BabyBallers Franchise: A Low-Cost Toddler Football Business with Real Heart

The BabyBallers Franchise is one of the most accessible children's activity opportunities on the market, blending an affordable entry point with a feel-good business model that genuinely makes a difference in local communities. Founded in Essex in 2015 by a sport-loving family who wanted their own toddler to enjoy fun, structured football sessions, BabyBallers has grown into a national brand with more than 140 clubs running every week, plus international clubs in Belgium and Australia.

Sessions are designed around learning through play. Each 35-minute class is split into three age groups: BabyBallers (16 months to 2.5 years), MiniBallers (2.5 to 3.5 years) and Ballers (3.5 to 5 years). Children learn shapes, colours, numbers and body parts alongside basic football skills, all while burning off plenty of energy. The format is simple, repeatable and proven to attract loyal weekly bookings from local parents.

As a BabyBallers franchisee, you operate within an exclusive territory and run weekly classes from local sports halls or community venues. You can either coach the sessions yourself (full training is provided and no prior coaching experience is required) or hire a coach to deliver classes on your behalf. The model is built around scalability, so franchisees can add more sessions, clubs and venues as demand grows.

Income comes from several streams, not just class fees:

Because there is no premises to lease and no expensive equipment to buy, overheads are very low. That keeps operating costs down and protects margins.

A BabyBallers coach guiding a toddler through a structured football session

It is important to separate the franchise fee from the wider start-up requirements. The headline figures for the BabyBallers Franchise are:

BabyBallers states that a club operating at around 80% capacity can deliver a potential annual profit of £9,000 to £10,000 from a single weekly session, with multi-club franchisees reporting earnings of £30,000 to £60,000 once established. Funding support is available, and BabyBallers has a working relationship with NatWest to help franchisees access the required finance.

BabyBallers handholds franchisees through every step of the launch. New franchisees receive a comprehensive information pack, a financial forecast and a strategy call before signing, followed by a structured two-phase onboarding process. Phase one covers training, branding and territory set-up, while phase two focuses on the launch marketing campaign that ensures a strong first cohort of children. DBS checks can be arranged through head office, and ongoing support includes session plan templates, social media assets and access to the wider BabyBallers community.

Children's activities is one of the most resilient franchise sectors in the country. Parents continue to prioritise spending on their children's development even when household budgets tighten, and demand for early years sport, fitness and confidence-building activities has grown steadily.

Existing BabyBallers franchisees frequently highlight how easy the brand makes it to get started, even for people with no business background. Others mention how supportive head office is when questions come up.

This opportunity tends to appeal to parents, sports coaches, teachers and career changers who want a flexible, rewarding business they can fit around family life. You do not need any prior business or coaching experience, but you do need to be reliable, friendly, organised and genuinely good with young children and their parents.

BabyBallers was founded in Chelmsford, Essex in 2015 by Rich Elms. The idea began when Elms took his young son Fletcher to a local football session and felt the format could be done better. He started his own informal club for Fletcher and a handful of friends, built a simple curriculum that wove early-learning ideas (colours, numbers, shapes, body parts) into football skills, and watched word spread. The brand opened to franchisees in 2017, signed its first international master franchise in Belgium soon after, and has since added clubs in Australia. The group now operates more than 140 weekly clubs across the UK alongside its overseas locations.

Most franchisees concentrate sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings, when family availability is highest, and add weekday classes in the late afternoon as demand builds. A standard club runs three back-to-back 35-minute sessions in a single sports hall, one for each age band, so the venue is used efficiently for a single block booking. Weekday admin sits comfortably alongside other commitments and typically includes:

• ✓ Replying to parent enquiries from social posts and the local class finder
• ✓ Processing new memberships and renewals through the booking platform
• ✓ Posting one or two pieces of session content to local community channels
• ✓ Ordering kit, certificates and merchandise top-ups for upcoming sessions
• ✓ Confirming venue bookings and any holiday camp or birthday party dates

Every BabyBallers franchisee is allocated an exclusive territory, with no other franchisee permitted to market or run classes inside that postcode footprint. The agreement runs for three years initially, with the right to renew on the franchisor's then current terms. Head office is actively recruiting in the South West, the Midlands, Wales, the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where coverage is thinnest. Many existing franchisees start with one club, prove the model, then expand into neighbouring areas or add a second weekly venue inside their original patch. That stepped approach lets new owners learn the operational rhythm before scaling staff and sessions.

The wider tailwind behind toddler activity franchises is straightforward. UK public-health guidance recommends that under-fives spend at least 180 minutes a day being physically active, and parents are increasingly looking for structured, age-appropriate ways to hit that target while also building confidence and social skills. The NHS physical activity guidelines for under-5s sit behind much of the marketing language used across the sector, and they explain why weekly toddler sport classes have continued to grow even as discretionary spend has tightened elsewhere.

Interested in exploring more opportunities in this sector? Take a look at other Children franchise opportunities available on Franchise Hunt.