Bates Bros. Amusement

What Bates Bros. Amusement does

Bates Bros. Amusement Co. is a family-owned, full-service traveling carnival operator headquartered in Wintersville, Ohio, in continuous operation since 1965. The company provides a turnkey midway offering—rides, games, and food concessions—deployed to county and state fairs, community festivals, private corporate events, and film productions, with all operations confined to the state of Ohio. Its ride portfolio is segmented into four tiers (Spectacular, Family & Major, Kiddie, and Fun Houses) supported by game and food concessions, an in-house maintenance and rebuild facility, a fleet of more than 40 trucks, and six 500kw Cummins generators that allow fully self-sufficient power and logistics at each venue.

The business operates on a B2B2C model. Revenue is generated primarily through per-person, per-day unlimited ride wristbands priced at $22-$30 depending on the event (with advance-purchase discounts of approximately $3 per ticket), high-margin in-park spending on food (funnel cakes, cotton candy, chicken & fries, lemonade, etc.) and game concessions, plus a smaller private-rental stream for corporate and film clients. Tickets are sold both at the event gate and online through Innovativeticketing.com. The company is led by the Bates family, with Geary and Eric Bates publicly associated with the brand through a 2015 anniversary documentary and Michelle Bates-Dallman identified as owner/founder in third-party listings.

Capital intensity is a defining characteristic: the Wintersville maintenance facility, transport fleet, and on-site power generation represent multi-million-dollar fixed assets that double as both a barrier to entry and a constraint on rapid scaling. Customer relationships are long-tenured—several county fair engagements and a 1962-vintage partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Granville anchor the calendar. The company has no disclosed outside investment, no M&A history, no patents, no mobile app or API, and no AI/ML capability, positioning it as a stable, legacy small business in a non-software-driven category.

Name

Bates Bros. Amusement

Legal name

Bates Brothers Amusements Co.

Website

https://batesbros.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1965

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bates Bros. Amusement Co. is a family-owned, full-service traveling carnival operator based in Wintersville, Ohio, providing rides, games, and food concessions at county fairs, festivals, corporate events, and private rentals throughout Ohio since 1965.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Traveling Carnival and Amusement Services

NAICS

Amusement and Theme Parks (71311), Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131), Amusement and Theme Parks (713110)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Amusement Parks (Regional/Local Ride Parks & Funfairs) (THAJAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family Entertainment Centers & Indoor Amusement (Arcades, Trampoline Parks, Indoor Play) (THAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Traveling carnival services
• Amusement rides
• Carnival event rentals
• County fair entertainment
• Game and food concessions

Headquarters

HQ city

Jefferson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Unlimited Ride Tickets: Per-person day passes for unlimited rides at events. Prices vary by event and include advance discounts. Standard pricing $22-$30 per person per day depending on event.
2. Food Concessions: Wide variety of food offerings including chicken & fries, fried dough, funnel cakes, fresh squeezed lemonade, ICEE, french fries, sticky buns, popcorn, gourmet rice crispies, candy apples, pizza, and cotton candy.
3. Game Concessions: Game attractions where guests can play and win stuffed animal prizes. Games are family-oriented and designed for all ages.
4. Private Event Rentals: Available for private rentals including movie and film productions, and large corporate rentals. Options range from single ride rentals to entire carnival rentals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bates Bros. Amusement Co. is a full-service traveling carnival that provides amusement rides, games, and food concessions at county fairs, state fairs, festivals, community events, corporate functions, and movie/film productions throughout Ohio. The company transports its rides, generators, and support equipment via a fleet of 40+ trucks to event venues and also accepts private rentals ranging from single rides to entire carnival setups. It maintains a state-of-the-art maintenance facility in Wintersville, Ohio for year-round equipment servicing.

Product overview

Bates Bros. Amusement Co. is a full-service traveling carnival providing high quality rides, attractions, games, and food concessions at events throughout Ohio since 1965. The company's core offerings include four categories of rides: Spectacular Rides (high-thrill attractions like Cliff Hanger, G-Force, Ring of Fire, Twister, and Zero Gravity), Family & Major Rides (accommodating adults and children together such as Ferris Wheel, Rock O Plane, and Super Slide), Kiddie Rides (15 rides for children 36-54 inches including Alien Adventure, Frog Hopper, and Spider Mania), and Fun Houses & Walk Throughs (including Looney Belle and Mardi Gras). Supporting the ride portfolio are Game & Food Concessions (offering fair classics like funnel cakes, cotton candy, and carnival games) and Support Equipment (including six 500kw Cummins generators and a fleet of over 40 trucks). The company also provides an online Measure-Up Tool for height requirement checking, event booking services, and a Kids Club with coloring activities. They partner with the World's Largest Indoor Amusement Park at the IX Center in Cleveland and service county fairs, festivals, corporate events, and movie productions across Ohio from their Wintersville, Ohio headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Spectacular Rides

Quantifiable outcome

• 61+ years of continuous operation since 1965
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• IX Center Cleveland (World's Largest Indoor Amusement Park)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1965Annual partnership hosting the World's Largest Indoor Amusement Park at the IX Center in Cleveland. This represents a flagship event partnership for the company, bringing carnival entertainment to one of Ohio's largest indoor venues.
• Kiwanis Club of GranvillecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 1962Event sponsorship of Granville 4th celebration since 1962. The Kiwanis Club sponsors this annual four-day community festival where Bates Brothers provides carnival rides and attractions on Broadway Street in historic downtown Granville.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• S&S Worldwide (Sansei Technologies): Major manufacturer and supplier of amusement rides to the carnival and amusement park industry. Comparable to Bates as a thematic peer within the broader carnival ecosystem, but operates as an equipment supplier rather than a competing carnival operator.

Broad incumbents

• Cedar Fair Entertainment: Large publicly-traded operator of fixed amusement parks (Cedar Point, Kings Island) with overlapping ride and entertainment offerings. Comparable as a broader amusement industry incumbent, but anchored on fixed-park destinations rather than traveling midways like Bates.

Direct peers

• Talley Amusements: Family-owned traveling carnival based in the Midwest that provides rides, games, and food concessions at county fairs and festivals. Directly comparable to Bates Bros. as a regional, multi-generational family-operated carnival operator.
• Wade Shows: Multi-generational family-owned carnival company operating across the Midwest with rides, games, and food concessions at fairs. Highly comparable to Bates in business model and family-ownership structure, though with broader geographic reach.
• North American Midway Entertainment: One of the largest traveling carnival companies in the U.S., operating midways at state and county fairs across multiple states. Directly comparable to Bates Bros. in business model (rides, games, food concessions at fairs), but with significantly greater geographic scale.
• Powers Great American Midways: Traveling carnival serving county and state fairs across multiple states with rides, games, and concessions. Comparable to Bates as a regional-to-multi-state carnival operator with full-service midway offerings.
• Deggeller Attractions: Established traveling carnival providing rides, games, and food at fairs and festivals, primarily in the Midwest and Southeast. Operates a comparable full-service carnival midway model similar to Bates Bros.
• Dreamland Amusements: Traveling carnival operator serving fairs and festivals primarily in the eastern United States. Closely mirrors Bates Bros.' offering of portable rides, games, and food concessions at county fairs.
• J&J Amusements: Midwest-based traveling carnival providing rides, games, and food concessions at fairs and community events. Closely comparable to Bates as a regional family-style carnival operator serving similar county fair customers.
• Ray Cammack Shows: Large-scale traveling carnival operating at major fairs across the western and midwestern U.S. Provides rides, games, and food concessions in a model directly parallel to Bates Bros., but at a larger geographic scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bates-brothers-amusement-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Bates Bros. Amusement