A collection of avid bowlers across the country has filed a class-action lawsuit against private equity-backed bowling giant Bowlero, accusing the company of a “multi-year anticompetitive scheme to consolidate bowling centers,” which has led to skyrocketing bowling prices, deteriorating lanes, and “the veritable destruction of the decades-old pastime of bowling in America,” according to court documents reviewed by The Lever.
In 2024, The Lever exposed the wide-ranging impacts of the Bowlero takeover, which bowlers say has led to a decline in quality at many beloved local bowling haunts.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Washington state federal court, charges Bowlero with violating federal antitrust law and state consumer protection laws as it bought up hundreds of bowling alleys around the country in its “quest to become the ‘Starbucks’ of bowling.”
Along with damages, the suit asks the court to unwind Bowlero’s acquisitions of bowling centers and the Professional Bowling Association, the premier organization for bowling as a sport, and block further consolidation.
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