D-Bat Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- 12.1%
- on 133 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
D-BAT is a baseball and softball franchise operating indoor training academies with batting cages, lessons, camps, and leagues. Franchisees run a facility managing cage rentals, instructors, memberships, and pro-shop sales.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A D-BAT franchise requires a total initial investment of $536K – $1.0M, including a $45K franchise fee. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. SBA 7(a) loans show a 12.1% charge-off rate across 133 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored4 of 4 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- 64th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Outlet subset
- Royalty
- Set by a formula
- Units
- 170
- 71st pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- 12.1%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $536K – $1.0M including a $45K franchise fee.
- RETURNSItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 12.1% across 133 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHPositive: net +17 franchised outlets in the latest year (21 opened, 4 closed); 124 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 32.8% CAGR over 3 years with 170 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- D-BAT Academies, LLC
- Parent company
- D-BAT Sports, Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- James Cade Griffis
- CEO experience
- 2007 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- TX
- HQ
- 2101 Midway Road, Suite 300, Carrollton, Texas 75006
- Auditor
- Whitley Penn LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $18.3M
- vs $13.8M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- James Cade Griffis
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 1993
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 37
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 303% above the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $45K | $45K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $50K | $75K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $441K | $911K |
| Total initial investment | $536K | $1.0M |
Source: D-BAT 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $50K – $75K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- Management Fee: currently 40% of Membership Fees monthly;…
- Ad fund
- 2.5%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 42.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.5% |
| Technology fee | $354 |
| Training fee | $6K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $8K |
| Inventory (initial) | $33K – $40K |
| Total fee load | 42.5% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for D-BAT is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one D-BAT unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, royalty rate, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system
- Item 19 type
- average gross revenue by revenue stream
- Sample size
- 149
- vs category median 16 · large
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 204 Education brands
Item 19 · by group
What the filing does disclose
Item 19 of this FDD reports performance in more than one group. We publish no single average for this brand; the groups the filing does disclose are listed below, quoted from its own Item 19 table.
Each row below is quoted from the FDD's own Item 19 table. Gross sales are not profit.
Outlet subsetItem 19 detail
facility size
| Segment | Sample | Avg |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15,000 sq ft | 44 | $652K |
| Over 15,000 to 19,500 sq ft | 51 | $1.1M |
| Greater than 19,500 sq ft | 54 | $1.2M |
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 42.5% — above the Education median of 9.0%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
Operator retention
System expanding at 32.8% CAGR over 3 years across 170 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Education medians
How D-Bat Compares
Category median of published Education brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 170
- Opened
- 21
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 2.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +32.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +32.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 4
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 124
- 0.73 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 39
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 2.3%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 97.7%
- Units that stayed open
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 37 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
37
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 133
- Loan volume
- $103.4M
- Median loan
- $610K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 12.1%
- on 133 loans · rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 87.9%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 6.2%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 36
- Defaults
- 4
- Typical loan rate
- 7.6%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 12.5%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 1,381
- 1.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 38%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 93% went to startups / new businesses, 7% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in sports and recreation instruction, franchised businesses charge off at 12.5% vs 14.2% for independents — franchising is associated with 12% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
D-Bat charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing D-Bat franchisees
Showing 3 of 36 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for D-Bat from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
- Principal loss rate
- 1.5%
- Avg SBA guarantee
- 75%
- Avg interest rate
- 7.59%
- Avg chargeoff amount
- $332K
- Lender concentration
- 37.5%
- Job velocity
- 1.5 per $100K
- NAICS benchmark
- 3.1%
- NAICS 611620
- Jobs supported
- 1,381
Top SBA lendersTop lender holds 38% of loans
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 42 | $31.3M | 21.1% |
| 2 | KeyBank National Association | 28 | $23.6M | 0.0% |
| 3 | The Huntington National Bank | 4 | $2.9M | 0.0% |
| 4 | Farmers State Bank | 2 | $1.3M | N/A |
| 5 | Frost Bank | 2 | $1.1M | N/A |
| 6 | Village Bank and Trust, National Association | 2 | $525K | N/A |
| 7 | JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 2 | $1.2M | 0.0% |
| 8 | Glacier Bank | 2 | $1.4M | N/A |
| 9 | Wings Financial CU | 2 | $710K | N/A |
| 10 | First Internet Bank of Indiana | 2 | $1.0M | N/A |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXTexas | 28 | 2 | 16.7% |
| FLFlorida | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
| ILIllinois | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
| WIWisconsin | 5 | 0 | -- |
| ALAlabama | 4 | 0 | 0.0% |
| CACalifornia | 4 | 0 | -- |
| OHOhio | 4 | 0 | 0.0% |
| COColorado | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
| GAGeorgia | 3 | 0 | -- |
| KSKansas | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
SBA 7(a) lending trend
Borrower profile
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 12.1% — 24% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Whitley Penn LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Audited statements of income (Whitley Penn LLP, Dallas TX, May 30, 2025) for FY ended Dec 31, 2024 and 2023. FY2024 total revenues of $18,336,415 comprise management fee revenue $15,641,801, advertising fund revenue $1,013,699, franchise fee revenue $662,203, computer system fee revenue $547,881, and other revenue $470,831. Net income $9,930,417. Member's deficit (negative net worth) of $(4,412,782) driven by long-term deferred revenue of $9,031,394 and member distributions exceeding net income.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORExceptionally high royalty rate of 40% on membership fees severely limits net profitability
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 11.1% YoY suggests slowing expansion or market saturation concerns
- 03MINORHigh initial investment range ($536K-$1M+) paired with unknown revenue creates significant capital-at-risk scenario
- 04MINORProtected territory provided but with opaque financials, territorial advantage may be insufficient to offset 40% royalty drag
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 42.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 15 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Carrollton, Texas (AAA offices in city where franchisor maintains principal business address) |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | TX |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 13 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 7 hrs
- Training location
- Dallas, Texas (headquarters) or other designated location, plus on-site training
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 12 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor must approve all sites; franchisee identifies site within 180-day Site Selection Area
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- D-BAT proprietary scheduling and point-of-sale software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: D-BAT proprietary scheduling and point-of-sale software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
175 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a D-BAT franchise?
The total investment to open a D-BAT franchise ranges from $536K – $1.0M, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do D-BAT franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the D-BAT FDD discloses figures for part of the system but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns D-BAT?
D-BAT is franchised by D-BAT Academies, LLC. Its parent company is D-BAT Sports, Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the D-BAT FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the D-BAT FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is D-BAT's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, D-BAT has a charge-off rate of 12.1% across 133 loans, meaning 12.1% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many D-BAT franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, D-BAT has 170 total units in the United States, including 170 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 21 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is D-BAT a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates D-BAT as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 56 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.