Run your bowling side action
from an iPad, iPhone Duo, or any browser.
Brackets, eliminators, high game pots, sweepers, and mystery doubles — signed up, scored, and paid out without a recap sheet, a calculator, or a line of bowlers at your table asking who won.
Sign bowlers up
Name, lane, average, and which pots they want, as they walk in.
Start the event
Brackets generate instantly with the fewest possible repeat matchups.
Enter scores
Once per bowler per game — every bracket and pot updates everywhere, live.
Pay out
Winnings are computed the moment the last game locks. Check names off as you pay.
Built by a tournament director, for tournament directors
Smart brackets
8-bowler, 3-game elimination brackets that keep the same people from bowling each other over and over — even when someone buys five entries. Round-2 rematches are avoided by design.
Eliminator pots
Scratch and handicap eliminators with per-game cut scores. Set the cut, survivors advance automatically, and the cut line is obvious to everyone.
High game & series pots
Scratch and handicap high game for every game of the set — or a total-pins series sweeper. Standings sort themselves the moment scores go in.
Mystery doubles
Entrants are secretly paired at start. Teams stay anonymous on the board until you hit Reveal — then the room finds out who carried whom.
Apple Pencil score entry
Write scores straight into the grid the way you would on a recap sheet — no keyboard popping over your hand. Lock each game when it goes final.
Payouts, done
Every pot is calculated automatically the moment game 3 locks. A paid checkbox for every bowler means nobody gets missed and nobody gets paid twice.
Mystery Pot
A side pot with no scoring at all. Bowlers buy in any time, a number is drawn at the end, and closest-without-going-over takes it — the whole room watches the draw on the viewer.
Printable sheets
Score-collection and sign-up sheets, paginated for Letter paper with the viewer QR code in the corner. Print from the iPad, the iPhone Duo, or any browser.
Roster import
Pull a league roster straight from LeaguePals or LeagueSecretary — names and averages land in the sign-up list without retyping a single bowler.
Late sign-ups
A pot whose first game hasn’t started keeps taking entries after the event begins. Brackets that start later build themselves when they lock.
Live for your bowlers
Print a QR poster right from the iPad. Bowlers scan it and follow brackets, standings, and winnings live on their phones — no app to install, no crowd at your table.
The whole app, now in your browser
No iPad at the center? Run the entire night from a laptop or desktop at director.bowlingsideaction.com. Sign-ups, brackets, scores, payouts, and the live viewer — the same app, the same account, nothing to install.
- Same account, same eventsSign in with Apple or Google. An event started on the iPad or iPhone Duo is right there in the browser, and the other way round.
- Any computer at the counterA Windows laptop, a Mac, a Chromebook — if it runs a browser, it runs the night. Nothing to install.
- Keyboard-first score entryType a score, hit Enter, and the cursor drops to the next bowler. A full set goes in as fast as you can read the monitors.
- Print from the browserSign-up sheets, score sheets, and the QR poster print straight from the page, paginated the same as the iPad.
Built for iPhone Duo
Version 1.3 is in the App Store now, so Bowling Side Action is ready the day your iPhone Duo arrives. Closed, the Duo's cover display is a live viewer for your event. Open, it is the complete director app, the same one that runs on the iPad.
- Fold it, and it becomes the viewerOn the cover display your event is read-only and always live: brackets, eliminator, high game, mystery doubles, scores, and payouts, with the bowler QR code right in the header.
- Unfold for the director appOpen the phone and you are back in the full app on the inner display, on the same tab you were watching. Sign-ups, scores, payouts, printing — all of it.
- Pick any event from the coverNo event open? The cover lists your events so you can follow one without unfolding. Tap back to switch.
- Same account as your iPadSign in with Apple or Google and every event is there, on the Duo, the iPad, and the web.
Your bowlers follow along on any iPhone
On a regular iPhone, Bowling Side Action is the live viewer. Bowlers scan the QR poster or type the five-character code and follow brackets, eliminators, high game, scores, and payouts as they happen. No account, nothing to set up. Tapping the poster link in Safari opens the event right in the app.
The whole night, on one screen at a time
Recent updates
All updates →Android on every device
Android tablets run the full director app, landscape only, just like the iPad.
Find a bowler in the grid
Grid mode: a search box beside the Form/Grid toggle narrows the rows to names containing what you type. Return jumps to the first match; totals stay for the whole roster.
Spreadsheet entry, better print sheets, one-tap dialogs
Grid mode on the Entries screen: every bowler on one row — name, lane, average, handicap, a count per bracket group (type a number or A for all), a checkbox per high game, eliminator, mystery doubles and mystery pot, plus Paid and Due. Enter moves down a column, Tab moves across.
Simple pricing. Free where it counts.
Run real events free for up to 16 bowlers. Go unlimited with Pro, or unlock a single big night with an Event Pass.
Free
No sign-up needed to run a night.
- Up to 16 bowlers per event
- Unlimited events
- Every pot: brackets, eliminators, high game, series, mystery doubles
- Live bowler viewer + QR poster
- Demo events to practice on
Pro
Introductory pricing through October 31, 2026: $79.99 your first year, or $14.99/mo with your first two months for $9.99.
Limited time — introductory prices end October 31, 2026
Everything in Free, plus
- Unlimited bowlers per event
- Unlimited pots & brackets
- Event history & printable recaps
- One subscription, unlimited events
Event Pass
For the big night, without subscribing.
- Unlocks a single event to full Pro
- Unlimited bowlers for that event
- All pots & brackets uncapped
- Buy only when you need it
Buy Pro or an Event Pass in the app or on the web — same prices either way, and one purchase unlocks both. The free tier needs no account. Prices in USD.
Your bowlers are already holding the scoreboard
Every event gets a QR code and a 5-letter join code. Post it at the counter and the whole house follows along at viewer.bowlingsideaction.com.