How many booked bay-hours does an indoor golf facility need to break even?
Start with the hours you can sell, then work backward from your costs. This fictional four-bay example shows the math. Replace every assumption with your own quotes and demand evidence before committing to a lease.
1. Calculate monthly capacity
Four simulator bays open 12 hours a day for 26 days offer 4 × 12 × 26 = 1,248 available bay-hours per month. An open hour is only potential capacity. It is not a booking or a sale.
2. Test a realistic booked-time assumption
At an assumed 40% utilization, the example sells about 499 bay-hours. At an assumed average of $50 per booked bay-hour, modeled bay revenue is $24,960 per month. The average collected price may differ from your posted rate because of discounts, packages, unused bookings, and payment failures.
Check demand by day and time. A weekend waiting list does not prove you can fill weekday mornings. Pre-sales, local interviews, or comparable operators may help you test your utilization assumption.
3. Work backward from operating costs
Suppose rent and other monthly fixed operating costs total $18,000, and variable costs consume 15% of sales. Each revenue dollar then contributes $0.85 toward fixed costs. The example needs about $21,176 in monthly bay sales to cover the $18,000. At $50 per hour across 1,248 available bay-hours, that is roughly 34% booked time.
Break-even utilization = fixed monthly costs ÷ [available bay-hours × average price per booked hour × (1 − variable-cost rate)]. This simplified example assumes no other revenue and no separate debt service, owner pay, tax, or equipment replacement expense unless those are included in the fixed-cost estimate.
4. Stress-test before signing
- What if your collected hourly price is lower than planned?
- Can you cover fixed costs if occupancy takes longer to build?
- Do your quotes include installation, maintenance, staffing, utilities, insurance, financing, and replacement reserves?
- Does the property actually allow the proposed use, layout, ceiling clearance, and parking?
A spreadsheet can show sensitivity to these assumptions. It cannot establish local customer demand, verify competitors, or approve a property.
Use your numbers
Enter your bay count, hours, price, estimated booked time, and costs into our live preliminary model. Review the preview before deciding whether the $149 automated three-scenario plan is useful. You can also view a fictional demo plan.
Model my indoor golf facility