A local business that has served as the ultimate example of an Ontario-grown success story has now become mixed up in some drama through no fault of its own, having been confused with a similarly-named competitor that’s made its fair share of enemies online.
BATL Grounds is a brand internationally credited for being the first to offer the now-viral sport of modern urban axe throwing, getting its start right here in Toronto nearly 20 years ago.
Back in 2006, founding CEO Matt Wilson decided to take what was then a cottage-country hobby-turned backyard league between friends — hence the acronym Backyard Axe Throwing League — and turn it into a fun indoor activity for the masses.
In the decade-plus since, BATL has expanded not only to other indoor sports, such as archery and knife throwing, but to 13 locations across the province and in the U.S., with outposts in Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Hamilton, Houston, Scottsdale and more.
But, like any venture, there have been some roadblocks — like recently, when BATL was suddenly inundated with bad reviews intended instead for one Bad Axe Throwing, a completely different company that unfortunately sounds almost indistinguishable from “BATL axe throwing” when uttered aloud.
While BATL prides itself on being an inclusive place for everyone to come and have a good time trying their hand at the novel sport, Bad Axe Throwing founder Mario Zelaya has taken a strong political stance amid the trade war and annexation talk, and leading up to next month’s Canadian federal election.
Zelaya has not been shy in posting politically-charged videos near-daily across TikTok and Instagram (under the user name @mario4thenorth), where he has amassed a combined following of more than 350,000 people, giving his commentary quite the reach.
Along with many supporters, the entrepreneur — and, as a result, his business — have earned a fair share of haters in the process, which is where the trouble for BATL started.
“Quite often, the two businesses have intertwined,” Vinay Nambiar, a representative for BATL explained to blogTO on Thursday.
So, when the Zelaya of Bad Axe started posting “pro-Trump, anti-Canadian government type of rhetoric” and getting recognized for it in recent weeks, it ended up drawing blowback onto Wilson and BATL.
This was compounded by the fact that other popular creators began calling Zelaya out in their own viral videos, with one in particular encouraging people to leave Bad Axe negative reviews, and dropping BATL’s name as a local business to visit instead.
“His one recent post being pro-Canada being annexed got some traction from Fox News south of the border… which is none of our business, we don’t care,” BATL’s staff said.
“But when people caught wind of Mario’s stuff… and said ‘here’s another local business you could support instead,’ people didn’t read that properly. So then we started getting a barrage of one-star Google reviews.”
Trudeau screwed us. Hard. He is the source of the whole concept of the 51st State. And Canadians actually think change will come from the very people that broke our country? The Liberals are Canada’s biggest mistake pic.twitter.com/RGwOyJxsow
— Mario Zelaya (@mario4thenorth) February 23, 2025
While the brand has been able to get Google to remove some of the reviews that were evidently posted in retaliation to Zelaya of Bad Axe’s political online presence, others remain up.
“Obviously we can’t do anything about that, and we take our Google reviews, as any business should, seriously, especially a service business like us. So that hurts,” staff say.
The situation is especially frustrating given that Wilson and BATL have far different priorities than wading into divisive political topics.
“We’re not in the business of that. We’re just in the business of, ‘we don’t care what walk of life you’re from.’ We believe in inclusivity. We love everyone coming in and having a good time. That’s what we focus on,” the team says.
“We try and deliver the best experiences and unforgettable memories. That’s our shtick, right? That’s really it, and we’re getting caught in the crosshairs.”
You can visit BATL’s Toronto locations at 33 Villiers Street or 30 Weston Road, Unit C109, or in Vaughan, London, Pickering, Hamilton, Niagara Falls or Ottawa, Ontario.
