Greenville to host ‘Largest Event Ever’ in 2028
July 25, 2024
The world’s largest bowling event is coming to Greenville, bringing significant dollars with it.
The Greenville Convention Center will host to the 124th U.S. Bowling Congress (USBC) Open Championships from March to July 2028. The event is the largest participatory bowling event in the world. It will attract 55,000 bowlers to the area and create 80 to 100 new jobs at the Greenville Convention Center.
The tournament is expected have an economic impact of more than $70 million, requiring an estimated 60,000 room nights at area hotels and lodging establishments. It will be the single largest event Greenville has ever hosted.
“This is a huge win for our community,” Heath Miller said. “With the announcement we are excited to get to work with our local hospitality business es to ensure that the bowlers and the guests arrive in Greenville and it’s the best bowling championship they’ve ever experienced.”
“I’m a believer in sharing our city,” City Councilor Dorothy Dowe said. “We are a city with a lot of pride. When we’re attracting people from around the globe to come see Greenville, South Carolina and the special place that it is, I am honored to be able to show that.”
To accommodate the USBC Open Championships, the Greenville Convention Center’s Hall B will transform into a bowling alley, featuring 60 lanes and multiple pieces of equipment. The event will host 400 bowlers playing 20 hours per day for more than 150 days. Following the tournament, the wood and electrical materials from the lanes will be donated to Habitat for Humanity and used to construct three new homes.
“We’re going to be focusing on making sure that everybody who comes through the convention center on these long days and many months get a unique experience,” Matt Hollander, General Manager of the Greenville Convention Center, said. “We will create an experience that’s uniquely Greenville but that fits with the needs of the bowlers.”
For comparison, the largest event hosted in the City of Greenville up to this point has been the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which the city has hosted multiple times. In 2024, the estimated economic impact from the SEC was $16 million over the course of five days. The USBC Open Championships are expected to bring in more than four times that amount over a five-month time period.
The USBC Championships are regularly hosted in Reno and Las Vega, Nev. Other host cities in recent years have included El Paso, Texas (2015), Syracuse, N.Y. (2018) and Baton Rouge, La (2025). Reno and Las Vegas will host championships in 2026 and 2027 respectively, before the tournament comes to Greenville in 2028.
“It really is special when you see folks that really go the extra mile,” USBC Executive Director Chad Murphy said. “And this market really has done that. I want to thank Heath , Matt and and all the local leaders who really got behind this project from the get go.”
Partners presenting the 2028 Open Championship are VisitGreenvilleSC, the City of Greenville, Greenville County, South Carolina Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism, Greenville Convention Center and USBC.
