D-BAT

What D-BAT does

D-BAT (legal entity: D-BAT Sports Inc.) is a US-based franchise operator of indoor baseball and softball training academies, founded in 1998 in Addison, Texas by brothers Cade and Kyle Griffis. The company sells and supports franchise licenses to independent operators who run individual D-BAT Academy locations; it has grown from 3 franchised units in 2009 to 170+ locations nationwide as of 2025, with international expansion into China beginning in 2017. Each academy is an indoor, climate-controlled facility featuring batting cages that use real baseballs and softballs, pitching machines, professional instruction areas, and a pro shop stocked with Rawlings and Easton equipment. Core service lines include private and group lessons, 50+ annual camps and clinics, half-hour batting cage rentals, and a two-tiered recurring membership program (Platinum and Gold, with an additional Diamond Club elite tier).

D-BAT's revenue model is a mix of franchise fees and royalties, consumer recurring membership subscriptions, pay-as-you-go training and retail transactions, and a small share of corporate-owned operations. Pricing is location-dependent: Platinum members receive unlimited pitching machine swings and 30% discounts on lessons and camps, while Gold members receive 15 free daily pitching machine tokens and 20% discounts. The pro shop is supplied through strategic co-branding partnerships with Rawlings and Easton — formalized in 2025 as 'D-BAT Powered by Rawlings and Easton' — which gives each location access to the full product portfolios of both brands and allows on-site bat demos. An online membership management portal (membership.dbat.net) provides basic self-serve account and location lookup functionality.

The customer base is dominated by youth baseball and softball players (ages 6-18) and their families, supplemented by adult recreational players, elite prospects (multiple MLB alumni including Clayton Kershaw, Ben Zobrist, Dylan Bundy, and Archie Bradley have trained at D-BAT), and the franchisee operators themselves. Marketing runs through the corporate website, social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X), earned media, and a dedicated franchise opportunity site. The company was ranked #1 in Category by Entrepreneur Magazine and is privately held, founder-controlled, with no disclosed funding rounds, M&A, or institutional investor ownership.

Name

D-BAT

Legal name

D-BAT Sports Inc.

Website

https://dbat.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

D-BAT is a US-based franchise operator of indoor baseball and softball training academies, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Carrollton, Texas. With 170+ franchise locations nationwide and expansion into China, it serves youth athletes, families, and elite prospects through professional instruction, camps, memberships, and retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Training Academies

NAICS

Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (71394), Sporting Goods Retailers (45911)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Amateur Clubs & Community Sports Organizations (MPAKACAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Baseball & Softball Equipment Retail (CRAMAEAA), Sport-Specific Amateur Leagues & Circuits (Non-Professional) (MPAKACAJ)

Keywords

• Baseball training academy
• Softball training facility
• Sports franchise operations
• Youth athletic instruction
• Indoor batting cages

Headquarters

HQ city

Carrollton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Recurring monthly membership fees with two tiers (Platinum and Gold) providing access to pitching machines, lessons, camps, and pro shop discounts.
2. Lessons: Private and group lessons with professional instructors for all aspects of baseball and softball training.
3. Camps and Clinics: Over 50 camps and clinics offered annually at various skill levels and positions.
4. Cage Rentals: Batting cages rented in half-hour increments for individual practice.
5. Pro Shop Merchandise: Equipment sales including wood bats, gloves, batting gloves, and baseball/softball accessories. Products include Rawlings and Easton brands through partnership.
6. Franchise Fees: Revenue from selling and supporting D-BAT Academy franchises to individual operators.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

D-BAT operates a national franchise network of indoor, climate-controlled baseball and softball training academies offering batting cages (using real baseballs and softballs), pitching machines, professional private and group lessons, 50+ annual camps and clinics, and Pro Shop equipment sales (Rawlings, Easton). The company sells D-BAT Academy franchises to individual operators and runs a two-tier consumer membership program (Platinum and Gold) that provides discounted access to lessons, camps, and facilities.

Product overview

D-BAT is the nation's leading baseball and softball training academy franchise with over 170 locations. The core offering consists of D-BAT Academies—indoor climate-controlled training facilities featuring batting cages, professional instruction, camps/clinics, and lessons. The company operates a two-tiered membership program (Platinum and Gold) providing discounted access to facilities and instruction. A Pro Shop complements the training services with equipment from Rawlings and Easton. An online membership management portal enables members to manage accounts and locate facilities. The company was founded in 1998 and began franchising in 2008.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Platinum Membership: Top-tier membership with unlimited pitching machine swings, 30% off lessons, 30% off camps and clinics, and 15% off pro shop merchandise.
• Gold Membership

Products and services

• D-BAT Academies (Baseball & Softball Training Facilities) National franchise network of indoor, climate-controlled baseball and softball training facilities offering batting cages, pitching machines, professional instruction, camps, and clinics for players of all skill levels from ages 6 through professional prospects.
• D-BAT Membership Program (Platinum & Gold) Recurring monthly membership program with two tiers. Platinum includes unlimited pitching machine swings, 30% off lessons, 30% off camps/clinics, and 15% off pro shop merchandise. Gold includes 15 free pitching machine swings per day, 20% off lessons, 20% off camps/clinics, and 10% off pro shop merchandise.
• Batting Cage Rentals Indoor batting cages using real baseballs and softballs, rented in half-hour increments, with optional pitching machine use.
• Camps and Clinics Over 50 baseball and softball camps and clinics offered annually, designed for all skill levels and positions, covering various aspects of the game.
• Professional Lessons (Private and Group) Private and group baseball and softball lessons with professional instructors covering every aspect of the game, available at all D-BAT Academy locations.
• D-BAT Pro Shop Full-service pro shop at each D-BAT Academy featuring Rawlings and Easton product portfolios, including wood bats, gloves, batting gloves, and baseball/softball accessories, with options for customized products, stock items, and bat demos.
• D-BAT Academy Franchise Opportunity Turnkey franchise business opportunity allowing individuals to own and operate a D-BAT Academy in their local market, including use of the D-BAT brand, standardized training methodology, and access to the Rawlings/Easton equipment partnership.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 170 locations nationwide with continued growth
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• RawlingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerD-BAT Powered by Rawlings and Easton partnership enables D-BAT training facilities to feature Rawlings' entire product portfolio in their pro shops. Premier athletes visiting D-BAT can train using quality Rawlings performance products. Each location offers customized products in addition to stock items.
• EastoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Easton provides D-BAT facilities with Easton's complete product portfolio. Visitors can demo the latest lineup of Easton bats in D-BAT batting cages. Creates unique immersive brand experience combining training and equipment.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Extra Innings: Extra Innings is the most direct peer to D-BAT, operating a national franchise of indoor baseball and softball training facilities with batting cages, lessons, and memberships. It competes head-to-head for franchisees and end-user families in many of the same U.S. metros.
• Baseball Factory: Baseball Factory runs player-development programming, showcases, and training events for youth and high-school baseball players. It targets the same core demographic (ages 6-18) and competes for the same tuition-paying families with premium instruction offerings.
• Frozen Ropes: Frozen Ropes is an established baseball and softball training center franchise with indoor facilities, lessons, and camps. It overlaps D-BAT's value proposition of professional instruction combined with cage and lesson packages.
• USA Sports Training: USA Sports Training operates a multi-sport youth training facility franchise model, directly comparable to D-BAT's franchise-and-facility structure though broader in sport coverage. Useful proxy for franchise unit economics and corporate overhead benchmarks.
• Big League Dreams: Big League Dreams operates replica-field sports parks and training facilities, providing baseball instruction, leagues, and tournaments. Overlaps D-BAT in the baseball instruction and youth-development segments, particularly in the western U.S.
• Ripken Baseball: Ripken Baseball runs youth baseball experiences, tournaments, and training through the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation ecosystem. Targets a similar age group and combines facilities with instruction, comparable to D-BAT's camps/clinics and lessons offering.

Broad incumbents

• i9 Sports: i9 Sports is a larger youth-sports franchise organization offering leagues and clinics across multiple sports including baseball. While broader than D-BAT's single-sport focus, it competes for the same franchisee talent and family spending.
• Topgolf: Topgolf is a larger sports-entertainment incumbent that has redefined the indoor sports-training and entertainment category. While entertainment-led rather than instruction-led, it competes for family sports-spend wallet share and re-shapes consumer expectations for indoor sports venues.
• Dick's Sporting Goods (House of Sport): Dick's House of Sport concept integrates batting cages, lessons, and pro-shop retail into large-format sporting goods stores. Represents a potential encroachment vector on D-BAT's indoor-cage plus equipment plus instruction model by a major retail incumbent.

Regional players

• Players Club / Game Face / similar regional training chains: Players Club and similar regional indoor baseball/softball training chains compete in overlapping but geographically distinct markets. Useful for benchmarking regional unit economics and D-BAT's relative dominance in Texas and the Sun Belt.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dbatsports
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DBATSports
• Facebookfacebook.com/DBATSportsInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/d-bat-sports
• Instagraminstagram.com/dbatsports

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about D-BAT