Every league bowler hands over one number a week, and that one number is really three: the lineage the house keeps for the games bowled, the secretary's small administrative cut, and whatever is left over — the prize fund the banquet gets paid out of. Get the split wrong for 32 weeks and the shortfall shows up in April, when it is far too late.
A $20 Monday fee with three games at $3.25 lineage and a $1.00 secretary fee leaves $9.25 a week per bowler for prizes.
The example
Three leagues in the same house, each with its own fee, its own lineage rate, and its own administrative cut.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | League | Weekly fee | Games | Lineage/game | Secretary | Lineage | Prize fund |
| 2 | Monday Mixed | $20.00 | 3 | $3.25 | $1.00 | $9.75 | $9.25 |
| 3 | Thursday Men | $25.00 | 3 | $4.00 | $1.50 | $12.00 | $11.50 |
| 4 | Sunday Youth | $14.00 | 3 | $2.50 | $0.50 | $7.50 | $6.00 |
The formula
Two columns, because the league needs to see the house share separately from its own:
How it works
Follow the money in the order it leaves the envelope:
C2*D2is lineage — the games bowled times the per-game rate the house charges. This is the alley's revenue and it is not negotiable mid-season.E2is the secretary or treasurer fee. It is usually a flat weekly amount per bowler, not a percentage, so keep it as its own column rather than folding it into lineage.B2-F2-E2is the residual: the prize fund. It is the only number in the row that moves when anything else moves, which is exactly why it belongs in a formula and not in a notebook.- Multiply the prize fund by bowlers and by weeks to get what the banquet has to pay out. That figure, not the weekly one, is the one the league officers should be watching.
Keep lineage in its own column even when it never changes. The week the house raises the rate, one cell edit updates every league you run.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the weekly fee, the games bowled, the lineage rate and the secretary fee.
Variations
Season prize fund
Multiply the weekly residual by bowlers and weeks. This is the number the banquet budget is actually built on.
Prize money as a share of the fee
Bowlers ask what share of their money comes back. Divide the residual by the fee and format it as a percentage.
Pitfalls & errors
If the prize fund goes negative the fee does not cover the house. Wrap the result in MAX(0,...) only for display — never to hide the problem, because a negative here means the league is losing money every single week.
Some houses charge lineage per bowler per game, others per lane per game. Confirm which before you build the sheet; the difference is a factor of four or five on a full team.
Do not let absent-bowler and substitute fees bypass this formula. If a sub pays lineage but not the prize portion, they need their own row, or the prize fund quietly runs short.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Should the secretary fee come out before or after lineage?
How do I handle a league that bowls a different number of games some weeks?
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