A bowl game is being played in the beach.

WANT TO START YOUR OWN FRANCHISE?

Click on the "Create A Franchise" button at the top right of this page!

What Is the X-League?

Two people standing next to each other in a bowling alley, part of a league.

About The X-League

The X-League is a traveling bowling league in which multiple franchises compete twice a month on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, in a 16-18 week scheduled season, in YOUR local houses, specifically designed for all levels of bowlers. The X-League has multiple divisions throughout the state, with multiple states competing, with the goal of having bowling franchises in all of the lower 48 states.

Why Bowl In The X-League?

The X-League was designed for many reasons, but the main reason is to fulfill what other leagues fail to do, such as more transparency, higher and quicker payouts, bowlers receiving recognition awards for accomplishments during X-League competition, quicker updated stats and standings, and year to year constant rolling X-League averages. Just because you may average higher in your home house, and not other houses, should not mean you should carry that average to every house you go to. You will have your own X-League average going with you as you compete. This creates a more even playing field for all scratch and handicap bowlers, making more bowlers more useful, thus, increasing participation. For a typical 18-week season, X-League can guarantee a prize fund of $25,000, for every eight X-League franchises. And it'll work in multiples as well. So for 16 franchises, X-League can guarantee $50,000, 32 franchises $100,000...320 franchises $1,000,000. The fact is, there's no limit to the amount of franchises.

What Are The Benefits of Bowling X-League?

As bowling evolved over the last 20 years, bowlers started slowly realizing that they just weren't getting anything back like they used to. X-League solved that problem for those that cared about it.

X-League is a proud supporter of the United States military, and as you progress in the military by your rank, the same will happen in X-League. X-League will keep track of your total pinfall every time you compete, on our easy-to-use website that's not full of clutter.

For example: Once you hit 10,000 pins, your rank will go up, and you will be considered a 2nd Lieutenant. And every 10,000 pins thereafter, your rank will improve, and you'll receive a customized Dog Tag for each level you surpass. In fact, you'll receive Dog Tags for a variety of accomplishments, such as 300 games, 800 series, 100 pins over average, and 150 pins over average on series. There's even a Dog Tag if you sweep your opponents, plus many more. Think of it as Call of Duty meets bowling. Here's the ranking chart.

0 Pins: 2nd Lieutenant

10,000 Pins: 1st Lieutenant

20,000 Pins: Captain

30,000 Pins: Major

40,000 Pins: Lieutenant Colonel

50,000 Pins: Colonel

60,000 Pins: Brigadier General

70,000 Pins: Major General

80,000 Pins: Lieutenant General

90,000 Pins: General

100,000 Pins: 5-Star General of the X-League

The website will rank in order of where you stand in overall pinfall from top to bottom. Do you want to be higher in rank? No problem, just bowl more.

What If I Can't Bowl All The Time?

Simple. Each franchise in X-League has its own roster that they compile with their friends and other bowling teammates. The roster is comprised of a maximum of 30 players. You only need 9 bowlers for each tour stop. So if you can't bowl, just tell your team you are not available. Your franchise owner will make the lineup, and submit it to X-League two days prior to competition, without the other team knowing your lineup. You'll know who your opponent is at the start of the competition.

So How Does X-League Work?

X-League will provide a schedule to all franchise owners in August, along with information such as date, time, and location. It's THEIR responsibility to get nine bowlers (a starting lineup). You may want to ask an "alternate" to show up in case someone can't make it last second. Franchise owners get to choose a "Home House" to represent their team. Other franchises may use the same house.

The nine bowlers will be split into 3 sets of trios across 3 pairs of lanes matching up against another franchise, bowling three games on a typical house shot, NO SPORT SHOTS. The first pair (of 3) is the "Scratch Pair". The second pair (of 3) is the "Handicap Pair," of which handicap is based on 80% of 240. The third pair (of 3) is the "Second Handicap Pair," of which handicap is based on 80% of 240. However, this pair can only have bowlers averaging 215 or less.

X-League uses a 25-point match play system per pair. One point vs. your opponent, two points vs. your opponents' series, two points per game won, four for wood, and 5 points for overall wood. That's 80 points that can be won at every tour stop. These points are what determine standings.

Each tour stop will have its own Tour Stop Representative (TSR) to make sure everything runs smoothly, and the bowling alley will get paid directly from X-League prior to the competition.

This X-League Thing Sounds Cool. What's The Cost?

To sign up for X-League, a franchise owner pays a one-time initial fee of $499. Typically, the franchise owner would divvy up the cost amongst their roster, hence, reducing the cost per bowler. For a roster of 30, the cost would be a one-time fee of about $16/bowler.

BUT.....For the starting year of the 2023 - 2024 season, this fee is waived to help start up the X-League properly. This will be the only year this fee is waived.

The franchise owner will recruit their own roster. The franchise owner has big shoes to fill, as they will be responsible for collecting money from all bowlers on the roster in the form of a sanction, which costs $30/yr, which is due before September 1 every year. This goes towards awards and maintenance of the website. There are team dues annually which are $300, which are paid every year from the second year on. This is also due before September 1st. This goes towards paying our tour stop employees helping out at the tour stops, as well as our Super Regional directors. If you compete, tour stops cost $40 per bowler. If you don't compete, you don't pay. Finally, there's one more thing covered in the next section...personalized team jerseys!

So, in short:

A one-time entry fee of $499, which is waived for 2023

A team dues of $300 annually (about $10/bowler)

A sanction fee of $30/bowler is paid once a year

A tour stop fee of $40 per bowler every time they compete

Three people participating in a league pose for a photo at a bowling alley.

A man participating in a bowling league, standing in front of a bowling lane.

Team Jerseys

X-League requires all franchises obviously to have team names, but in addition, fully sublimated jerseys to go along with it, and your last name on the back.

These jerseys are made with a very lightweight weave and are extremely breathable while drying very quickly. Sizes range from S - 6XL, so we can fit anyone. Each franchise can custom design its own jerseys with assistance from our exclusive vendor out in NJ. Each team can design its own logo, and they can have their own color scheme, OR if you can't do that, have one of our specialists help you design one. Proofs can go back and forth until you are satisfied with the design.

In addition, you can also get an alternate jersey to go with your standard jersey. So, in other words, you could rock a blue, black, and gold jersey, AND also have a blue, white, and orange jersey, both with the same logo on the front. This gives the individual bowler a choice of which jersey they would like. If you like both, get both! Either jersey can be worn at the tour stops, but they MUST be worn with the bowler's last name on the back.

Jersey costs typically start at $45, depending on the size. Franchise owners will be responsible for the initial bulk order, including the amount of jerseys, sizes, alternate or standard, as well as the proper spelling of last names on the back of jerseys. If two people have the same last name, first initials can be used. The turnaround on jerseys typically takes less than weeks.

Any additional jerseys after that can be ordered one by one simply by going through our vendor.

What Happens If I Don't Like
My Team Anymore?

We understand that some things just don't work out the way you hoped. For that reason, you would have a few options.

X-League has implemented a 365-day OPT-OUT period. At this point, if you want to join another team, you can, as long as they have room. But you'll need to order THEIR jersey with YOUR name, AND you'll need a minimum of 9 games on your new team if you want to be eligible for playoffs. You can only switch teams one time per season.

The other option? Start your OWN team!

In addition to bowler's rights, there are also franchise owner's rights. A franchise owner could remove a bowler from their roster at any time, but MUST have consent from the bowler in order for this to happen.

A league of people bowling in a bowling alley.

What Happens If I Can't Field Nine Bowlers To A Tour Stop?

People are busy. It is what it is. X-League allows you to take a blind. The blind rules are 10% off an average of 200 which would be a 180 average plus handicap (80% of 240). And yes, your blind could win points.

Also, keep in mind, you could always recruit during the season if you feel you may be short often!

What Average Do I Use To Start?

Upon signing up, X-League will receive your USBC sanction number when your franchise owner submits their initial roaster. Your average will be calculated based on your last two years of bowling, regardless of how many games it was, where it was bowled, or when bowled, even the summer. At that point, you'll have your "Initial Average (I.A.)". After bowling eighteen games, you will now use your "Rolling Average" forever. But you can't drop 15 pins below your Initial Average.

Description: Two men sitting in a bowling alley league with luggage.

Is There a Dress Code?

Yes. Your jersey. You can wear shorts, jeans, skirts, sweatpants, or anything else you're comfortable in!

In addition, through our online store, you can order almost anything. Hats, hoodies, towels, flags, windbreakers, t-shirts...all specifically designed with your franchise logo and colors.

What If X-League Gets Really Big?

X-League could only get really big by people like yourselves, people who want to bowl for competition.

The goal is to have X-League in all lower 48 states. With that in place, playoffs would be insane. They would run similarly to the Little League World Series, where states would be placed in one of eight Super Regional areas in the country.

It would look like this:

Northeast Super Regional:

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island

Metro Super Regional:

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia

Mid-Atlantic Super Regional:

Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana

Southeast Super Regional:

South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana

Mid-West Super Regional:

Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

Plains Super Regional:

North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas

Mountain Super Regional:

Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas

West Coast Super Regional:

California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana

A Round Robin of 5 matches will occur during Super Regional play. The team with the highest point total moves on to the eight-team, double-elimination bracket for a chance at a national title.

At this point, we think X-League will have 800 teams and a $2.5M prize fund, with the National Championship worth $100,000. We think a few sports networks would have some interest in televising this, so get your hair cut!