I want to thank everyone who has sent me a private message about my status and situation.  I did finish out the year fairly strong and did make the cut line for next season.  Now, the pros and cons.  I do enjoy being one of the elite in this country.  I enjoy the opportunity to make a telecast every week with a guaranteed paycheck but at what expense?  If you had asked me before the season started if I could take Deanery's season and not bowl I would have said yes!  He made 3 shows and finished top 20 in points and cashed every tournament.  That's some season,right?  Beating out 2/3's of the field on avgas. every week.  Bowling 20 tournaments and being on TV every the week.  Awesome bowling I think!  His return?  $51,000!  He put in about $28,000.  Boatman is another who made two shows and cashed every tournament, $39,000!  He put in $28,000.  This is just sad.  I don't know one regional player who wouldn't kill to have 1 of those 2 seasons.  So I'm still undecided about next year.  Only 10 bowlers eclipsed the $100,000 mark with $25,000-$30,000 invested.  Just not a good return for being the best this sport has to offer.  Most of us 30-39 point guys just lost another year in any career outside of bowling for basically minimum wage.  Did we the pa send the right message with Duke winning the money title when about 85% of his winnings came from two tournaments?  I don't know.  I do recall in the 80's when Aulby,Ballard,Voss were in the $200,000's to win the money title.  Did we jump back 20 years with the way things our now?  At least in the early 90's you had a chance for $25,000 incentive checks.  I guess is what I'm trying to say is I don't know why every other sport can advance financially and we go back.  Sorry for the ranting but these are just my feelings.  I do enjoy reading all the e mails and messages sent to me as well as the reply's to my post's.  Thanks again to everyone for their support.
I do not want to give out my name yet because I'm still undecided and wanted to keep this off any pba message board.

I cant speak for "Current Exempt" but i can tell you that you can live cheaper out there, but the difference isnt enough to make much difference. My expenses avg around $1100.00-1200.00 per week, but thats still pretty high. Some weeks are cheaper, some weeks are more expensive. The RV option is rediculous because you're basically investing at least $150,000.00 in something you will be using 20 weeks a year. Plus RVs depreciate so fast and the maintenance costs are astronomincal. So to answer your question, there is a reason why you only see about 4-5 RVs on tour now.

The problem is the locked in costs each week :
Entry Fee - $500.00
Hotel - $300.00-400.00 ( depending on the best rate you can get on priceline - and no, we do not get discounts at Motel 6 )

So right there you are around $800.00-900.00 before you even get to the site, eat, drill balls, and basically live for that week. So to be honest, if you're on Tour living for the guaranteed check you're wasting your time. Unless you have other business interests at home or other sources of income to carry you, you will be living at almost a poverty level. Yes, you can get a job at home during the off months....but you're still limited on what you can do.
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Bowl up a Storm,
Jeff Carter
www.stormbowling.com
www.jeffcarterbowling.com
www.myspace.com/jeff1295

This is some great insights from you guys. Letting us avg joe bowlers know what it really takes to be on tour week in and week out. For me, I think i could cut some of the cost out by using the same equipment week in and week out, so that would knock a few bucks off, then maybe stay somewhere else other then the sponsors hotel if you can?? I don't know how that stuff works but cost seems like they can be cut, but its still expensive reguardless.

I thought some of the bowlers have the good life but really guys with 1 million in earning have been bowling for a long time and just now getting to that mark. I wish bowling was more like football or basketball where the bowlers actually got paid what it was worth to even show up. Seems like the PBA has a decent amount of sponsers but they aren't that great and I guess just can't put out the kind of money as some sports do.

Sucks for bowling, wish I got into basketball or football now with all this talk. I thought you could make a decent living on tour without having to place top 5 just to keep your head above water. I think I'm going to stick with local tournaments so I'm not getting killed with bills and cost. Still having fun just won't be recognized for it as much.
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Throwing hambones since 2005.
www.myspace.com/nestes12

I'm pretty sure anyone who ever picked up a bowling ball and did well with it at, at one time or another thought about doing the pro thing.

I know I did.  All I could think about was making money as a pro bowler, surrounded by beautiful women, traveling acrossed the country, drinking the finest beers, staying in the nicest hotels.

This is what I thought back when I was like 15.  10 years later, reality sets in.  Living week to week, using last weeks check to try and cover my expenses for the next tournie.

As if bowling against the greatest players in the world is not stressful enough.  Now you have to worry about how you're going to eat, where you're going to sleep...that doesn't sound like my idea of fun.

I am glad that we have some real players that come and post on here, and let us know what the tour is really like.  

I personally could not do it.  I give a big thumbs up and a nod of appreciation to those that can and do.

We, as members of this sport, can only hope for these guys that something good happens, and all their hard work and sacrifice pays off.
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2007-08 Averages:

Monday: 211
Tuesday Sweeper: 223
Friday: 228
Michigan Majors: 208

Heres an example for you ( and if anybody can tell me where to cut cost, feel free to chime in ) :

2008 US Open - North Brunswick, NJ / Carolier Lanes
Entry Fee - $500.00
Hotel - $351.85 ( 49.00 / night booked on Hotwire - cheapest room i could find....remember this is the east coast )
Gas - $414.00
Food - $238.77 ( this includes 2 restaraunt meals, the rest was either Subway or Chipotle )
Thats a base total of $ 1504.62 for the week. Now this doesnt count the cost of having to have a tire replaced in Western Pennsylvania after a blowout on the side of a mountain ( almost hit the guardrail ) for $157.00.
That also does not include any drilling fees ( im fortunate that is part of my contract ). To be honest with you, i didnt do ANYTHING last week. I was pretty much either at the bowl or in the hotel room. I didnt go out, didnt drink, pretty much didnt do anything at all and my expenses were still over $1500.00 for the week.

Then i busted my butt all week in the biggest tournament in the world, with the hardest lane condition possible....finishing less than 30 pins out of match play. That means i beat 462 bowlers that entered the tournament and i made.....$1650.00 for my efforts last week. I spend 8 days on the road working my tail off for a profit of $145.00 ( i actually lost money when you factor in tire problem ). Now spend a week of you life at work, doing your job to the best of your ability and friday afternoon your boss walks in and says "we just didnt seem to have a very good week this week, so we cant afford to pay you". Thats pretty much life on Tour right now unfortunately
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Bowl up a Storm,
Jeff Carter
www.stormbowling.com
www.jeffcarterbowling.com
www.myspace.com/jeff1295

Hog gas was included in that but i did forget about the tolls. I'm glad you said that because my I-Pass worked in Pennsylvania so i didnt get receipts. Gotta do that for tax purposes....thanks for reminding me. So there was another $20.00 in tolls !!!

That $49.00 was for the Crowne Plaze too....great hotel with a great fitness center. Every once in a while we get lucky and find some great hotel deals, even though i prefer Extended Stays so i can cook my own meals most of the week.

As far as the equipment issue goes, if you're on staff you get your equipment comped. Depending on the player, drilling fees range from $40.00 to $60.00 per ball. Most guys avg 1 ball per week, and some guys avg up to 3-4 per week. Personally, i have averaged about 1 ball per week over the last 5 seasons. I'm not one to drill a lot of balls, but the way we burn them up we need to replace balls with fresh coverstocks every now and then. Unfortunately drilling fees are the least of our financial worries. Unless you are being paid by a manufacturer ( or multiple companies ), its tough to make decent money. If you are on staff you can make incentive money if you make a show, but even those amounts have dwindled over the years. After that you have to rely on outside interests to supplement your income.
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Bowl up a Storm,
Jeff Carter
www.stormbowling.com
www.jeffcarterbowling.com
www.myspace.com/jeff1295