Don Carter: Career and Legacy of a Bowling Legend

Who was Don Carter?

Don Carter (1926–2012) was an American bowler from St. Louis, Missouri, and one of the best-known names in the sport during the 1950s and 1960s. The right-hander was named Bowler of the Year six times, was a founding member and the first president of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and in 1964 signed an endorsement deal with Ebonite that is described as the first single endorsement deal worth one million dollars for an athlete in any sport.

How bowling developed after Carter is shown in our profile of Earl Anthony.

An unusual delivery: the bent elbow

Carter's style was easy to recognize. Most bowlers keep their arm straight in the backswing before the release. Carter kept his elbow bent and never fully straightened his arm. It went against the textbook, yet he won with it for many years.

Titles and awards

Don Carter was named Bowler of the Year six times, including by the Bowling Writers Association of America in 1962. His best-known titles include:

• Four BPAA All-Star titles (1953, 1954, 1957, 1958) – the tournament that has been called the U.S. Open since 1971
• Five World Invitational titles between 1957 and 1962
• The ABC Masters in 1961
• Seven PBA Tour titles, two of them majors

First president of the PBA

The Professional Bowlers Association was founded in 1958 on the initiative of Eddie Elias, a lawyer and sports agent from Akron, Ohio. Don Carter was one of its founding members and served as the PBA's first president for four years. From 1962, ABC broadcast the Professional Bowlers Tour on television, a staple of Saturday afternoon TV in the US for decades.

The million-dollar endorsement deal

In 1964 Carter signed an endorsement deal with the bowling ball manufacturer Ebonite. It is considered the first time an athlete in any sport earned one million dollars from a single endorsement deal. The contract shows how popular bowling and its stars were in the US at the time.

Bowling on television

Carter appeared regularly on television shows such as Bowling Stars, Championship Bowling, Jackpot Bowling and Make That Spare.

Hall of Fame and legacy

Carter was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Bowling Congress (ABC) in 1970, today's USBC Hall of Fame, and in 1975 he was among the first members of the PBA Hall of Fame. In a 1970 poll by Bowling Magazine, he was voted the greatest bowler of all time.

Don Carter died in Miami in January 2012 at the age of 85. His career shows that there is more than one way to bowl successfully: his bent-elbow delivery broke with the textbook, and it worked.