The World Bowls Tour was formed in 1997 after proposals by the Professional Bowls Association for developing the professional side of the sport were accepted by the sport’s governing bodies.

The first ever World Bowls Tour Tournament was the International Open staged at Preston and here history started as the first ever PBA Qualifier, Les Gillett, promptly went on to win that very first event, thus proving that the aims of all were correct – qualifiers could and would win an entry and go on to beat the worlds best and win a major title.

This proved good for Television and since then the World Bowls Tour has retained the majority of Television coverage and also seen new Tournaments staged since that day.

The Professional Bowls Association together with it’s partner the World Indoor Bowls Council and also it’s commercial partners have put together plans for the future in which to develop the game for Television thus ensuring that bowls as a sport is continually promoted and this has the benefit that many of the World Bowls Tour's commercial partners now also assist many parts of bowls at grass roots level with financial and other support.

Everyone acknowledges that things cannot stand still and the World Bowls Tour is continually striving to involve all it’s partners in looking for new ways to promote the sport for all and keep our sport on it’s window to the world – Television. With the portable rink and branding opportunities we hope that our successes will continue well into the future.