American Bowling Congress

The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress — the original codifier of all tenpin bowling standards, rules and regulations from 1895 onwards; the Women's International Bowling Congress — founded in 1916, as the female bowlers' counterpart to the then all-male ABC; the Young American Bowling Alliance, and USA Bowling. The USBC's headquarters are located in Arlington, Texas, after having moved from the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, Wisconsin in November 2008. The move enabled the USBC to combine its operations with the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA).

The USBC is the national governing body for ten-pin bowling in the United States. It has approximately 3,000 local associations across the USA serving over 2 million members. Among its duties and responsibilities to these members are:

Moses Bensinger was influential in setting up the American Bowling Congress (A.B.C.) in 1895. On September 9, 1895, the A.B.C. was officially formed as a permanent organization at Beethoven Hall on east Fifth Street in New York City. The A.B.C. had their first formal annual meeting four days later on September 13 at the Elephant club on Fulton Street in Brooklyn and adopted the proposed constitution and by-laws. The new organization took effect officially on October 15, 1895. It is a legislative body that enforces uniform bowlers' rules and regulations, through a set of by-laws and a constitution of Articles, for all in the United States to follow as the official standard for ten-pin bowling. Before the USBC's existence, the A.B.C. standardized and governed all tenpin bowling equipment as well for the modern sport, through to the time of consolidation under the USBC. It is much like the baseball National League and the Bicycle law in the United States. This was a codification of the preexisting rules and regulations through the by-laws of the American Bowling Congress. It eliminated gambling on contests, as prize money could now be earned honestly in tournaments. This was done by a uniform method of scoring that was enforceable by the A.B.C. bowling laws that then made it fair for all bowlers throughout the United States. Bowling equipment made by the Brunswick Company, like the alleys, pins and balls, were uniform based on certain measurements and requirements set in place by the American Bowling Congress. All the large national bowling centers with regulation Brunswick equipment were under the constitution and by-laws of the A.B.C. organization by 1905.