Episode 20 - Operator Spotlight: Electric Bat Arcade

Electric Bat Arcade operators discuss venue-based business model, splits, and community tournament strategy.

Synopsis

Alan from Wedgehead A Pinball Podcast interviews Kale and Rachel, owners of Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe, Arizona, about operating a flagship arcade venue plus a secondary location in Flagstaff. They discuss the business model of venue-based arcades versus route operators, tournament formats (IFPA vs. casual), revenue splits with location partners, and how their community-focused approach differs from other markets.

Highlights

• Electric Bat Arcade opened in September 2018 (Rachel opened it; Kale joined later)
• Electric Bat has two locations: Tempe (flagship, ~5M metro population) and Flagstaff (~76K population, 2.5 hours north, 7,000 ft elevation)
• Rachel was a professional oil painter and initially consulted on the arcade before becoming operator
• Electric Bat expanded on New Year's Eve (one year prior to podcast) adding 60 pinball and ~20 video games
• Electric Bat and Wedgehead Pinball opened within 5 days of each other (Sept 11 vs Sept 16, 2018) and started podcasts on the same day without communicating
• Electric Bat operates 50-50 revenue splits with some machine owners at the venue, won't go below 75-25 for external route operations
• Portland route operators traditionally used 50-50 splits; now standard is 60-40; East Coast and Midwest operators report 75-25 or 80-20
• Sopranos pinball earns consistently high in Portland despite not being critically acclaimed
• Electric Bat Tuesday league night regularly draws 100+ players (113 last night mentioned)
• Electric Bat maintains machines with 24-hour repair standard; fixes are done promptly to keep games playable

Entities

• Cobra Arcade· company
• Electric Bat Arcade· company
• Marco· company
• Starfighters Arcade· company
• Wedgehead Pinball Bar· company
• Yucca Taproom· company
• Electric Bat Podcast· content
• Wedgehead Pinball Podcast· content
• Howdy Partner· event
• Portland Retro· event
• ZapCon· event
• Galactic Arcade Tank Force· game
• Popeye· game
• Scooby-Doo· game
• Sopranos, The· game
• IFPA· organization
• WPPR· organization
• Alan· person
• Chewy· person
• Kale· person
• Mark· person
• Rachel· person
• Waterboy, the· person