US Bowling Congress delays 2 women’s championship events in Reno. 2024 tourney is a go
Next year’s USBC Women’s Championships will be held in Reno but the 2025 and 2030 events will be moved.
Jason Hidalgo
Two big annual bowling events scheduled in Reno will be moved to a later date as the U.S. Bowling Congress shuffles its Women’s Championships schedule in different cities.
The 2025 and 2030 USBC Women’s Championships in Reno will instead return to the city at a later year, according to an agreement between the organization and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
The RSCVA board of directors voted to approve the change at its May meeting in response to a request from the USBC. As part of the agreement, the events will be held in Reno in 2028 and 2033 instead.
More:Bowling returns to Reno with two major championships at the National Bowling Stadium
The USBC tournaments are considered a key economic driver for the area. In 2021, the RSCVA estimated the economic impact of the USBC Women's Championships alone to be $32.7 million.
The agreement approved by the RSCVA board prevents the USBC from having to pay damages to the tourism authority.
“That penalty will come due if we refuse to do this (amendment) and they still refuse to hold the tournament,” said Ben Kennedy, RSCVA legal counsel. “But the way we’re amending it, that penalty is not in play.”
The original contract requires USBC to pay $1 million if it does not hold the Women’s Championships in Reno. The contract also has a $2 million penalty for not holding the USBC Open Championships in Reno.
The 2023 USBC Open Championships is already running through July 24 at Reno’s National Bowling Stadium. Reno is also scheduled to host the 2024 USBC Women’s Championships.
The 2024 women’s tournament was originally supposed to take place at Cincinnati’s Western Bowl. The USBC, however, announced this January that it is shifting the event to Reno. As part of the schedule change, Cincinnati will hold the 2027 tournament instead.
The USBC’s tournament schedule was adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation of its bowling events, including in Reno, in 2020.