Columbus, Ohio to Host 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship

Third consecutive major championship of the year to air live on ESPN on February 21

bowlingball.com 10/9/2015

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl will host the 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship, a Professional Bowlers Association major championship that will conclude with live ESPN television coverage on Sunday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. ET. The 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship will return to PBA major title status, featuring a 48-game qualifying and match play format, and a five-player stepladder final with a $40,000 first prize. All of the preliminary rounds of Players Championship week will be covered live, exclusively on PBA's Xtra Frame online video-streaming service.

"We are thrilled to extend our long-standing partnership with the PBA again this year," said John Price, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Perio, Inc. "The Barbasol PBA Players Championship will showcase the best bowling talent from around the world in Columbus, Ohio, which has a rich history with the PBA."

With its sponsorship, the Official Shaving Cream of the PBA continues to expand its fully-integrated partnership with the PBA, which also includes jersey sponsorship of the PBA League's Motown Muscle.

The Barbasol partnership brings the PBA event close to the company's headquarters and manufacturing facilities. Perio Inc., the parent company of Barbasol LLC, is located in Dublin, a suburb of Columbus, and the company's Barbasol products are manufactured in Ashland, Ohio.

PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark was excited to welcome Barbasol's continuing participation with the PBA.

"Barbasol is an American classic product," said PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark. "Continuing its relationship with the PBA as a partner in the production of a major championship tournament is a great fit, for Barbasol and for bowling."

The third consecutive major championship of the 2016 season will follow on the heels of the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions in Shawnee, Okla., and the United States Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis, both of which will conclude with live ESPN coverage on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, respectively.

The Players Championship will get underway on Monday, Feb. 15, with practice and a celebrity pro-am at Columbus Bowl, which is co-owned by PBA Hall of Famer Wayne Webb. Eight-game qualifying rounds will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by an eight-game cashers round on Thursday, and three eight-game round-robin match play rounds Thursday and Friday. Additional pro-am squads that provide an opportunity for Ohio grassroots adult, youth and senior league bowlers to bowl alongside the pros will be conducted on Saturday, leading up to Sunday's live ESPN finals.

The tournament will be open to all PBA members.

Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com