EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 
In order to capitalize on the untapped growth potential that exists with the sport of bocce, Palazzo di Bocce, Inc. has established an entity, the Professional Bocce Organization (PBO). Until now, no formal organized professional tour, either in the United States or abroad, existed for the sport of Bocce. Hundreds of individually run “money” tournaments are held yearly across Europe but only an amateur regulatory system is in place.  The function if the PBO is to serve as the organizational and regulatory body for what will eventually become a world-wide professional bocce tour (The PBO Tour). This tour will co-exist with existing amateur sanctioning organizations, to the eventual betterment of bocce.
 
Because of its all inclusive format, the sport of bocce (and its derivatives) claims the status of being second only to soccer in the number of participants around the world who play regularly. The strategic aspects of competitive bocce, as well as a newly perceived “hip-ness” of the sport have been shown to appeal to the young/middle aged, educated, technically minded demographic. Aging baby boomers in America and across the globe are also rediscovering the appeal of a moderately exerting, social sport they are able to enjoy well into their golden years. Combine these two groups and one finds a broad range of prospective fans and participants for an organized, televised, competitive tour.
 
In 2007, the PBO will move the eighth annual Battaglia Bocce Invitational (BBI) from its traditional October date to September. Already the premier single “money” bocce event in North America, the 2007 BBI will be utilized as a pilot tournament to enable the PBO to alter and troubleshoot the tournament format in order to obtain optimal broadcast appeal. In 2008 The BBI will return to its traditional October date and be rolled into the PBO tour as a “Masters” type event.
 
The inaugural full season of the tour, 2008, will consist of six events. Four “open” qualifying tournaments will be held with the top teams from each tour stop becoming eligible to compete in the annual PBO Championship. Three Tournaments will be staged across the United States in New York, Illinois, and California, with a fourth held in Toronto, Canada. The PBO Championship will be held at Palazzo di Bocce in Orion Township, located just outside Detroit, MI. The BBI will follow the Championship and serve as the annual end-of-season Invitational, with only the finest teams in the world invited.
 
Initial broadcast plans for the full season consist of half hour broadcasts of each of the qualifying tournaments and one hour broadcasts of both the PBO Championship and BBI Invitational. Individual event as well as full season sponsorship agreements will be finalized per any restrictions set forth by the eventual broadcast carrier.
 
The following package details the history of bocce, the status of organized Bocce, intent of the PBO as an organization, PBO ownership information, basic PBO Tour operational details, and target sponsor criteria.   
 
For further information or for answers to any questions, please contact Michael Thomas, Jr. @ 248-371-9987 x 12
 
A BASIC HISTORY OF BOCCE
THE BEGININGS OF THE SPORT
Throwing an object toward a target is considered the oldest game known to mankind. Graphic representations of the sport, recorded as early as 5200 B.C., have been found in Egypt and the Middle–East. While the Bocce played today appears quite different from the ancient version, the consistently common goal of trying to come as close as possible to a fixed, yet movable, target remains intact. From this early objective, the basic rules of bocce were born. The game made its way from Egypt to Greece around 800 B.C. This early version of the game resembling what we know today as Bocce was refined by early Romans, who adopted the game from the Greeks and introduced it throughout their empire. Beginning with Emperor Augustus, bocce became the sport of statesman and rulers. The Roman influence lives on today. The game’s name, Bocce, is a derivative of the Vulgate Latin bottia, which translates as “boss”.
EUROPEAN GROWTH
European history is filled with references to Bocce, both good and bad. The Greek physician Ipocrates and Italian Renaissance man Galileo both noted that the game’s athleticism and spirit of competition rejuvenated the body and the mind. Somewhere, the claim arose that playing Bocce had great therapeutic effect in curing rheumatism, and consequently the game enjoyed rapid growth throughout Europe as the sport of nobility and peasants alike. As Bocce’s popularity grew, it began to threaten and interfere with the security of states. Kings Carlos IV and V of Spain prohibited the playing of bocce because it took too much time away from military exercises. The Republic of Venice publicly condemned the sport in 1576, and punished players with fines and imprisonment. Perhaps the gravest condemnation of Bocce came from the Catholic Church, which officially prohibited clergy and deterred the laity from playing the game by proclaiming Bocce a means of gambling.
Contrary to the rest of Europe, British nobility such as Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake were avid players. According to lore, Sir Frances Drake refused to set out to defend England against the Spanish Armada until he finished a game of Bocce. He proclaimed, "First we finish the game, then we’ll deal with the Armada!"
BOCCE COMES TO AMERICA
The sport first came to America with the English, with one early American playing field being Bowling Green at the southern tip of Manhattan. Though George Washington built a court and played regularly at Mount Vernon in the 1780s, the game did not flourish until turn of the century Italian immigrants brought their enthusiasm for the sport with them to America.
During its beginnings in the U.S. there were many versions of the game. In 1947, fifteen teams in and around the town of Rivoli (Torino) organized the first Bocce “club”, first Italian League, and the first of the yearly World Bocce Championships, bringing some order to the game. This idea of “order” soon spread to the new world, though the game is still played by several different sets of “regional rules” in the United States.
BOCCE TODAY
A GAME FOR ALL
Bocce (and its derivatives), next to soccer, is the most played game in the world today. Its appeal lies in its being a sport any person is able to enjoy. Using a court approximately 60 to 90 feet long by 8 to 12 feet wide, Bocce brings families and friends together to enjoy an inexpensive game of thought and strategy that players of all ages, genders and athletic abilities (or dis-abilities) can enjoy. As well as being able to play it in the neighborhood park or their own backyard, players are finding that many locations to play are springing up at country clubs and commercial recreational centers. No census of players exists; but the popularity of Bocce in America has been on the rise since it swept across California in 1989. It is generally accepted that there are more than 25,000,000 Bocce enthusiasts that are aware of the sport, play recreationally, or play in structured competition in the United States today. Play ranges from nearly nonexistent sets of rules for casual play to the strictest of tournament rules for organized competition.
BOCCE AS A TOURNAMENT SPORT
Millions of participants enjoy Bocce on a regular basis, with thousands of tournaments held yearly, in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Italy stages numerous highly contested inter-regional competitions every year. Hundreds of individually run “money” tournaments are held yearly across Europe with international play most common between Italy, Switzerland, and France. There is even a championship Cup provided by the prince of Monaco, which traditionally has been won yearly by Italy. Tournaments are held weekly around the world, some carrying large cash awards for their winners. Bocce is also a part of the World Corporate Games, is an event in the Special Olympics, and is being proposed to be in the Olympics.
CURRENT SANCTIONING BODIES
On the amateur competitive level, the Swiss based Confederazione Boccistica Internazionale (CBI) regulates all world-wide competitive international amateur Bocce play. Seventeen nations sent competitors to the CBI sanctioned Individual World Championships that were held at Palazzo di Bocce in September, 2005. Another 11 nations were unable to attend for various political, financial, or organizational reasons. For the first time in history, the Men’s Individual World Championship was won by a non-Italian, attesting to the continuing spread of the sport beyond its traditional boundaries.
In the United States, Bocce is regulated on the amateur level by the United States Bocce Federation (USBF). Being sanctioned by the CBI, the USBF holds the rights to oversee membership rosters, regulate and sanction State and National individual, club, and team championships, and maintain records of these events. The USBF, through their designated champions, also represents the United States at all international amateur championship events. Based in California, the USBF has a roster of 1,100 registered players who regularly participate in organized Bocce competitions across the country.
 
THE PBO
 
THE MISSION:
 
Leverage our knowledge, passion, and expertise in the sport of Bocce to create and operate the first world-wide professional bocce organization. We will use all creative and financial resources at our disposal to institute the finest Professional Bocce Tour, devoid of politics and hidden agendas, in order to grow both participation in and public perception of Bocce to the level of a true organized, international, professional sport within the next five years.  
 
 
Until now, competitive professional Bocce was an untapped entity in the largest consumer economy in the world: North America. Countless club, local, regional, and national organizations or groups, both amateur and pseudo-professional, exist in the world of Bocce, but each holds fast to individual agendas that only hinder true growth for the sport.
 
The function of the PBO is to serve as the organizational and regulatory body for an American based world-wide professional bocce tour that is independent of the current amateur and recreational structures. The PBO and PBO Tour transcend all organizational and national platforms by remaining autonomous, while co-existing and cooperating with the existing amateur governing bodies of the sport, to reach our goal of increased exposure and growth for Bocce.
 
 
PBO OWNERSHIP
 
The PBO is a part of Palazzo di Bocce, Inc., a Michigan based company focused on the sport of Bocce. Palazzo di Bocce, Inc. operates “America’s First Palace of Bocce”, the Palazzo di Bocce in Orion, MI., a facility widely recognized as one of, if not the finest, Bocce facilities in the world. Its 32,000 sq. ft. also serves as the home office for the PBO, as well as headquarters for the bocce equipment manufacturer “pb Bocce Products”.
Palazzo di Bocce, Inc. is wholly owned by Anthony Battaglia, a retired construction executive who is a lifelong Bocce enthusiast and former U.S. National Champion. Mr. Battaglia sits on the Board of Directors of the USBF, and was named “Ambassador for Development of Bocce in the North American Market” in 2005 by the CBI and its President, Mr. Romolo Rizzoli. For more on Palazzo di Bocce visit palazzodibocce.com.
 
 
 
 
THE PBO VISION:
 
The PBO recognizes that Bocce is underdeveloped in relation to its potential. One reason for this is that until now, no organizing body with VISION existed. The PBO envisions a game that is simultaneously enticing to the public, corporate sponsors and the electronic/print media alike. How the sport is presented, played, and marketed has been rethought. The PBO has created a new VISION for the sport: a modern broadcast and media friendly format, substantial prize money, and cooperative corporate sponsor marketing.
Award substantial prize money and the public will take notice. Broadcast the sport with professional production values, state of the art graphics, and colorful commentary and interest will grow. When the public notices, sponsors take interest. With sponsor backing, the sport will grow.
 
 
THE WOW!
 
The media today overflows with countless exciting professional sports. Sports with WOW! Admittedly, there has never been any true WOW! associated with Bocce. The sport has foundered along with small local “money” tournaments or USBF sanctioned amateur competitions that award the winner a medal. Its no wonder media coverage of Bocce has generally amounted to nothing. Unfortunately, the public mistakenly perceives the sport as being a boring, seemingly endless game that is played in back yards or local parks, mostly by old men in baggy pants. In truth, the sport’s top players are young and possess skill and dedication equal to the top performers in any sport. For Bocce to begin competing with more recognized sports for the public’s attention the game needs WOW! The PBO will add WOW! Quicker games, bigger prize money, larger than life personalities, and exciting broadcasts of a sport anyone can play. They all add up to WOW!
 
 

 THE PBO TOUR
 
 
To provide the cost/exposure ratio required by potential sponsors, the PBO recognizes that the PBO Tour must be exciting and compelling to the average consumer as well as the avid player. To realize this, the geographical reach, broadcast and media exposure and marketing of the Tour will be on a scale heretofore unseen in the sport. Prize monies will be on a par with other more recognized sports.
 
 
 
TOUR STOPS
 
Each stop on the Tour will be held at existing facilities. Financial compensation and/or participation by each facility will be negotiated individually, with the model agreement being one tied to a percentage of attendance, site specific sponsorship, and souvenir gross receipts minus local marketing expenses and site specific costs. All Tour- wide sponsorship and broadcast receipts will be used for PBO Tour technical, production, and operational expenses.
 
 
BROADCAST FORMAT
 
In order to enable compelling broadcasts, the whole format of Tour play will be structured to present viewers with an exciting program filled with skill, power, strategy, and dramatic tension. Each stop on the tour will be recorded in HD, using multiple camera angles, state of the art graphics, informative color commentary, and lively play by play. Each qualifying tournament will be edited to a specific half hour format. The first half of the program will focus on viewer education, outstanding shots and dramatic matches of pool play. The second half will focus on semi-finals and finals play. The PBO Championship will be edited to run one hour, with the first twenty minutes dedicated to viewer education and a season re-cap. The second twenty minutes will be dedicated to pool play and the third to semi-finals and finals play. The BBI will also run one hour, with the first third dedicated to viewer education and player profiling, the second to pool play, and the third to semi-finals and finals play. With all broadcasts, the final segment will be reserved for sponsor presentation of the champion’s purse. Broadcast agreement will be finalized with sport oriented networks in both the North American and International Markets prior to the start of each season.
 
 
TOUR SEASON AND EVENT LOCATIONS
 
Initially, the tour season will consist of six events held from February through October. Four “open” qualifying tournaments will be held in two countries, with the top teams from each tour stop becoming eligible to compete each September in the annual PBO Championship. Tournaments will be staged primarily at indoor facilities in New York, Illinois, and California in the United States, and also in Toronto, Canada. Additional stops are planned for and will be added as market demands, with Rome, Italy and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil targeted for primary expansion. The PBO Championship will be held at Palazzo di Bocce in Orion Township, located just outside Detroit, MI.
 
THE BATTAGLIA BOCCE INVITATIONAL
 
Held as an annual Invitational Championship since 2001, The Battaglia Bocce Invitational (BBI) takes place every October. The BBI will be rolled into the tour in 2008 as the sixth stop on the tour and will act as a season finale. As a “Masters” type event, only the finest teams in the western hemisphere are invited to the BBI, which is already the premier single “money” bocce event in North America.
 
 
PBO SPONSORSHIP
 
 
The PBO and Tour will offer sponsors who are not traditionally identified with Bocce an opportunity to reach the millions of participants and followers of the sport, not just in North America, but what will eventually become a world-wide audience. Sponsors must meet specific criteria set forth by broadcast outlets.
 
Additional avenues of traditional paid marketing will also be pursued on an event by event basis as warranted, but the primary marketing will be through media exposure and broadcast coverage.
 
 
INTENDED SPONSORSHIPS
 
“Name” sponsorship: “The ABC corp. PBO Tour”
Headline sponsorship providing all typical rights to the “identity” of the PBO Tour including design of the official Tour logo to compliment the sponsor’s corporate logo or identity. This is a multi-season commitment, with length and conditions to be negotiated to both parties satisfaction.
 
“Presenting” sponsor: ”The ABC corp. PBO Tour, presented by XYZ”
Secondary naming rights, below the Tour title, with approval of the “Name” sponsor. This is a single season commitment, with conditions to be negotiated to both parties satisfaction and is only available upon sale of “Name” sponsorship.
 
“AND” sponsor”…”The ABC corp. PBO Tour, presented by XYZ,” and 123 Inc.”
Subordinate sponsor, with approval of “Name” and “Presenting” sponsors. This is a single season commitment, with conditions to be negotiated to both parties satisfaction and is only available upon sale of “Name” and “Presenting” sponsorships.
 
“Official” sponsor: Single event sponsor with cost and conditions dictated by individual Tour event criteria, negotiated per event.
 
 
POTENTIAL MARKETS
 
Although it now has the foundations of a modern sport, Bocce in the United States is still largely recreational in its appeal and male-dominated, but with an ever growing number of women beginning to play. It is a very versatile game in which the rules may be changed according to the players. Consequently, there is no single target market or specific demographic.
YOUTH/FAMILY MARKET
Because of its simplicity, Bocce can be easily marketed to the family market. Easy to understand for the younger family members, no physical advantage for the parents or older siblings. With the increased emphasis on “quality time” today, families are looking for a competitive sport they can enjoy together, with little cost and a “level playing field”.
EDUCATED/TECHNICAL MINDED MARKET
With subtle strategy similar to chess being an integral part of the game, Bocce has been shown to appeal to the educated, well paid, thoughtful consumer. No where is this more evident than in Northern California’s Silicon Valley, where Bocce facilities are packed daily with “techies” catching a quick game during their lunch or filling evening league rosters to capacity.
THE “NEW/HIP” MARKET
Today’s younger college age, or recent graduate, consumers are enjoying Bocce as a pastime possessing a niche or avant-garde appeal. These consumers are continuously searching for new experiences or the “coolest thing”. This group tends to overlap with the Educated/Technical Minded set.
CASUAL LEAGUE PLAYERS
Bocce leagues are currently experiencing growth similar to that which bowling enjoyed in the 1960’s. Although no hard data exist, the average league player is generally between 30 and 50 years of age, professional or with some college, has an active lifestyle, and is open to new experiences. This may be an ideal market for those sponsors looking to introduce a new, or grow an existing, brand.
SENIOR MARKET
With the aging of the Baby Boomer market, Bocce stands positioned as the ideal sport. As they age, Boomers are finding golf, tennis, and bowling becoming too exclusionary, too strenuous, or too expensive. A casual, inclusive sport such as Bocce provides just the right mix of light exercise, subtle strategy, and social interaction.
 
PRINT MEDIA / MARKETING
PRINT MEDIA
 
PRINT MEDIA
 
National and Local print media coverage will be directed through the PBO offices via an experienced, dedicated Public Relations firm to ensure thorough and accurate coverage of all events. This will also allow for the proper protection of the interests of our sponsors. The Tour will also provide for the availability of “player-personalities” for media interview, appearance, and profiling.  
 
LOCAL EVENT COVERAGE
 
Every Tour event will be pre-planned from a local marketing standpoint to include such issues as sponsor recognition, media notification, advertising and any local cooperative agreements.
 
RECAP
 
Bocce possesses great potential for growth and visibility. The PBO and The PBO Tour are re-thinking, re-organizing, and re-packaging the sport in order to make it relevant in today’s sports marketplace. Treating it as a business, exercising creative vision, positioning it for success, and utilizing various partnership resources will take it from being the world’s oldest sport to being the newest thing in sports.