How long does it take to open a D-BAT franchise?
D-BAT Academies, LLC anticipates that most new D-BAT Facilities open about one year after the Franchise Agreement is signed. This is an estimate, not an opening promise. The controlling milestones are an acceptable site within 180 days after the Effective Date and an Opening Date no later than 180 days after site possession, subject to site, lease, zoning, permit, construction, training, insurance, and final-authorization dependencies.
Legal franchisor: D-BAT Academies, LLC, a Texas limited liability company.
Disclosure basis: 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document issued May 11, 2026.
Formats covered: one D-BAT Facility under a Franchise Agreement; multiple Facilities under an Area Development Agreement; transfer/resale where applicable.
Timeline mode: official total estimate plus separate contractual deadlines; the periods are not additive.
Primary evidence: FDD Items 1, 5–12, 15–17 and 20; Franchise Agreement Sections 3–6, 8, 16 and 18; Area Development Agreement Sections 3–5 and 9; Letter of Intent.
Date checked: July 14, 2026.
Public references: official D-BAT franchise website, official inquiry page, and the FTC Franchise Rule Compliance Guide. The FDD is cited by year, Item, agreement section, and page because no matching official public FDD link was verified.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, cover, Items 5 and 11, pp. 4 and 20–21; Franchise Agreement Sections 3.A, 6.B–6.C and 8.A, pp. 3, 7–8 and 10–11; 16 C.F.R. § 436.2.
Who qualifies to apply and operate the Facility?
The 2026 FDD states no fixed new-unit net-worth, liquid-capital, credit-score, education, or baseball-industry minimum. D-BAT nevertheless relies on the application’s financial, experience, ownership, and operating representations, and approval remains discretionary.
Item 15 uses “Operating Principal,” while training provisions use “Designated Principal.” Confirm whether one person fills both roles and request the current written qualification criteria before treating the franchise as awarded.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Items 10 and 15, pp. 16 and 24–25; Franchise Agreement Background D and Sections 8.E and 18.B; official inquiry page.
What is the D-BAT process from inquiry to opening?
The single-unit path has nine material stages. Application, disclosure, signing, site, lease, Plans, training, and opening authorization remain separate decisions; completing one does not guarantee the next.
Submit the inquiry and application
Action: Provide requested financial, ownership, experience, and operating information.
Actor: Applicant; D-BAT screens and may approve or reject.
Timing: No complete application-review duration is disclosed.
Blocker: Incomplete or inaccurate representations.
Receive and review the FDD
Action: Review the 2026 FDD, Franchise Agreement, state addenda, guaranties, and attachments.
Actor: Applicant and professional advisers.
Timing: At least 14 calendar days before a binding agreement or payment connected to the sale.
Next: Resolve state registration and document questions.
Select the agreement path
Action: Choose a single Facility, an Area Development Agreement, or an approved resale/transfer path.
Actor: Applicant and D-BAT.
Timing: Before execution and payment.
Blocker: Territory, development commitment, or transfer conditions that do not fit the buyer’s plan.
Sign the controlling documents
Action: Execute the Franchise Agreement, guaranties, entity documents, and—if applicable—the Area Development Agreement and first-unit Franchise Agreement.
Actor: Approved applicant, Principals, spouse where required, and D-BAT.
Timing: After the applicable disclosure period.
Next: The Effective Date starts the site clock.
Identify and obtain approval of a site
Action: Submit the Franchise Site Application with demographics, traffic, parking, competition, economics, physical characteristics, and site plan.
Actor: Franchisee finds the site; D-BAT approves or refuses it.
Timing: Acceptable site within 180 days after the Effective Date.
Blocker: Missing information, zoning, economics, or minimum site criteria.
Obtain lease approval before signing
Action: Submit the proposed lease, letter of intent, sublease, or lease memorandum with D-BAT’s required landlord protections.
Actor: Franchisee, landlord, counsel, and D-BAT.
Timing: D-BAT’s agreement gives 14 days after receipt; executed lease is due within five business days after signing.
Blocker: Missing rider or landlord consent.
Complete plans, permits, and buildout
Action: Use registered design professionals and licensed contractors; secure approved plans, permits, equipment, signage, software, inventory, utilities, and insurance.
Actor: Franchisee and third parties; D-BAT reviews plans and standards compliance.
Timing: Plans review is 30 days; construction cannot begin before approval.
Blocker: Permit, contractor, landlord, supplier, or inspection delay.
Train the required people and prepare operations
Action: Complete initial training; hire and train personnel; install systems; stock approved supplies; prepare approved opening marketing.
Actor: Designated Principal, General Manager, Assistant Manager, franchisee staff, and D-BAT trainers.
Timing: Initial training is generally one to two months before opening.
Blocker: Unsuccessful completion or missing readiness items.
Obtain opening authorization
Action: Give completion notice, supply certificates and insurance, certify installation, pass any final inspection, and close all defaults.
Actor: Franchisee, authorities, insurer, contractors, and D-BAT.
Timing: Written completion notice is due at least 10 days before expected completion; opening must occur by the Opening Date.
Blocker: D-BAT has not authorized opening.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Items 5, 9 and 11; Franchise Agreement Sections 3–6, 8 and 16; Letter of Intent, Exhibit I.
Which D-BAT opening periods are estimates and which are deadlines?
D-BAT discloses one overall planning estimate, two approximate stage durations, and two 180-day contractual limits. The chart compares elapsed days but does not add them: each bar begins from a different contractual or operational trigger.
Scale: 0 to 365 days. “+” means the disclosed duration may exceed the plotted endpoint.
Interpretation: real estate is the largest disclosed variable. The one-year estimate can coexist with a 180-day site deadline because D-BAT may terminate for missing the site deadline even though finding and securing a site can take one year or more.
Source: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Item 11, pp. 20–21; Franchise Agreement Section 3.A, p. 3. Bars show disclosed durations and do not represent a guaranteed project schedule.
Item 11 describes site notice in one passage as 30 days and elsewhere as 30 business days. Franchise Agreement Section 3.B states 30 days after D-BAT receives the site documents and any additional requested information, and silence is neither approval nor disapproval. Confirm the operative wording in the execution copy and build no lease deadline around assumed approval.
How do site approval, lease approval, Territory, and opening approval differ?
D-BAT first defines a Site Selection Area, then reviews a specific site, separately reviews the lease and Plans, identifies the Territory around the approved location, and finally decides whether Section 5 opening conditions are satisfied.
| Decision | Franchisee action | D-BAT action | External dependency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site | Submit demographics, traffic, parking, economics, competition, and site plan. | Approve or refuse minimum-criteria compliance. | Broker, seller, landlord, zoning authority. |
| Lease | Submit the proposed lease before signing and secure required rider terms. | Review required protections, not economic favorability. | Landlord consent and counsel. |
| Plans | Retain registered design professionals and licensed contractors. | Review Plans and later material changes. | Architects, engineers, code officials. |
| Buildout | Fund, construct, equip, insure, and stock the Facility. | Provide standards, assistance, and possible inspections. | Contractors, utilities, suppliers, permit offices. |
| Opening | Submit certificates, insurance, installation certification, and readiness evidence. | Authorize only after Section 5 conditions are met. | Insurer, fire/safety officials, certificate issuer. |
Approval means the site meets D-BAT’s minimum criteria; it is not a sales assurance. The Territory is identified after a site is found, and Item 12 preserves competition through excluded channels and other marks.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Items 8, 11 and 12; Franchise Agreement Sections 3–5. System context: open locations and coming-soon locations.
What must be complete before D-BAT authorizes opening?
Training is necessary but not sufficient. The Designated Principal, General Manager, and Assistant Manager must successfully complete initial training, disclosed as 13.5 classroom hours plus 7 on-the-job hours, generally one to two months before opening.
Agreement Section 8.A includes the first three attendees without tuition, while one Item 11 paragraph refers to the first two. Confirm the final attendee and tuition terms. The franchisee remains responsible for wages, travel, lodging, and meals.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Item 11, pp. 19–20; Franchise Agreement Sections 5 and 8.A, pp. 7 and 10–11.
How does an Area Development Agreement change the opening process?
The Area Development Agreement creates a right and obligation to develop at least two Facilities in a negotiated Development Area. It does not authorize operation: each Facility still needs its own Franchise Agreement and complete opening process.
First Facility
The developer signs the Area Development Agreement and first Franchise Agreement together. The first unit then follows the single-unit site, lease, Plans, buildout, training, and authorization requirements.
Later Facilities
Each later unit requires a new request, current FDD, then-current Franchise Agreement, continuing compliance, demonstrated capacity, and execution by the scheduled date—no later than six months before its Projected Opening Date.
Attachment B supplies the negotiated schedule; there is no universal calendar. Missing it can permit termination without cure, Development Area reduction, modified protection, or fewer development rights.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Items 1, 5, 12 and 17; Area Development Agreement Sections 1–5 and 9.
Which deadlines can block or terminate the D-BAT opening?
The main clocks start at agreement execution, site possession, or the negotiated Opening Date. Force Majeure can proportionately extend the Opening Date; other relief requires support in the signed documents or written approval.
Acquire an acceptable site; failure may permit termination without cure.
The mutually agreed Opening Date may be no later than this point.
Submit satisfactory insurance evidence and proof of payment.
Pay the software and construction/on-site training fees.
Send written completion and certificate-of-occupancy notice.
Area developers must meet each negotiated execution and opening milestone.
Exhibit K in the reviewed 2026 FDD marked listed registration states “Pending.” Verify current registration, filing, exemption, and state addenda before any binding agreement or payment.
Sources: Franchise Agreement Sections 3–6, 16 and 18; Area Development Agreement Sections 4 and 9; FDD Exhibit K; 16 C.F.R. § 436.2.
What should a prospective D-BAT franchisee verify before signing and opening?
Convert every sales-stage statement into a document, actor, trigger, deadline, approval condition, and consequence. Item 20 franchisees can test whether the disclosed process works that way in practice.
D-BAT provides standards, review, consultation, training, and possible inspections; it does not guarantee a site, lease, financing, permit, contractor schedule, certificate of occupancy, employees, or opening date.
Sources: 2026 D-BAT FDD, Items 10, 11 and 20; Franchise Agreement Sections 3–5 and 8; official company background.