We have two big projects for 2022 in a monumental year for our sport.
A national Pay and Play Booking Platform – PlayBowls
What this is?
- A mobile-friendly website enabling people to book and pay for rink time.
Why this is important?
- To help our sport become much more accessible to a potentially large and growing audience of people who want to play bowls casually and will be searching for online recreational activity. The platform would make it easy for clubs to evolve and manage the demand from this casual audience.
What this will do?
- Provide the sport with a destination to signpost new participants.
- Give clubs a valuable new service and open up a new revenue stream for them.
- Provide data of this new audience, which can help us promote new opportunities to people who try the game.
What’s the latest?
- The platform has been designed with the support of workshops from club leaders.
- It is currently being built and we are hoping that participating clubs will be able to register, add their club information and upload rink space from Mid-June.
- In our marketing during the Games period, we will be promoting this platform.
A new, shorter, casual form of the Game
What this is?
- A game format that can be enjoyed by players of all ages and abilities in an hour.
Why this is important?
- Whether through PlayBowls, or within a club membership offer, our research tells us there is critical need to create a form of the game that is appealing and ‘consumable’ for a new audience. It should fit into an hour booking slot with a clear start and finish. Each bowl should be meaningful providing that balance of challenge and competition, with a sense of fun.
What this will do?
- Provide a product to signpost to new participants and give people who are starting to play bowls a consistently easy and addictive new experience that fits into their lifestyles.
- Increase participation levels and also provide a gateway towards people playing other forms of the game if they want to commit further.
- Diversify our participant base.
What’s the latest?
- We have developed the format and rules, and tested this with prospective new bowlers – they loved it!
- We are now developing the brand of the new game, and sourcing a resource pack so that clubs will be able to start delivering it during and after the Commonwealth Games.