24/7 Sim Boom: Why It Helps Your Home Setup
Is the 24/7 golf simulator boom bad for home sim owners? No. The explosion of round-the-clock indoor golf facilities — Back Nine (150+ locations, opening 20 per month), Another Nine (75+ franchise territories sold in year one), and GolfCave (expanding into CT and Long Island) — is not competition for your home setup. These facilities serve a different need: social play, variety, and low-commitment access. For home sim owners, they provide a benchmark for comparison, a social outlet your garage can’t offer, and a try-before-you-buy funnel that actually grows the market.
The people building $599 Garmin R10 setups in their garages and the people paying $200/month for 24/7 bay access at Back Nine are the same person on different days of the week. The industry is starting to figure that out.
The Numbers Are Real
In 2024, Back Nine Golf had 18 locations. As of early 2026, they have 150 locations in various stages of development. They’re opening about 20 per month. They’re selling franchises in Australia, Canada, and the UK. The cost to open a Back Nine franchise ranges from $276,000 to $604,000, and existing locations average $193,000 in annual revenue. People are building these because the math works.
Another Nine, the membership-free 24/7 concept out of Cincinnati, sold 75 franchise territories in its first year of franchising. They have two corporate locations open and are now converting franchise sales into actual buildings. The first franchise location opened in Cornelius, North Carolina in June 2026. Five more are planned for the Charlotte metro alone. The entire Charlotte market is sold out.
GolfCave, a New Jersey-based concept that’s been around since 2012, is expanding into Connecticut and Long Island after selling out their New Jersey territories. Their model combines membership revenue with hourly bookings, and they’re opening locations in Staten Island, White Plains, and two Pennsylvania locations outside Philadelphia.
This is a structural shift in how people access golf. The growth rates are real, the revenue is real, and the expansion is accelerating.
The Two Reasons This Matters for Home Sim Owners
If you’re considering a home golf sim setup, these facilities are worth watching — not as competitors, but as a leading indicator of market health.
1. The Try-Before-You-Buy Funnel
Every 24/7 facility that opens is a lead generation machine for the home sim industry.
Someone walks into a Back Nine at 10 PM because they heard about it from a friend. They pay $40 for an hour in a bay. They play Pebble Beach on a TrackMan iO. They hit 50 balls. They’re hooked. Over the next six months, they become a member. They start going twice a week. They learn what a launch monitor actually does. They understand the difference between ball data and club data. They develop preferences about software, about screen size, about hitting surface feel. And then they start thinking about their garage.
The 24/7 facility is the gateway drug. Every facility that opens exposes people to simulator golf who would never have built a home setup from scratch. These facilities create informed buyers who know what they want when they’re ready to spend.
The sim industry has never had a retail distribution channel. You can’t walk into a Best Buy and try a GC3. The 24/7 facilities are that channel — showrooms that pay for themselves.
2. The Social Problem Your Garage Can’t Solve
The biggest objection to building a home simulator is the isolation.
You spend $10,000 on a setup. You hit balls alone in your garage. Your friends say “that sounds cool” but never come over. You play 18 holes by yourself against a computer. After six months, the novelty wears off, and you’re standing in a 10x12 room wondering why you spent all that money.
The 24/7 facility solves that problem without you having to build anything. When you want to play alone and work on your swing, you use your home setup. When you want to play with friends, you book a bay at the local 24/7 facility. When you want to try a different software platform or a different launch monitor, you go use theirs.
The two setups serve different purposes. Your home sim is for practice and focused play. The facility is for social golf and variety. You need both.
The Barbell Thesis
The golf industry is splitting into two distinct markets, and the middle is getting squeezed.
At one end of the spectrum are the 24/7 facilities. They require low commitment, no equipment to buy, and you pay by the hour or month. Anyone with $40 and a desire to hit balls at 2 AM can walk in.
At the other end are home simulators. They require significant upfront investment and give you complete control over your environment. This is the domain of enthusiasts who know exactly what they want from their setup.
The middle — traditional country clubs, public courses, driving ranges — is getting squeezed. The NGF reports that off-course participation (simulator golf and entertainment venues) has exceeded on-course play for three years running. Private club initiation fees are climbing. Public tee times are harder to secure. The traditional golf experience is becoming less accessible and less appealing to a generation that values convenience and flexibility.
The 24/7 facility boom is proof that the entire category is growing. The rising tide lifts both boats.
What This Means for Your Buying Decision
If you’re on the fence about building a home simulator, the 24/7 boom should push you toward buying.
Your home setup becomes more valuable when there’s a facility nearby. You use your home sim for the 80% of your practice that’s solitary and focused. You use the facility for the 20% that’s social and exploratory. The math works better when you have both options.
The alternative — building a home sim and expecting it to be everything — is a recipe for disappointment. No single setup can be both your private practice space and your social hub. The 24/7 facilities are solving the social problem so your home sim can focus on what it does best: making you a better golfer.
The Catch
The 24/7 boom is good for the category, but it changes the calculus for one specific type of buyer: the person who was going to build a “social sim” — a home setup designed primarily for entertaining friends.
If your primary motivation for building a home sim is “I want a place to hang out with my buddies and hit balls,” the 24/7 facility probably does that better than anything you can build in your garage for under $20,000. They have better screens, better software, better sound systems, and they don’t require you to clean up after your friends leave.
If your primary motivation is “I want to get better at golf and have a place to practice every day,” the home sim is still the right call. The 24/7 facility works alongside it, covering the social and variety gaps that a garage setup can’t fill on its own.
In Short
The 24/7 golf sim boom is a validation of the entire category. Facilities are opening because demand is real, and every new facility creates more informed buyers who will eventually build their own setups.
The two markets are symbiotic. The facility boom makes home sims more valuable by solving the social problem, providing a try-before-you-buy funnel, and proving that simulator golf is a permanent shift in the sport.
If you already own a home sim, find your nearest 24/7 facility and use it. If you’re on the fence, the existence of a facility nearby should push you toward building. And if you’re running a sim facility, you should be referring customers to home sim dealers. The garage and the facility both win when the habit grows.
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