Suburban bowling clubs ditch the pokies and invest in community

Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney's western suburbs removed poker machines in 2007 and has thrived since.

Club manager Carl Manwarring said removing the pokies opened new possibilities.

"Back then it was a very unique solution.

"But even just changing the physical space in the club, where the pokies were, we built the stage for the bands to come and play. Options opened up and getting rid of the pokies was a catalyst for it," he said.

"When I say the community stepped up, it was literally community members who took the keys.

"We're community run now, all the board members are local. So many of them stepped up and gave their time, worked behind the bar for nothing, just to keep the doors open. And we're thriving together now."

According to Liquor and Gaming NSW there were 64,444 pokies machines in clubs across the state In November 2022.

In 2019, the Bardon Bowls Club in suburban Brisbane removed the last of its gaming machines.

Bardon Bowls Club community liaison Annie Pope said the machines went against the social fabric of the club.

"They go against what the philosophy of a community club is, because you don't want to sit in there on your own dropping money into a machine," she said.

"We just found the popularity just wasn't there and we haven't looked back."

Removing the pokies made way for an additional lounge and dining area popular with younger visitors.

Leichhardt Bowling Club in western Sydney recently celebrated its 100th year, a significant feat after overcoming several rocky financial years.

Poker machine revenue, once the bread and butter of the Leichhardt bowls club, declined 88 per cent between 2013 and 2023.

The club has scaled its pokies back to just 12 machines after selling 17 in four years.

"We sold several machines to fund the beer garden and the beer garden has become the new printing press. Aside from the ethics and the personal feelings around pokies, our job is to keep this place solvent and in recent history that is definitely through investing in our food and beverage not investing in our gaming," club secretary manager Baz Compton said.

When it became clear the club was in desperate need of a makeover, the choice was made to sacrifice one of the bowling greens to build an outdoor bar serving local Aussie brews.

"We're very blessed to have a good army of volunteers and local trades people who really care about this club," Mr Compton said.

"The really interesting result from this was as the place becomes more popular, we're getting more young people to the club and selling a lot more beer.

"And as a result we've picked up more bowlers than we ever had before the beer garden. So giving up the green was a compromise for the sport to make the club survive, but the pleasant unexpected bonus was actually picking up more bowlers because of it," Mr Compton said.

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Research from the University of NSW found that mass closures of bowlos since the 1980s meant Sydney has lost nearly half of its bowls clubs in the past 40 years.

Mr Compton said community was at the heart of the bowlos' renaissance.

"The key to revitalising bowlos is reducing barriers, opening doors. The future of these places are really engaging with the local community and figuring out what they need."