Building a Broadcast-Ready Brand for the PBA
When Lucky Strike Entertainment acquired the Professional Bowlers Association in 2019, the goal was to give the PBA the visual presence of a major televised sport. Working first as Art Director and later Creative Director, I helped establish a cohesive direction across the tour, creating identities for major tournaments and extending them across social, email, print, motion and the live broadcast environment.
Role
Art Director → Creative Director
Timeline
2019–2024
Scope
Brand evolution, tournament identities, integrated campaigns, motion and broadcast graphics
Maintaining the Tour, then Moving It Forward
Following the late 2019 acquisition, the immediate priority was supporting the upcoming 2020 tournament schedule. Our team absorbed the PBA creative and continued working within its existing visual language while learning the demands of the tour.
When the pandemic cut the 2020 season short, the unexpected pause gave us room to rethink the brand and begin building a more cohesive system for its return.
A Tournament System Built to Scale
Select tournament identities from the 2021 season. Sponsored lockups varied by event and season.
The 2021 season introduced a distinct identity for each televised tournament. I developed each look around the event’s format, history and sponsor requirements, while shared typography, color and image treatments connected them back to one PBA Tour.
Players Championship:
A Campaign System
6 TELEVISED EVENTS · 25 BOWLERS · 1 CHAMPION
The Players Championship opened the 2021 season. I created the full campaign across email, social, in-location and broadcast materials, supporting the registration period and six televised events over two months. As the first major rollout of the year, the work established a flexible framework that influenced PBA tournament creative throughout the season and in the years that followed, while preserving an identity unique to the Players Championship.
Select social assets spanning five regional finals and the championship, including countdowns, tune-in promotion, standings and winner announcements.
Every possible advancing-player and winner variation was prepared before each broadcast, allowing the PBA to publish results as the tournament unfolded.
From Registration to Broadcast
The email campaign supported two distinct audiences, beginning with professional bowlers during registration and shifting to fans as the televised tournament unfolded. A consistent visual system connected each phase while adapting to broadcast details, regional matchups and required sponsor messaging.
Click to enlarge.
Designed for Broadcast
Graphics Built for the Set
The broadcast environment introduced a new set of production requirements, including three custom screen formats used throughout the FOX set. I designed and animated a reusable system that included player-specific graphics, tournament branding and dedicated sponsor screens. Player graphics could be quickly updated for each athlete and triggered live as the active bowler changed. In this video, the clean animation shows the complete design, while the broadcast footage shows how it functioned on set.
Versions of the broadcast screens were also incorporated into the PBA video game and remain in use there today.
Building Athlete Recognition
To help new viewers connect with the competition, ten athlete profiles were created for the PBA Playoffs and aired during FOX broadcasts. The Creative Director and I developed the format together and each produced five profiles, tailoring the story and visual treatment to the personality and background of each bowler while working with existing footage and photography.
A Foundation for the Next Five Years
What began as a visual reset for the 2021 season became the foundation for PBA creative over the next five years. As the system matured, I shifted ongoing production to other designers on my team, providing templates and direction that maintained consistency while allowing each tournament to evolve with new sponsors and formats. The identities remained in use through 2024 and continued to guide the work after PBA production transitioned to a dedicated designer outside my creative team.