D-Bat Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
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 does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). 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 →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- 64th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Outlet subset
- Royalty
- N/A
- 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 avg · 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.
- RETURNSAudited 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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 18% 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% of gross sales |
| 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
D-BAT did not disclose financial performance in FDD Item 19. The ROIC and return models require Item 19 revenue. Without it all inputs are estimates. You can still run the calculator with your own assumptions by entering an expected revenue figure.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one D-BAT unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
13%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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
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.
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 17 · large
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- The FDD edition these figures were read from
- Transparency
- 0 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · below
Compared against 204 Education brands
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 average of 10.6%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports average gross revenue by revenue stream rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
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 averages
How D-Bat Compares
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
- 0.0%
- 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
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 15
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 8
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- 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%
- 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.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into D-Bat's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 13-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
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)
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)
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
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE - potential financial instability at franchisor level raises sustainability questions
- 05MINORProtected 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 |
| 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
FDD download
D-BAT · FDD (2025) PDF
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?
D-BAT does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
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), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent D-BAT, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Education franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Education category
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.