The Professional Bowlers Association formally has announced its plans for its inaugural PBA ELITE Regional Tour, with three events set in each of the seven regions for the remainder of the 2026 season.
In addition, the PBA also has announced its vision for the region fields along with its rules governing those players with PBA and PBA Senior tours priority status for the 2027 season.
There are multiple events set on each weekend for the most part, and are spread out from September through November.
REGIONAL SETUP
The Central Region will have three events scheduled for the remainder of 2026:
- Oct. 2 at EZ Bowl in Bluffton, Ind.;
- Oct. 9 at David Small’s JAX60 in Jackson, Mich.; and
- Oct. 30 at David Small’s Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Entries for all events will open Aug. 14. Eligible players must be a PBA member in good standing or a collegiate player. No nonmembers are eligible.
Here are the rules governing PBA ELITE regional event entries, as posted by the PBA:
- PBA Elite Regional events will consist of 75 percent of the maximum field size for PBA Standard division and 25 percent of maximum field size for PBA Senior division — two separate competitive fields.
- Players from any region may enter any of the 21 Elite Regional events; however, home region players receive entry priority
- If the field fills entirely with players from the home region, the event is closed to outside-region entrants. The address listed with PBA membership dictates your home region unless you request and are granted an exception. Requests should be submitted to tournamentops@pba.com.
- After a pre-event cutoff date (21 days), if the field is not yet full of home region players, entry opens to players from other regions to fill remaining spots
- The senior division will be reserved for any senior player who holds a PBA title. If the field fills entirely with players who hold a PBA title, the event is closed to additional senior players. If the field is not full, the event will open to all senior players 21 days prior to the start date.
Spots in the Regional Players Invitational (RPI) for the standard division will go to the top five finishers who don’t have 2027 PBA Tour priority status in each of the 21 PBA Elite Regionals, as well as two spots from each region based on each region’s point list as of Aug. 31 (from last Nov. 15).
This creates a 119-player field for the RPI standard division. PBA Tour Priority Status players for 2027 can enter regional events, but they are not eligible to compete in the RPI.
Entry fee is $500 per player, with separate events and payouts for the PBA Standard and Senior divisions. Each field will have different maximums, depending on center sizes.
First place in the PBA Standard division will pay $10,000, with eighth place at $2,500. The final cash spot is projected at $1,000. In the Senior division, first place will pay $5,000, with the final cash spot at $1,000. All prize money is based on entries, with each event paying on a 1-in-3 ratio.
Each event will follow a similar format: seven qualifying games;cut to the top one-third for a four-game Advancers Round; after 11 total games, cut to the top eight for round-robin match play. There will be no stepladder finals; total pinfall will determine final placements.
STATUSES FOR 2027
In addition, the PBA also set its ground rules for priority status for both PBA Tour and PBA Senior Tour players for the 2027 season.
A player holds Priority Status for the 2027 PBA Tour season if he/she meets any of the following definitions:
- Finished the 2026 season in the top 75 on the PBA points list (if status is declined, spot does not move down the point list);
- Won any PBA national Tour title within the past 10 years (2017 through 2026);
- Is a member of the PBA Hall of Fame (Performance Category only);
- Top three from Collegiate Bowling PBA Points List (Brandon Bohn, Cuyahoga Falls’ Bryce Oliver, Dublin’s Carter Street were named in this category);
- Medical exception (Matt Taylor);
- Top three who qualify via Regional Players Invitational (RPI); and
- Top four who qualify via PBA Combine (details have yet to be announced).
The PBA also stated that the 2027 PBA Tour schedule will be exclusive to PBA Priority status players only with the exception of the PBA World Series of Bowling, PBA Tournament of Champions and any event run by the United States Bowling Congress (U.S. Open). That means the end of pre-tournament qualifiers (PTQs), with the exception possibly of those events.
A player will holds Priority Status for the 2027 PBA Senior Tour season if he/she meets any of these definitions:
- Finished in the top 10 on the 2026 PBA Senior Tour Points List; and
- Is a member of the PBA Hall of Fame (Senior & Performance Category Only).
The information for all of the priority statuses and rules are located under each regional event on the PBA’s regional tour page at: https://www.pba.com/pba-tour/pba-regional-tour. Also, there is a complete list of all 21 regional events. The final event for the Midwest region in November has yet to be announced.
The rules are contained in the tournament notes for each of the 21 regional events on the main PBA Regional Tour page. Nothing is posted on the home page or under each of the individual region pages.
Hosting sites reportedly will pay $10,000 to the PBA in addition to the rise in entry fees from $250 to $500. But that could change if a site is able to draw enough to cover the prize funds via entry fees, according to reports.
This story will be updated as warranted.