Fiore will be in this week’s starting lineup as well.

Meanwhile, Storm is one strong performance from stealing the coveted top seed after narrowing the gap between themselves and Motiv to less than 2,000 points.

Brunswick holds a 1,540-point margin over 900 Global for third place, which would secure an automatic berth in the final round of the two-part stepladder finals.

Roto Grip and Hammer each trail Brunswick by less than 8,000 points, a significant-but-not-insurmountable margin.

DV8 and Ebonite will battle for seventh and eighth place and lane choice in the opening match of the playoff stepladder.

Players to Watch

EJ Tackett, who has already clinched the top spot in the points list for the season, has likely done enough to warrant a fourth career and third consecutive PBA Player of the Year honor — but he’s aiming to turn a great season into an all-time great season.

Tackett could become the second player to win three major championships in a single season, a feat only achieved by Jason Belmonte in 2017. A major title would be the eighth of Tackett’s career, tying himself with Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Mike Aulby for fourth all-time.

The 32-year-old is averaging 229.42 on the season and is on pace to break the single season average record, held by Jason Belmonte with 229.39 in 2017.

Tackett won the TOC that same year in 2017, but he has yet to win since the tournament returned to AMF Riviera Lanes in 2018. He has reached the championship round three times, including each of the past two years.

Anthony Simonsen, Matt Ogle and Jason Sterner have also reached the championship round each of the past two years — but none have won a match. Belmonte and Kent climbed the stepladder on each occasion.

Format

All players will bowl 18 games of qualifying on the 40-foot Don Johnson oil pattern, beginning on Tuesday. 

The top 24 players after the third qualifying round on Wednesday will advance to round-robin match play, which will be contested Wednesday evening through Thursday.

Nine players will qualify for the two-part championship round.

The prelims round, a stepladder featuring the fifth through ninth qualifiers, will air live Saturday, April 19 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

The winner will meet the top four qualifiers in Sunday’s championship round, airing live on FOX at 3 p.m. ET.

Tickets to watch the prelims and championship rounds are available to purchase here.

Tournament Schedule

AMF Riviera Lanes | Fairlawn, Ohio

All times Eastern/local

Monday, April 14 | BowlTV
9 a.m. — Pre-tournament qualifier
3 p.m. — Practice session
6 p.m. — Pro-Am

Tuesday, April 15 | BowlTV
11 a.m. — Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
6 p.m. — Qualifying Round 2 (six games)

Wednesday, April 16 | BowlTV
11 a.m. — Qualifying Round 3 (six games)
Top 24 players advance to round-robin match play
6 p.m. — Match Play Round 1 (eight games)

Thursday, April 17 | BowlTV
11 a.m. — Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
6 p.m. — Match Play Round 3 (eight games)
Top nine players advance to stepladder finals
5th-9th qualifiers players advance to prelims; 1st-4th qualifiers advance to championship round

Friday, April 18 | BowlTV
5 p.m. — PBA Class of 2025 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Saturday, April 19 | FS1
5 p.m. — Prelims Round (stepladder finals)
Winner advances to finals

Sunday, April 20 | FOX
3 p.m. — Championship Round (stepladder finals)

More information on the PBA Tournament of Champions powered by 1800 Tequila is available here.