Brunswick to Pay $15 Million in Fight Over Bowling Lanes

A federal jury awarded more than $15 million in antitrust damages Friday to a development firm that accused Brunswick Corp., which owns two bowling centers in the Antelope Valley, of preventing construction of a competing bowling alley in Palmdale.

An attorney for the plaintiffs called the verdict a “great victory for the little guys,” but a Brunswick lawyer said the giant recreation equipment firm will appeal.

The six-member jury in Los Angeles federal court deliberated nearly four days before awarding $5.06 million in damages to the Los Angeles Land Co. Under federal law, antitrust awards are automatically tripled, attorneys said.

Eliot G. Disner, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said his clients, who own three other bowling alleys in Southern California, took an option on land on the Sierra Highway in Palmdale in 1987 in hopes of building a bowling alley.

At the time, 32-lane Brunswick Sands Bowl in Lancaster was the only bowling alley in the fast-growing area, Disner said.

During the five-week trial, witnesses for the plaintiffs testified that Skokie, Ill.-based Brunswick refused to supply pin-setting equipment and supplied negative market reports to would-be lenders. Disner said that “only a handful of lenders make loans on bowling alleys and Brunswick just about has the equipment market sewn up.”

The plaintiffs also introduced evidence that Brunswick was instrumental in persuading a construction firm that specializes in building bowling alleys to withdraw its bid to build the proposed Palmdale alley.

“They kept us out of the market by blocking our financing, our construction and our purchase of equipment,” Disner said.

Brunswick, which Disner said owns about 100 bowling centers nationwide, opened 40-lane Brunswick Vista Lanes in Palmdale last year after Los Angeles Land Co. abandoned its plans.

Michael Linsk, senior vice president of Los Angeles Land Co., called the verdict “quite gratifying, especially because it’s always tough to go up against a very, very large company.”

Richard Favretto, Brunswick’s attorney, said his firm was “very disappointed in the verdict. We intend to pursue every avenue of appeal available to us.”