A Facebook post by PBA member Alex Cavagnaro has raised concerns over discrepancies in prize payouts from the 2024 USBC Open Championships' Super-Brackets. 

According to Cavagnaro’s post, he was supposed to receive $2,960 in prize money on August 16th, but when he received his check from USBC on September 4th, that amount was missing. He then checked the standings on bowl.com and found the Super-Brackets were no longer posted.

After contacting USBC, Cavagnaro was informed that there were "problems" and he would be contacted later. Shortly after, the brackets were reposted on bowl.com, but his winnings were still not listed. Following a second call, Cavagnaro says he was told his check was accurate and that a press release might be forthcoming.

On September 5th, USBC posted a statement on its Facebook page acknowledging issues with the payouts for the 2024 USBC Open Championships' 2K Super-Brackets in the Regular, Standard, and 50+ categories. USBC confirmed that prize checks were correct, but the originally posted bracket report on bowl.com contained errors, including disqualified or ineligible bowlers.

USBC has now published the correct bracket report alongside the original, labeled as an "alternate" report. To resolve the issue, USBC will pay bowlers the highest prize amount from either report, deducting any previously paid amounts. This adjustment totals approximately $50,000 in additional prize money.

USBC apologized for the mistake and directed affected bowlers to contact the tournament staff with any questions at usbcopenchampionships@bowl.com or by calling 888-910-2695.

FULL USBC STATMENT:

With prize checks for the 2024 USBC Open Championships arriving, the tournament staff has been notified that some of the yearlong payouts for the 2K Super Brackets in the Regular, Standard and 50+ categories did not match the totals posted on BOWL.com.

After additional review, it is confirmed that prize checks are correct. However, we discovered the report with randomized bracket matchups and prize totals initially posted on BOWL.com was outdated and incorrect. That incorrect report was a version including individuals who were ineligible due to disqualification or entering in the improper division.

The correct official bracket matchups and prize total report is now published: https://bowl.com/.../2024-yearlong-brackets-and-side-pots

Of course, the bracket matchups are different in the two reports since the correct official version removed the ineligible bowlers. Therefore, some bowlers have different prize totals in each report.

While USBC rules only require paying based on the official results, we understand many bowlers saw the initial report and were excited about their winnings. We do not want anyone to receive less prize money than expected. Therefore, in the interest of good customer service, USBC will pay participants their highest prize total of the two reports, minus any prize money already paid for that product. No bowler will receive less money than what was on the initially published report.

Both reports are now published on BOWL.com. Next to the official results report is the initially published version, now labeled as “alternate.” Bowlers with a higher prize earning on the alternate report compared to the official report will receive a supplemental check for the difference. 

This is approximately $50,000 in additional prize money being added by USBC. We apologize for the inconvenience of this mistake.

If there are any additional questions or concerns, please contact the tournament staff at usbcopenchampionships@bowl.com or by calling 888-910-2695.

If you have also been impacted by the so called "problems", please reach out to me at info@vanportbowlingnews.com and share your story.