The PBA has set the dates for the two events that now decide who joins the PBA Tour from outside its priority list.
The 2026 PBA Regional Players Invitational, presented by USBC, runs Dec. 10-13 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada, and the first PBA Combine follows Dec. 16-18 at the Kegel Training Center in Lake Wales, Florida.
Between them, they hand out seven priority spots for the 2027 season.
The Regional Players Invitational, or RPI, is the season-ending event of the PBA's regional circuit. This year it caps the first season of the new PBA ELITE Regional Tour, and the PBA calls it the only major of the ELITE regional season.
How the RPI Works?
The top 123 regional players qualify for Reno. They bowl 18 games of qualifying, and the top three after those 18 games earn priority status on the 2027 PBA Tour. Players who finish fourth through 15th, earn invitations to the Combine.
The total prize fund is $125,000 across the PBA and PBA Senior divisions.
The PBA division winner takes $15,000 and the senior winner $10,000, the same top prizes as at last December's RPI in Reno.
Every frame will be streamed live on BowlTV.
What the First PBA Combine Adds
The Combine is new. PBA CEO Pete Murray announced it in August as an event to measure, identify and recognize top regional players for the national tour. The 12 invited players meet at Kegel's training center in Florida, and the top four earn 2027 priority status.
Yet, the PBA has not yet published the Combine's format, scoring or any entry cost. Our 2027 PBA schedule with 30 live events listed the Combine as "January (TBA)" when the schedule came out in October.
Here is the full path from a regional event to the 2027 Tour:
From Regional to Priority Status
Seven 2027 priority spots: three at the RPI, four at the Combine.
Why This Is Now the Main Road Onto the Tour
Under the details the PBA released in August, the 2027 PBA Tour is limited to priority status players, with three exceptions: the PBA World Series of Bowling, the PBA Tournament of Champions and any event run by USBC, 11thFrame reported. That ends the PBA Tour Qualifiers that used to give bowlers without status a way into individual Tour events.
For a bowler without status, the route is now a regional result, a top-123 place in Reno, and then either a top-three finish in qualifying or a top-four finish at the Combine. Seven players will make it through. The rest of the 2027 calendar, including the first PBA Playoffs and what changes in the 2027 broadcast schedule, is already public.
Who Has Earned a Place in Reno So Far
The top five finishers without PBA Tour priority status in every ELITE regional event earn an automatic RPI berth. The ELITE tour has 21 events across seven regions this fall, three per region.
At Central Regional 3 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Nov. 1, Graham Fach won his 20th PBA regional title and Tom Adcock took the senior title. Zac Tackett, Dean Vargo, Emmanuel McPherson, Jorge Rodriguez and Will Vidulich earned their places in Reno from that event, along with seniors Ron Hurt and Larry Verble.
This weekend, Nov. 6-8, the East, South and West regions held their third events at Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Delaware, Saint Lucie Lanes in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas. At those events the highest pinfall total wins each division, with no stepladder final.
Three more events close the ELITE season on Nov. 13-15: Southwest Regional 3 at Whitewood Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, Midwest Regional 3 at St. Charles Lanes in St. Charles, Missouri, and Northwest Regional 3 at Bowlero Lanes of Lakewood in Lakewood, Washington. After that, the regional season moves to Reno.
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