Does your club need £6,000 next Winter?

Winter League

We make no secret of the fact that almost all nine host clubs in the Winter League joined in specifically to make money. They continue to do that with two of our 9 clubs reporting a profit of over £6,000 over the Winter months. Even clubs without a bar to boost profits are reporting income approaching £4,000. Let us look at those figures more closely.

The regular Summer activity of bowling several times a week provides a good income for many clubs with bar sales to replenish the bottom line. Yet that only lasts for 6 months of the year and thereafter many clubs become a financial burden on members, with few, if any opportunities to generate some much-needed income.

It is an annual balancing act for many clubs of finding some occasional way to entice members into the clubhouse to spend some money and stock up the reserves to see them through the barren Winter months.

Could your club welcome an extra means of guaranteed income? Have you thought about becoming a host club for the 2026-27 Winter League bowling season? We have clubs making up to £6,000 profit from hosting a 14-week season. Three hours of bowling one day a week for 14 weeks.

The green fees paid by the visiting teams produce an instant £1,344. Food sales and a weekly raffle should produce a minimum £150 per week which adds up to another £2,100 over the course of the season. The running total has now reached £3,444. This is all profit.

On top of that an extra bowling date for the Winter Cup played on each host green with the total numbers of bowlers entering varying but have reached over 30, generating say another £150. We rotate the Finals Day of the competition between the host clubs which again provide another cash-raising opportunity. Add to that bar sales which vary from club to club but are becoming as much a feature of Winter bowling as the bowling itself. Some of the host clubs have introduced Christmas parties for their bowlers putting on food, a quiz and a raffle which again add considerably to the bank balance.

Our annual presentation events have become so popular that we have to break the event into two separate events to cater for the demand. This has become a real cash generator for the host clubs with over 200 bowlers attending each year and more money-raising opportunities abound.

The Winter League has generated thousands of pounds income for bowling clubs over the past five years and there appears to be an insatiable demand for more team places in the League. The only thing that is likely to slow down the expansion of the League is the lack of enough bowling greens to run the competition on. This is a win-win situation.

If you think that your club might be interested in attending a session explaining what the role of a host club actually entails then you will be welcome to join us at Netherton Con Club next Thursday. It is a normal bowling day there for Division 6 teams on that day but from 12noon a 30-minute session in the clubhouse is open to everyone to learn everything you could ever wish to learn about Winter bowling, with plenty of time to ask any questions you may have.

Bring your greenkeeper with you so that he can cross-examine the greenkeepers from our current host greens. Some of our greens are playing their sixth consecutive year without a rest. It can be done.

We look forward to welcoming you to Netherton Con on Thursday 13 November for a 12noon start. Before attending you may wish to refresh your memory of what these sessions are all about as covered in these two previous postings on the website.

Can the Winter League be too popular? Winter League Open Day