It’s not high-tech, and that’s kinda the point. Everything from golf to shuffleboard to soccer has gotten digitized and gamified, but fowling (rhymes with bowling) is reassuringly analog and old school. The idea is simple and so crazy, it actually works: You throw a football, knock down bowling pins, and…well, that’s it.
North Texas has gotten a taste of the game since last year, when a Fowling Warehouse location opened in a former warehouse at 1714 14th Street in East Plano. At 71,000 square feet, it’s the largest of the company’s five venues. The first one opened in Hamtramck, Michigan, in 2014, with others following in Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, and Texas.
You may be asking, who got the idea of mixing footballs and bowling pins? That streak of genius is claimed by Fowling Warehouse founder and Detroit-area entrepreneur Chris Hutt. While tailgating at the Indianapolis 500 in 2001, Hutt and a group of his friends came up with the idea of the football-bowling pin mashup. A growing cult following sprang up for their somewhat wacky invention, leading Hutt to turn it into a full-on sports entertainment concept.
The concept was brought to Plano by Connor Ligon, a local entrepreneur who now serves as president of Fowling Warehouse DFW.
40 ‘fowling lanes,’ a VIP lounge, and more
The Plano Fowling Warehouse location features 40 “fowling” lanes, three bars, 24 TVs that range all the way up to 300 inches, and a full kitchen. A VIP lounge offers six private lanes, a private bar and cocktail waitstaff, “luminescent club seating,” Bluetooth music connectivity, and “an exclusive projector viewing experience.”
As the holidays approach, the Plano location is offering a “Trivia Night and Wing Wednesday” on November 22 and a “Tournament Tuesday” on November 28, with single-elimination tournament-style play and a cash prize. You can learn more, and see video of Fowling Warehouse both inside and out, at its website.
Food at the Fowling Warehouse in Plano [Photo: Fowling Warehouse
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