A new entertainment attraction opened this week in Omaha where Nebraskans can tip a drink while attempting to tip over bowling pins with a football.
A football thrown by George Kyros scatters pins at the newly opened Fowling Warehouse in Omaha Thursday. The game is a melding of football and bowling.
Joe Dejka
The game is called fowling — rhymes with bowling — and the attraction is located in a former call center building northeast of 90th and Fort Streets.
The game combines two sports popular with Nebraskans: football and bowling.
Instead of rolling a ball down a lane, the players chuck footballs at the pins.
If it sounds like a game fraternity brothers would invent in the hallway of their frat house, you're not far off.
According to the man who founded the national franchise, he and some friends came up with it while tailgating at the Indy 500 in 2001. When a real bowling ball proved unwieldy to use in their makeshift bowling alley, they turned to footballs.
The game proved so popular that before long he was putting up local franchises across the country.
The Omaha franchise location, opened by Omahans Mark Wolf and Dan Fishburn, offers 30 fowling lanes and two full-service bars.
It is the ninth Fowling Warehouse in the country.
The object of the game is to knock down all 10 of your opponents' bowling pins before they take down yours. Players can throw a football overhand or underhand. A football can bounce or roll, but kicking is not allowed.
There are a couple of ways to claim immediate victory. That can be accomplished with a strike — knocking all 10 pins down with one toss — or by knocking the center pin completely off the board while leaving all the other pins standing. That achievement, if done on a player’s first throw, is called a “BONK.”
John Kyros takes aim during a game of fowling Thursday at Omaha’s new Fowling Warehouse. Players toss footballs to knock down bowling pins.
Joe Dejka
Founder Chris Hutt said the game isn't as easy as it looks, and strength isn't necessarily an advantage. That makes for an even playing field, where women and men, athletic or not, can compete and enjoy it, he said.
"Some people come in here like 'Oh, I'm not going to be able to do this,' and it's the opposite," Hutt said.
A quarterback will come in full of confidence, throw too hard and the miss pins, he said.
"Their mom comes in and throws the ball, it bounces four feet to the left, but it's a football," he said. "It bounces right back over the pins and takes out six."
George Kyros, playing a game against his son Thursday, testified to the challenge.
"It takes a while to get used to throwing down at the pins," Kyros said.
In fact, during the grand opening festivities Thursday, Fishburn, Wolf, Hutt and another company rep all missed the pins during a ceremonial first toss. On a second try they hit home, scattering pins, and celebrated with high-fives.
The venue has an open, 50,000-square-foot floor plan that owners say can double as an event space for gatherings of up to 1,200 people.
They envision it being used for corporate meetings and events, team building, family events, holiday parties, happy hours, networking events and the like.
According to the owners, fowling is a family-friendly activity, best for ages 6 and up. After 8 p.m., the venue is open for people 21 and older.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17-18, the public is invited to come to a free public open house. People interested in coming on those days must register for a time slot at https://app.facilityally.com/group/fowling-warehouse-omaha/grand-opening.
omaha.com
A football thrown by George Kyros scatters pins at the newly opened Fowling Warehouse in Omaha Thursday. The game is a melding of football and bowling.
Joe Dejka
The game is called fowling — rhymes with bowling — and the attraction is located in a former call center building northeast of 90th and Fort Streets.
The game combines two sports popular with Nebraskans: football and bowling.
Instead of rolling a ball down a lane, the players chuck footballs at the pins.
If it sounds like a game fraternity brothers would invent in the hallway of their frat house, you're not far off.
According to the man who founded the national franchise, he and some friends came up with it while tailgating at the Indy 500 in 2001. When a real bowling ball proved unwieldy to use in their makeshift bowling alley, they turned to footballs.
The game proved so popular that before long he was putting up local franchises across the country.
The Omaha franchise location, opened by Omahans Mark Wolf and Dan Fishburn, offers 30 fowling lanes and two full-service bars.
It is the ninth Fowling Warehouse in the country.
The object of the game is to knock down all 10 of your opponents' bowling pins before they take down yours. Players can throw a football overhand or underhand. A football can bounce or roll, but kicking is not allowed.
There are a couple of ways to claim immediate victory. That can be accomplished with a strike — knocking all 10 pins down with one toss — or by knocking the center pin completely off the board while leaving all the other pins standing. That achievement, if done on a player’s first throw, is called a “BONK.”
John Kyros takes aim during a game of fowling Thursday at Omaha’s new Fowling Warehouse. Players toss footballs to knock down bowling pins.
Joe Dejka
Founder Chris Hutt said the game isn't as easy as it looks, and strength isn't necessarily an advantage. That makes for an even playing field, where women and men, athletic or not, can compete and enjoy it, he said.
"Some people come in here like 'Oh, I'm not going to be able to do this,' and it's the opposite," Hutt said.
A quarterback will come in full of confidence, throw too hard and the miss pins, he said.
"Their mom comes in and throws the ball, it bounces four feet to the left, but it's a football," he said. "It bounces right back over the pins and takes out six."
George Kyros, playing a game against his son Thursday, testified to the challenge.
"It takes a while to get used to throwing down at the pins," Kyros said.
In fact, during the grand opening festivities Thursday, Fishburn, Wolf, Hutt and another company rep all missed the pins during a ceremonial first toss. On a second try they hit home, scattering pins, and celebrated with high-fives.
The venue has an open, 50,000-square-foot floor plan that owners say can double as an event space for gatherings of up to 1,200 people.
They envision it being used for corporate meetings and events, team building, family events, holiday parties, happy hours, networking events and the like.
According to the owners, fowling is a family-friendly activity, best for ages 6 and up. After 8 p.m., the venue is open for people 21 and older.
On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17-18, the public is invited to come to a free public open house. People interested in coming on those days must register for a time slot at https://app.facilityally.com/group/fowling-warehouse-omaha/grand-opening.
Throwing footballs at bowling pins? Sure, it's fowling. And a new Omaha venue just opened
A new entertainment attraction opened this week in Omaha where Nebraskans can tip a drink while attempting to tip over bowling pins with a football.
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