by Bill Vint

GEICO, one of America’s largest automobile insurers with more than 17 million policyholders, will celebrate its 12th anniversary as a primary partner of the Professional Bowlers Association by serving as the Entitlement Partner of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI.

The multi-event international bowling competition will be held Oct. 24 through Nov. 2 at South Point Casino, Hotel and Bowling Center in Las Vegas. The GEICO WSOB VI will feature seven ESPN-televised events, beginning Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. ET, and continuing every Sunday through Jan. 25.

The World Series will generate a significant television audience for GEICO. WSOB V reached a television audience of more than 4.5 million viewers resulting in 13 million impressions. In addition, 175,000 unique fans visited pba.com during the World Series, generating 2.5 million page views to monitor results while the event was underway.

GEICO made its debut as a PBA Tour sponsor in the 2003 GEICO Open in West Babylon, New York, and has been a PBA entitlement sponsor every year since, in addition to being one of the PBA Tour’s leading advertisers in support of PBA’s telecasts.

“The PBA’s partnership with GEICO has been mutually beneficial on all levels, and it’s especially significant when the package involves the World Series of Bowling,” said PBA Commissioner Tom Clark.

The entitlement partnership provides GEICO with more than $500,000 in measured media exposure through signage, commercial units and more over a span of two months, Clark noted. Part of the enhanced exposure includes incorporation of the GEICO logo into the official World Series logo, prime on-camera visibility on masking units above the lanes and on ball returns, as well as extensive audio recognition.

Over the years, the PBA has been able to dramatically expand the exposure it provides to GEICO, he continued. In addition to exposure on ESPN telecasts, GEICO is prominently featured in more than 50 hours of live, online video streaming coverage through Xtra Frame, the PBA’s Internet bowling channel that didn’t exist when the PBA and GEICO began their relationship.

The GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling will award more than $650,000 in prize money, making it the richest event in professional bowling. A sold-out field of 240 bowlers representing a record-tying 21 different countries is already confirmed. Since its inception, the WSOB has welcomed bowlers from 36 different countries.

The PBA’s growing legion of international bowling fans will also follow the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling on pba.com’s live scoring feature as well as on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.