Mike Fagan·December 29, 2025

Passion & Profit in an American Pastime | Mike Fagan Interview

Mike Fagan is a 13-season PBA Tour professional bowler and 2014 PBA World Champion who transitioned into entrepreneurship through acquisition after working in management consulting. He acquired 10 Pins and More, a 40-year-old bowling center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico (Albuquerque metro), for $2 million including real estate and land, using an SBA 7(a) loan with 25-year amortization, a ~12% seller note, and roughly $180k of personal and friends-and-family equity. The business had $1.5m revenue and $250k EBITDA (after a GM salary), implying an ~8x EBITDA multiple — though the $1.8m real estate value made the effective purchase price for the operating business very low. Mike operates the business remotely from Dallas, flying to Albuquerque weekly, which created challenges finding an SBA lender willing to finance a non-resident operator. Early challenges included employee turnover as the new cost-discipline culture clashed with the previous low-debt ownership model, food and beverage operations losing money, and slower-than-expected revenue growth. Green shoots include a 10x ROAS on Facebook/Meta ads during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, a new string-pin machine upgrade that eliminated costly maintenance labor, $150k in arcade investment to boost dwell time, and a dedicated sales hire for events and corporate bookings. Mike's long-term goal is a 3-5 location bowling center roll-up targeting $8-10m in revenue, motivated by both financial returns and a genuine mission to grow the sport of bowling in community-anchored secondary markets.

Deal facts

purchase price: $2 million (including real estate and land; ~$1.8m attributable to real estate/land)
multiple: ~8x EBITDA (on $250k EBITDA); noted as ~1.5x revenue which guest says is a favorable comparison
sde ebitda: EBITDA $250k (after paying a general manager; not SDE)
revenue: $1.5 million
financing structure: SBA 7(a) 25-year amortization (~$1.8m loan); ~12% seller note; ~10% equity down (~$180k, mix of personal funds and friends/family); plus additional $600k non-revolving line of credit from same lender for capex; also mortgaged a personal real estate investment property (~$300k condo) as collateral
notes: Also took on ~$100k in vendor financing for additional improvements. Total effective debt ~$2.5m after capex draws. Business located in Rio Rancho, New Mexico (Albuquerque metro). Includes a liquor license. 2.5 acres of commercial real estate with ~0.5 acres undeveloped. Business name: 10 Pins and More. Plan to refi into SBA 504 after 2 years to lower interest rate.

Why this business

Mike is a 13-season PBA Tour professional and 2014 PBA World Champion who grew up loving the atmosphere of bowling centers. He felt he could acquire with considerably less friction in an industry he knew deeply — he had already worked for a private equity-backed bowling center chain and understood operations, leagues, and the economics. He wanted to combine passion for growing the sport of bowling with a business investment, and saw opportunity in underinvested, community-anchored traditional bowling centers in secondary markets with sticky league bowler bases.

What's working

Meta/Facebook ads driving strong return on ad spend (10x ROAS in first weekend during Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta; sustaining 5-7x range)
Online reservations system implementation preparing the business for better demand management
Replacing 1960s-era pin setter machines with modern string-pin technology — dramatically reducing maintenance labor and breakdowns
Investing $150k in arcade games to increase dwell time and capture walk-in traffic during lane wait times
League bowler base (~500 sanctioned bowlers) provides baseline recurring revenue
Real estate included in deal provides significant asset value (~$1.8m) relative to $2m purchase price, making effective business purchase price very low
Hired a dedicated sales and events person to grow corporate bookings, birthday parties, and events
Running a loyalty program to convert value-driven customers
Successfully ran the New Mexico Open tournament — continuing 20-year tradition from previous owner
Implementing proper POS controls (e.g. removing exploited 'dollar off' button that was hit 40,000 times/year)

What's hard

First few months of transition were very challenging — most employees didn't adapt to new ownership's standards and cost discipline; high turnover resulted
Previous ownership had low debt and could run the business 'slower'; new $2.5m debt load requires constant optimization to cover interest payments
EBITDA of $250k is almost entirely consumed by debt service on the $2.5m note
Food and beverage operation was losing $3-4k/month under prior ownership and remains a work in progress
Guest had hubris about doubling revenue quickly — it is not that easy; year-one target revised to $1.67m from $1.5m base
Managing the business remotely (Mike is based in Dallas, flying to Albuquerque weekly or bi-weekly) required finding an SBA lender willing to finance a non-resident buyer — most would not
Raising prices slightly risks alienating value-driven customers
Digital marketing has become a pay-for-play model; organic traffic harder to grow than anticipated
Food operation lacks F&B expertise; still learning how to manage it profitably

Notable quotes

I was willing to take a little bit more of a concession there because most of these if you look at it from a topline perspective most of these locations will sell at one and a half times revenue with the real estate involved and in that perspective I was actually getting a nice deal.

I think me being there actually hurts what I'm trying to be doing. It is almost impossible to work in the business and on the business simultaneously.

We had to put down 10% of that. So 180 down. I also needed to mortgage a real estate investment property that I had for collateral reasons. So I came in with most of a majority of that 180K personally and then friends and family filled in the rest.

I one of the reasons I went this route is because I felt like there was going to be considerably less friction for me than trying to look at HVAC companies. I just didn't know it as well. It would have been hard for me to put up effectively my life savings and a personal guarantee against something that I wasn't hyper familiar with.