Outback Steakhouse co-founder acquires Glory Days Grill restaurants

Bob Basham, the co-founder of Tampa-based Outback Steakhouse, now owned by Bloomin’ Brands Inc., has agreed to acquire Glory Days Inc. and its 22 company-owned Glory Days Grill restaurants in Virginia and Maryland.

Basham’s company Play Ball Florida, according to a news release, is a prominent Glory Days franchisee, operating 18 restaurants in Florida and Georgia. Glory Days was founded in 1996 in Burke, Virginia, by Basham’s brother, Richard Danker, along with Robert Garner and Jeff Newman.

Garner and Newman have opted to retire, the release states, but Danker plans to stay on as part of the management team of Play Ball Florida, which also includes Basham’s business partner and Glory Days Grill Florida CEO Jesse McPherson. Other terms of the deal, including acquisition cost, were not disclosed in the release. 

“Jeff, Robert and I are very proud of the Glory Days Grill brand we have built over the past 26 years,” Danker states in the release. “I will miss my business partners but look forward to collaborating even more closely with my brother, Bob Basham, to continue to make Glory Days a respected and loved brand.”

As a result of the acquisition, Play Ball Florida, the release states, will be renamed Play Ball USA.  

“The opportunity to work side by side with my brother, Richard, that’s my idea of the glory days,” Basham states in the release. “Richard and I are looking forward to continuing to expand the brand throughout the Southeast while providing quality food in a fun, sports-centric atmosphere.”