Ex-Microsoft exec ready to buy PBA

AKRON, Ohio -- A former Microsoft executive who couldn't cut it as a pro bowler is getting a league of his own. He's about to buy the Professional Bowlers Association.

Chris Peters got rich designing software programs. But as he approached middle age, boredom sent him on a new quest. He quit his job to bowl.

Just one problem: He wasn't good enough. He never got his per-game average close to the 200 required for PBA membership.

Now, Peters has a new plan. He's buying the financially guttered PBA, and perhaps saving the sport in the process.

This week, the 2,800-member PBA is expected to announce it has given its board of directors permission to negotiate a sale to a group led by Peters.

In a letter to its membership, the PBA said a prospective buyer would absolve all debt, improve the players' compensation plan and commit at least $1 million toward tournament prize money.

"It's time for someone to lead bowling into tomorrow," PBA commissioner Mark Gerberich said from his group's headquarters in Akron.

The PBA, founded in 1958, lost its television contract with ABC in 1996 after 36 years on the network. It is believed to be more than $3 million in debt.

Gerberich said that for years he has been trying to sell the bowler-owned organization to an outside investor. He expects to complete the sale by late February.

Peters, who lives outside Seattle, declined a request for an interview.

He hasn't been seen at Sun Villa Bowl in Bellevue for a few weeks. That's where Peters had been going three days a week in hopes of getting his bowling game to the pro level.

Once responsible for more than 400 employees, Peters seemed to relish the solitude of his new sport and the challenge of knocking down pins with a 15-pound ball. But he couldn't push his average past 170.

"He's much better than when he started," Gary Larson, owner of the pro shop at Sun Villa, said by phone. "He started out as a true beginner and worked hard at it. It's like anything else, you've got to put your time in."

The lack of big-name sponsors and reduced TV exposure has made it tough to compete in today's sports market. Gerberich feared that without a sale, the PBA would have folded.

Part of the problem, he says, is perception. Many people still associate bowling with beer-bellied, cigarette-smoking guys wearing shirts with "Joe's Tire Shop" printed on the back.

That's where Peters can have the biggest impact. If he and his buddies can turn computers from toys for nerds into something cool, imagine what they might do for bowling.

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