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Prior to the PBA's inception, bowling was broadcast on television sporadically beginning in the early 1950s. NBC began with an early 1950s special telecast entitled Championship Bowling.[5] Regular bowling shows, including Make That Spare and Jackpot Bowling with Milton Berle began airing nationally.
At the same time, there was a desire to start a professional bowling division in the United States; an effort led by Eddie Elias, a sports agent based in Akron, Ohio. During the 1958 ABC (American Bowling Congress) tournament in Syracuse, New York, sixty men, including Don Carter, Frank Esposito, Buzz Fazio, Matt Lebhar, Carmen Salvino, Billy Welu, Steve Nagy, Harry Smith, Ray Bluth, Dick Hoover, Bill Bunetta and Junie McMahon, attended a presentation by Elias. After listening to his proposal, thirty-three of the men donated $50 each, totaling $1,650 to start the organization, which was incorporated in 1958, and headquartered in Akron. The investors then became charter members of the PBA, basically giving them lifetime membership. Bill Bunetta was slated to be the first commissioner of the PBA by Eddie Elias but Bill was still a very active bowler and turned down the position to continue his bowling and teaching career[citation needed].
Competition began in 1959 with three tournaments. Lou Campi of Fort Worth, Texas won the first event (the Empire State Open), and Dick Weber won the other two (Paramus Eastern Open and the Dayton Open)[6] Weber would become the first "face" of the PBA in the early years, as he won 10 of the first 22 events held.
Elias would also lead the effort to give the PBA a permanent home on television, which it would find on ABC Sports by 1965. Coupled with the continued support of its charter members, as well as sponsorships by the Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola (which sponsored eleven tournaments in 1963 alone)[7], True Value Hardware and Firestone Tire, the PBA experienced growth in its tournament schedules and prize funds.
Schedules reached a plateau of 35 tournaments per year in the 1980s. The 1965 Tournament of Champions was the first to offer $100,000 in prize money; the 1982 event featured a $200,000 purse, and the 1987 U.S. Open, sponsored by Seagram distillery, offered a $500,000 prize fund as well as the first $100,000 first-place prize in PBA history.[8]
By the 1980s, True Value pledged $100,000 to any roller of a perfect game on national television (increased to a $200,000 sum during its own True Value Open). Prior to this, the PBA would award a televised 300 game with $10,000 and a new Ford automobile. In addition, in the early 1990s the Miller Brewing Company offered $1 million to any bowler who could win all three of its tournaments in a given season.
As television exposure increased for the PBA, it spun off a Seniors Tour in 1981, with Bill Beach winning the first seniors' championship that year.
Elias continued to be involved in the PBA until his death in 1998.
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The Tour logo used the first 40-plus years.
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