Nashville could soon get its own answer to Topgolf, except this one is built for baseball and softball players instead of golfers. Batter Up Social, described by the Nashville Business Journal as the world's first open-air batting venue, plans to open a flagship location in Music City in early 2028.
The concept blends baseball and softball batting with food, drinks, music and nightlife, according to WSMV, which reported the plans on October 16, 2026, two days after the Nashville Business Journal's October 14, 2026, report. Guests will be able to choose between baseball or softball and pick their own pitch speeds and styles, with the venue expected to include 15 to 25 batting bays for hitting balls into a large field. The Nashville Business Journal reports the company plans to open its flagship location in Nashville in early 2028 and describes Batter Up Social as comparable to Topgolf but built around baseball instead of golf.
Pro-Level Tech Meets Casual Swings
Batter Up Social's venue is designed to appeal to both casual players and more serious baseball and softball athletes, per the station's report. The bays will feature pro-level pitching machines alongside hologram pitcher screens, and ball-tracking technology will measure exit velocity, launch angle and distance.
Beyond individual batting sessions, the concept includes organized home run derbies, tournaments and leagues, giving regulars a reason to keep coming back. The company has said it will release additional information about the Nashville location, including investment opportunities and opening plans, as the project moves forward, the same account notes.
What's Planned for the Nashville Site
Plans for the Nashville location include a ballpark-inspired restaurant, a rooftop biergarten and a sports bar and lounge, alongside pitching and fielding bays and a dedicated training center. The company also envisions an arcade, a retail shop and private-event space on site, rounding out what would be a sprawling entertainment destination rather than just a batting cage with a snack bar.
The proposed venue would add a sports-focused entertainment destination to Nashville's tourism and nightlife market. That ambition lines up with how competitors in the space are positioning themselves: Home Run Dugout, for instance, operates an indoor baseball venue in Katy, Texas, that pairs batting bays with live music, a hot dog grill, a beer garden and a souvenir shop, according to the company's own site, Home Run Dugout.
A Growing Field of Baseball-Themed Hangouts
Batter Up Social is entering a sector that has been attracting serious investor money. Home Run Dugout secured $22.5 million in Series A financing in 2024, with plans to use the funds to expand its Houston-area location, hire executives, pursue licensing deals and open new sites, according to Restaurant Dive. The outlet also reports that eatertainment chains are expanding rapidly across the country as demand for experiential dining keeps climbing in the years after the pandemic.
Home Run Dugout has since moved into licensing on a bigger stage, signing its first MLB franchise partnership with the Texas Rangers to install two hitting bays at Globe Life Field, as reported by Sports Business Journal. The outlet notes the company is prioritizing that capital-light licensing model because construction and operating costs for full venues run high.
Home Run Dugout's planned San Antonio venue, announced at The Rim, is set to span 65,000 square feet with more than 30 batting bays, augmented-reality soft-toss baseball, a full-service restaurant, three bars and an outdoor mini field known as Biergarten Baseball, according to CultureMap San Antonio. That location would be the company's third, following its first location in Round Rock, which opened in 2019, and its full-scale venue in Katy, outside Houston, which opened in 2023.
Another competitor, Batbox, raised $7.3 million in venture capital to bring its casual eats-and-entertainment concept, which combines food and beverage with a simulated pitching-and-hitting cage, into the United States, Sportico reports. Batbox planned its first U.S. location for Addison, Texas, with a target of 25 U.S. locations by 2030. For comparison, Topgolf International raised nearly $169 million in funding before Callaway Golf acquired it in 2021, the same outlet reports, underscoring how much capital has flowed into tech-driven sports hangouts in recent years.
Open Questions as Nashville Plans Take Shape
Batter Up Social has not disclosed the Nashville flagship's exact address, square footage or final batting-bay count, and the company has said it will share more details on the location, investment opportunities and opening timeline as the project develops. Whether the early-2028 target holds firm as planning continues remains to be seen.
