Pro Bowler’s Dad Broke Wage Contract After Getting Schooled at Age 13
KEY POINTS
- •Kyle Troup started bowling professionally at 16 while working at Wendy’s, becoming a manager there by 18.
- •By 2016, he earned $44,000 bowling which allowed him to quit Wendy’s and in 2021, he made a record $496,900.
- •He married Breanna last year, became a stepdad, and now prefers Airbnbs over hotels on the demanding PBA tour.
Kyle Troup, 34, turned pro at 16 after his dad Guppy—also a PBA bowler—cut his victory pay from $20 to zero around age 13 when Kyle got too good. Working the fast food front lines, Troup managed a Wendy’s near lane 1 until mid-20s when $44,000 from bowling finally cut the apron strings. His 2021 season bagged a PBA Player's Championship and nearly half a million in earnings ($496,900) — a fortune in glow-bowl currency. Married last year, he’s now stepdad-cum-overnight AirBnB chef, trading hotel drudgery for home-cooked meals while juggling the PBA tour’s 3-4 month version of sports exile. HBO’s documentary "Born to Bowl" chronicling this strike-for-strike saga proves bowling’s spotlight burns at a very precise, low voltage.
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(1 of 3)Bowling’s bright lights: Dad pays son zero bucks for beating him at 13, son eventually wins $500k chasing pins instead of fries. Sports millionaires everywhere, brace yourselves for the new reigning champ of stepdad schlepping & Airbnb dinners.
Nothing screams ‘American Dream’ like going from flipping burgers at 18 to striking out your dad’s paycheck by 13. Cakewalk to a $500k bowling payday, minus the big league glamour, of course.
Kyle turned beating dad into a $0 pay cut, then into nearly half a mil. Meanwhile, most of us can barely strike out eight hours at work without calling in sick.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 4/12/2026 | Author: Kelly Burch
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