# Why He's Buying "Dead" Bowling Alleys Nobody Wants

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/why-he-s-buying-dead-bowling-alleys-nobody-wants
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/why-he-s-buying-dead-bowling-alleys-nobody-wants.md
Podcast: [The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224)
Published: 2026-04-03T17:50:34+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/3537ff07
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/3537ff07/7cacd996.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/episodes/why-he-s-buying-dead-bowling-alleys-nobody-wants
Duration seconds: 3097

## Resource

Mike Fagan is a former professional bowler who spent 13 seasons on the PBA tour before getting his MBA at UC Berkeley Haas and working in management consulting. In April 2025, he acquired Ten Pins and More, a bowling alley in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, for $2.05 million including real estate via SBA 7A financing. The bank classified the deal as a turnaround. Today, he owns two locations with a third on the way, operates remotely from Dallas 600 miles away, and is scaling toward $8-10 million in revenue across 3-5 locations. He explains: ◼️ Why bowling alleys are undervalued, below replacement cost, and have almost no competing buyers ◼️ How he got SBA financing on a deal the bank said wasn't cash flowing enough to cover the payments ◼️ The zero-COGS economics behind bowling and why the business fills itself four days a week without marketing ◼️ How he went from flying in every week for nine months to running the business fully remote from 600 miles away ◼️ Why his pro bowling background gives him an acquisition advantage that no other buyer in the space can replicate Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): Join for free here Want help buying a business? Learn about SMB Deal Hunter Pro Follow Helen: Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/episodes/why-he-s-buying-dead-bowling-alleys-nobody-wants/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smb-deal-hunter-podcast-7541224/why-he-s-buying-dead-bowling-alleys-nobody-wants.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.