D-BatFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A D-BAT franchise requires a total initial investment of $536K – $1.0M, including a $45K franchise fee. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $548K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 12.1% charge-off rate across 133 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- 57th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- $548K
- 25th pct Education
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 170
- 63rd pct Education
- SBA default
- 12.1%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Education avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
At 0.7x revenue per dollar invested, this system underperforms the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchised units fell from 170 to 128 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $536K – $1.0M including a $45K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $548K/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 12.1% across 133 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System growing at 32.8% CAGR over 3 years with 170 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- 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
- $13.8M
- vs $18.3M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
D-BAT franchisees operate indoor baseball and softball training facilities offering batting cage rentals, lessons, lessons, camps, and leagues. Day-to-day operations include managing facility maintenance, scheduling instructors, processing membership payments, managing youth/adult customer relationships, and overseeing coach staff.
- CEO
- James Cade Griffis
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 1993
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 37
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.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$80K
14.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
9%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
10.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $536K – $1.0M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $50K – $75K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $43K – $45K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- Currently, 40% of Membership Fees
- 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 |
| Total fee load | 42.5% of rev |
At 42.5% total fee load, roughly $233K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $548K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 149 units
- vs category median 14 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $4K→$1.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 0 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Compared against 237 Education brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Education averages
How D-Bat Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 170
- Opened
- 21
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Turnover rate
- 2.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +11.1%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +32.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 4
- 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 20 · 12 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
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
Vintage analysis
D-Bat charge-off rate by loan vintage
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.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
D-BAT presents elevated risk due to lack of financial transparency (no Item 19), an unusually aggressive 40% membership royalty, modest growth, and going concern issues at the franchisor level.
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 46 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed - impossible to assess ROI or validate 40% royalty burden
- 02MINORExceptionally high royalty rate of 40% on membership fees severely limits net profitability
- 03MINORModest unit growth of 11.1% YoY suggests slowing expansion or market saturation concerns
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($536K-$1M+) paired with unknown revenue creates significant capital-at-risk scenario
- 05HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE - potential financial instability at franchisor level raises sustainability questions
- 06MINORProtected 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
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| 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 |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| 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 and onsite
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 12 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 2 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- D-BAT membership tracking and scheduling software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: D-BAT membership tracking and scheduling software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
21 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?
According to Item 19 of the D-BAT FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $548K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
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 A-grade franchise with a risk score of 46 out of 100, 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.
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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.