Arcade Profile – Electric Bat

Replay Magazine·article·analyzed·Feb 1, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Electric Bat Arcade becomes world's largest single-location pinball league hub with 130 players and 65 machines.

Summary

Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe, Arizona, has grown from a 13-machine startup into a major pinball hub hosting the world's largest single-location pinball league with 130+ weekly players. Founded by Rachel Bess and Cale Hernandez (who met at Marco Specialties), the venue operates 6am-2am daily, recently expanded to 65 pinball machines, and has diversified with rhythm games and a Pop-A-Shot Elite basketball game that became their highest-earning machine.

Key Claims

Electric Bat Arcade hosts the largest single-location pinball league in the world with 130 people in the league
high confidence · Rachel Bess directly states this achievement in the article
The arcade operates 6am-2am every day, would be 24/7 without state liquor board closure requirements
high confidence · Cale Hernandez explains operational hours and regulatory constraints
Electric Bat Arcade now operates 65 pinball machines, 12 Japanese rhythm games, standup arcade games, and a Pop-A-Shot Elite
high confidence · Stated in venue inventory description
The Pop-A-Shot Elite became the arcade's highest-earning machine overall
high confidence · Cale Hernandez confirms earnings performance and notes the machine's beautiful design
Electric Bat Arcade expanded three years ago from initial location, having previously expanded within the strip mall
high confidence · Timeline of expansions driven by tournament growth demand
Star Wars and Godzilla are among the top-earning Stern games at Electric Bat currently
medium confidence · Rachel Bess notes these are top performers, references earnings reports on Electric Bat Cast podcast for more details
Ryan Cravens is now VP of arcade products at Pop-A-Shot, previously worked at Stern
high confidence · Bess confirms professional relationship and Cravens' current role

Notable Quotes

“Our league is the largest single-location pinball league in the world.”
Rachel Bess @ not provided — Core achievement and differentiator for Electric Bat Arcade's competitive standing in pinball community
“The arcade's almost bigger than the original bar it was attached to.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Illustrates scale of arcade's growth and importance to venue identity over seven years
“I didn't even know pinball was still a thing.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Illustrates Hernandez's entry into pinball industry with no prior knowledge; reflects casual observer perspective on pinball's status
“Part of the magic sauce is our hours. It's almost easier to advertise when we're closed. Not everybody's here at one time, so you can really feel like you have the arcade to yourself.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Key operational philosophy: extended hours create multiple community subsets rather than one crowded monolith; supports both casual and serious players
“This machine is really beautiful. It has a leaderboard integrated into the LCD screen where the backboard would typically be. It's been our highest-earning machine in the entire arcade.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Pop-A-Shot Elite's commercial success and design quality; signals potential diversification revenue stream for pinball arcades
“She's much more qualified than I am but I learned how to work on machines when I worked at Marco Specialties and was doing customer service.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Demonstrates how Marco Specialties experience translated to hands-on arcade operations and technical competency
“Rachel just used the office of the Tap Room. The catalyst for the expansion was the pinball tournaments. More and more people started coming and it was getting hard to move around.”
Cale Hernandez @ not provided — Tournament-driven growth as primary driver of physical expansion and venue evolution

Entities

Electric Bat Arcadeorganization Rachel BesspersonCale HernandezpersonMarco SpecialtiescompanyRyan CravenspersonYucca Tap Roomorganization

Signals

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business_signal: Electric Bat Arcade expanded three times over seven years, driven primarily by tournament and league growth demand rather than casual play expansion
high · Cale Hernandez states 'The catalyst for the expansion was the pinball tournaments' and describes escalating space constraints
?
community_signal: Electric Bat Arcade's 130-player league represents significant concentration of competitive pinball activity at a single location, creating local hub effect for tournament infrastructure and social cohesion
high · Rachel Bess states 'Our league is the largest single-location pinball league in the world' and Hernandez notes regular Tuesday night sellouts
?
community_signal: Electric Bat Arcade's tournament infrastructure and extended operating hours (6am-2am) have created multiple player cohorts and enabled world's largest single-location pinball league with 130 weekly participants
high · Rachel Bess confirms league size and Cale Hernandez explains how hours and league structure support diverse player bases
$
market_signal: Pop-A-Shot Elite basketball game became Electric Bat Arcade's highest-earning machine overall, indicating potential revenue diversification opportunity for pinball venues and suggesting non-pinball arcade gaming can outperform pinball machines on earnings
high · Cale Hernandez states 'It's been our highest-earning machine in the entire arcade' in reference to Pop-A-Shot Elite
?
community_signal: Rachel Bess's long-term pinball passion (playing since teenage years, former league organizer) combined with Cale Hernandez's technical learning curve (from graphic design to machine repair) created complementary operational strengths at Electric Bat Arcade

Topics

Venue Operations and ManagementprimaryPinball League and Tournament InfrastructureprimaryArcade Expansion and Growth StrategyprimaryDiversification into Non-Pinball Arcade GamessecondaryStaff Training and Technical CompetencysecondaryPinball Machine Revenue PerformancesecondaryCommunity Building and Player RetentionsecondaryExtended Operating Hours as Competitive Advantagesecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Article is largely celebratory of Electric Bat Arcade's achievements and growth trajectory. No criticism or negative sentiment expressed. Interview subjects are enthusiastic about their accomplishments, community impact, and future development plans. Tone is admiring and professional.

Transcript

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Big Success for Electric Bat Arcade’s Pinball Leagues, Tournaments Pop-A-Shot Elite Now Part of the Magic at Tempe Game Room by Matt Harding Electric Bat Arcade opened in Tempe, Arizona, more than seven years ago as part of the historic Yucca Tap Room. The bar has been around for more than 50 years, and the owners approached pinball aficionado Rachel Bess with the idea for a small arcade. Yucca Tap Room and Electric Bat Arcade have been attached ever since. As her husband and Electric Bat’s marketing manager Cale Hernandez explained: “The guys at Yucca Tap Room had the vision that the bar really needed an arcade. At that point, they had a restaurant, alcohol and live music. It felt like more entertainment would bring them into the future. Now the arcade’s almost bigger than the original bar it was attached to.” Hernandez and Bess initially met through their shared work at Marco Specialties, the South Carolina-based pinball parts supplier. Hernandez admits, when he stumbled into a graphic design job at the company, “I didn’t even know pinball was still a thing.” Bess, meanwhile, had been involved in the pinball scene for a while and was part of a league. Opening Electric Bat Arcade meant “there was a new place to play.” They launched with 13 pinball machines, a bubble hockey game, and 10 standup arcade games and shooters. “We started hosting pinball tournaments pretty much immediately,” she said. “The tournament players – we were already friends. It was an easy transition.” Hernandez added: “We got a lot of help from the bar we were attached to.” People would initially come for drinks or live shows and then pop over into the arcade. Also being open from 6 a.m.-2 a.m. every day, “It really allows a different crowd to be introduced to pinball.” Yucca Tap Room held those hours for decades, so it only made sense to operate the arcade that way, too. The state liquor board requires the closure. Otherwise, they’d be open 24/7. “Part of the magic sauce is our hours,” he said. “It’s almost easier to advertise when we’re closed. Not everybody’s here at one time, so you can really feel like you have the arcade to yourself.” Of course, every Tuesday night, the place packs right up. That’s league night and there are 130 people in the league, which runs various tournaments year-round. “Our league is the largest single-location pinball league in the world,” Bess touted. “We are busy at all different times but having the leagues and tournaments creates that rabid player base.” Three years ago, they expanded into their current space (they’d previously expanded into additional units in the strip mall they’re in). “Rachel just used the office of the Tap Room,” said Hernandez. “The catalyst for the expansion was the pinball tournaments. More and more people started coming and it was getting hard to move around.” Now, they have 65 pinball machines, 12 Japanese rhythm games, some standup arcade games and the latest addition, a Pop-A-Shot Elite (more on that shortly). Yucca Tap Room does the food and beverage but there is a tiki bar located inside the arcade itself. Guests enter the arcade through the taproom. Make your way past the stage and there’s a double doorway into the arcade, which features three progressively larger rooms that you go through – thanks to those expansions over the years. Bess said new Stern games always do well in the arcade. Star Wars and Godzilla are a couple of the top ones at the moment (though you may get more up-to-date numbers via an earnings report segment on their Electric Bat Cast podcast). They also have vintage games, starting from 1978, that are priced at 50 cents a play. Games are mixed up so none get ignored. A couple classics include Joker Poker and Sinbad. Electric Bat Arcade is also 100% coin-op – running on tokens and quarters. “We love the feel of the arcade like when we were kids,” Hernandez explained. Back to that Pop-A-Shot Elite basketball game, Bess said, “We met Ryan (Cravens) when he was working at Stern and have been friends since.” Cravens, now the VP of arcade products at Pop-A-Shot, got in touch with Electric Bat Arcade and convinced them to get a machine and take part in their Virtual League. “At first, we turned him down, thinking about size considerations, but Rachel brought out the tape measure, and we thought we could make it work. It’s not really much wider than a pinball machine,” Hernandez said. “This machine is really beautiful. It has a leaderboard integrated into the LCD screen where the backboard would typically be. It’s been our highest-earning machine in the entire arcade.” (By the way, Season 2 of Pop-A-Shot’s Virtual League, which runs for eight weeks, began Jan. 12. Learn more about it at www. popashot.net.) In addition to Rachel and Cale, staff at the Electric Bat Arcade includes mainly bartenders and a couple of arcade employees – seven in total. Bess and Hernandez handle most of the technical fixes, though one of the bartenders is a junior tech and training to do more. “She’s much more qualified than I am but I learned how to work on machines when I worked at Marco Specialties and was doing customer service,” Hernandez said. “I learned about the parts and how to troubleshoot with operators over the phone. Until I married Rachel and started working in the arcade, I had never actually opened a machine.” Bess, meanwhile, has been playing pinball since her early teenage years, sneaking into bars just to play the games. Bringing that kind of passion to more generations of pinball players is at the core of what they do at the almost-open-24/7 Electric Bat Arcade. A developer has plans to spruce up the strip mall they’re a part of, which has been untouched since the late 1960s. A courtyard for live entertainment and more shops are expected. It’ll be a large project, and will take some time to come to fruition, but the arcade bar is excited to be at the center of it. You can learn more about them online at www.electricbatarcade.com.