Investment begins to pay off for Vienna Open organizers
10/01/08
When Wolfgang Lohschmid and Helmut Amstätter (r-l) invested thousands of dollars into a new event called the Vienna Open in 2003, they were labeled as "crazy" by their friends in Austria. But their crazy, yet necessary, risk is finally starting to pay dividends.
The Columbia 300 Vienna Open is now one of the biggest events on the European Bowling Tour, helping to raise Austria's profile as a bowling nation.
This year's Vienna Open, which began Tuesday and concludes with Sunday's finals, is expected to draw 291 players from 28 countries to compete for a prize fund of more than 65,000 Euro, or about $90,000 in U.S. dollars. It is expected to be the third largest of 18 events on this year's European Bowling Tour in terms of the numbers of participants.
"Everyone thought we were crazy because they thought we would lose a lot of money, and of course we did lose a lot of money," Lohschmid said. "We paid close to 12,000 out of our pocket the first year we were on the European Tour."
The risk, however, was a necessary one to get the event underway and give it the high profile of being a part of the European Bowling Tour.
"We had been talking for three or four years about having a big tournament in Austria," said Lohschmid, who initially began the tournament as a memorial to well-respected Austrian bowler Josef Schrammel, who died in 2000 after suffering a stroke. "I knew we couldn't get any sponsorship for a new tournament, so we had to put our own money in or it would never happen."
Not all of the investment has been returned to Lohschmid and Amstätter yet, but as the tournament continues to be a major draw, they make a little more money each year.
"I calculated it would take about three years before the tournament broke even and we could start making some money," Lohschmid said. "We are still working on making back all the money we put in, but now that we are finally making some money each year I can give back some to the staff, who worked for free the first few years."
Lohschmid said one of the reasons the tournament continues to draw a big field is that the organizers listen to the bowlers and haven't been afraid to tweak the format to improve the event.
It still remains the only tournament on the European Bowling Tour that is based on a system of doubles entries instead of singles. However, nearly 85 percent of the prize money is in the singles division.
One of the next goals is to raise the prize fund even higher by attracting more sponsors. Another crucial goal is to increase participation by players from the United States.
"Any American player is welcome to come and bowl in our event, not just the professionals," Lohschmid said. "We want the players from the home country of bowling, the United States, to come and represent their country."
In the past, players like current and former Team USA members Bill Hoffman, Diandra Asbaty, Andrew Cain, Mark Siders and David Haynes have come to compete in the Vienna Open. This year, Lynda Barnes will compete for the first time.
"Our main goal is that the players have fun and enjoy themselves," Amstätter said. "We want them to enjoy Vienna and hopefully they will come back in the future."
For complete coverage of the 2008 Columbia 300 Vienna Open, including standings and updates after each squad, visit Bowlingdigital.com.
Column
By Lucas Wiseman
When Wolfgang Lohschmid and Helmut Amstätter (r-l) invested thousands of dollars into a new event called the Vienna Open in 2003, they were labeled as "crazy" by their friends in Austria. But their crazy, yet necessary, risk is finally starting to pay dividends.
The Columbia 300 Vienna Open is now one of the biggest events on the European Bowling Tour, helping to raise Austria's profile as a bowling nation.
This year's Vienna Open, which began Tuesday and concludes with Sunday's finals, is expected to draw 291 players from 28 countries to compete for a prize fund of more than 65,000 Euro, or about $90,000 in U.S. dollars. It is expected to be the third largest of 18 events on this year's European Bowling Tour in terms of the numbers of participants.
"Everyone thought we were crazy because they thought we would lose a lot of money, and of course we did lose a lot of money," Lohschmid said. "We paid close to 12,000 out of our pocket the first year we were on the European Tour."
The risk, however, was a necessary one to get the event underway and give it the high profile of being a part of the European Bowling Tour.
"We had been talking for three or four years about having a big tournament in Austria," said Lohschmid, who initially began the tournament as a memorial to well-respected Austrian bowler Josef Schrammel, who died in 2000 after suffering a stroke. "I knew we couldn't get any sponsorship for a new tournament, so we had to put our own money in or it would never happen."
Not all of the investment has been returned to Lohschmid and Amstätter yet, but as the tournament continues to be a major draw, they make a little more money each year.
"I calculated it would take about three years before the tournament broke even and we could start making some money," Lohschmid said. "We are still working on making back all the money we put in, but now that we are finally making some money each year I can give back some to the staff, who worked for free the first few years."
Lohschmid said one of the reasons the tournament continues to draw a big field is that the organizers listen to the bowlers and haven't been afraid to tweak the format to improve the event.
It still remains the only tournament on the European Bowling Tour that is based on a system of doubles entries instead of singles. However, nearly 85 percent of the prize money is in the singles division.
One of the next goals is to raise the prize fund even higher by attracting more sponsors. Another crucial goal is to increase participation by players from the United States.
"Any American player is welcome to come and bowl in our event, not just the professionals," Lohschmid said. "We want the players from the home country of bowling, the United States, to come and represent their country."
In the past, players like current and former Team USA members Bill Hoffman, Diandra Asbaty, Andrew Cain, Mark Siders and David Haynes have come to compete in the Vienna Open. This year, Lynda Barnes will compete for the first time.
"Our main goal is that the players have fun and enjoy themselves," Amstätter said. "We want them to enjoy Vienna and hopefully they will come back in the future."
For complete coverage of the 2008 Columbia 300 Vienna Open, including standings and updates after each squad, visit Bowlingdigital.com.