What Changes in the 2027 Season

The PBA has announced its
2027 Tour broadcast schedule,
with 30 live events planned from February through June.

We took a closer look at how it compares with recent seasons – from formats to
the new channels to watch bowling – here is what is changing and which
questions remain unanswered.

PBA Playoffs

The announcement presents the 2027 PBA Playoffs as something new, though fans
will recognise the name from six editions held since 2019.

The most recent was in 2025, when
Jesper Svensson defeated EJ Tackett in the final.
That year, 12 players competed for a $300,000 prize fund, with $100,000
going to the winner.

For 2027, the field will expand to 33 bowlers. Coverage begins on June 10 on
CBS Sports Network and continues through the semifinals on June 19. The World
Championship finals follow that day on CBS and Paramount+.

Qualification details and the prize fund are still to come, along with a
fuller picture of how the new format will work.

Two More Sundays on The CW

Peter Murray looks to be following through on his plans for a bigger PBA
season. When
BowlingLife asked him earlier this year
whether fans could expect more Tour stops in 2027, his answer was simple:
“Absolutely.” The expanded broadcast schedule is a step in that direction,
with The CW’s weekly run growing from ten Sundays to twelve.

It starts with PBA Opening Weekend in Los Angeles on February 21 and runs
through the Tournament of Champions on May 9.

Most shows will air from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern. The April 11 doubles broadcast
is the exception, moving to 1 to 3 p.m. Across the twelve shows, that adds up
to 24 scheduled hours, compared with 20 in 2026.

The schedule also introduces four dates under the PBA Signature Series name.
These look likely to fill the role of the regular Tour events billed as
Classics last season, although that remains unconfirmed.

It would be no surprise to see some of those events take on sponsor names as
the season gets closer. For now, the Signature Series titles leave room for
that possibility, with venues and formats still to be announced.

The Players Championship Moves Back

All five majors remain, but the Players Championship moves away from its place
as the season opener. Its final shifts from February 22 in 2026 to April 18 in
2027.

Starting with a major gives the season an immediate highlight, but a little
build-up has its value too. Players get time to find their rhythm, while fans
settle back into following the Tour.
Brandon Bonta, who fired 300 to win the 2026 Players Championship,
might disagree, of course.

Still, with 30 live events on the broadcast schedule, it makes sense to give
viewers something to look forward to throughout the season. Awarding a major
title on the opening weekend leaves only four of those milestones ahead, so
moving the Players Championship into April gives the early events more room to
build towards them.

No Elite League on the List

With the new PBA ELITE Regional Tour taking shape, it would make sense for
the old Elite League to step aside. Either that, or the PBA is running out
of synonyms for “elite.”

The event never quite seemed to find its rhythm, with the format changing
from one season to the next. In 2024, eight teams competed across the
season for the Elias Cup. In 2025, it became Battle of the Brands, with
teams representing bowling ball manufacturers. By 2026, six teams
contested a one-day televised final.

With USA vs. The World already on the 2027 schedule, the PBA still has a team
event to offer. Perhaps there is less room for a second one as the Tour makes
space for the expanded Playoffs.

The Elite League’s changing format was not always easy to follow, and the
finals did not always deliver the close competition we hoped for. The PBA has
not announced its cancellation, and an absent broadcast slot does not
necessarily mean an absent tournament. It could return outside the published
TV schedule or in another form.

What Changes for Viewers?

The main television partners remain The CW, CBS and CBS Sports Network. The
change of networks happened in 2026, when The CW and CBS joined the Tour’s
broadcast lineup after the FOX era ended.

For 2027, every CW show will also stream live through CW Sports on the ESPN
app. This follows an agreement announced in April 2026, after that year’s PBA
run on The CW had finished.

ESPN says access to CW Sports live events is included with an
ESPN Unlimited subscription.
The television broadcasts will remain available on The CW.

Paramount+ remains part of the CBS coverage, while the schedule directs
viewers to BowlTV for qualifying rounds.

More Events To Come

Events such as the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters and Striking Against Breast
Cancer Mixed Doubles are not listed yet.

Their absence leaves room for further announcements, so the 2027 season will
include more tournaments than we currently see.