Terms of Use

Dugout Lore, operated by Chin Music LLC

Effective: October 1, 2026 · Last updated: October 1, 2026

> IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE READ SECTION 14. It requires most disputes between you and us to be resolved by binding individual arbitration rather than in court, and it waives class actions and jury trials, unless you opt out within 30 days as Section 14.8 explains. You can still bring an individual claim in small-claims court.

1. Who we are and what this is

Dugout Lore is a baseball simulation service operated by Chin Music LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Chin Music,” “we,” “us”). You manage historical baseball clubs, setting lineups, pitching staffs and in-game strategy, and our simulation plays the games out. We offer:

Summer Cup Preview: free. One historical club, one best-of-seven series.
Franchise Apex: paid. A full season in a multi-manager league.
Clash of Titans: paid. Planned; not yet available. We make no commitment about whether or when it will be released.

These Terms govern your use of the service at dugoutlore.com and any related application.

2. Accepting these Terms

When you create an account, and again when you buy a seat, we will ask you to confirm that you agree to these Terms. You cannot create an account or buy a seat without agreeing. If you use any part of the service without an account, these Terms apply to that use. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use your information. It is a separate document, not part of these Terms, and by using the service you acknowledge that you have been given it.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, and by creating one you confirm that you are. One person, one account. You may not create an account on behalf of someone else or share an account. If we learn that an account holder is under 18, we will close the account and refund any purchase whose league has not started.

4. Your account

You are responsible for your credentials and for activity under your account. Tell us promptly at support@dugoutlore.com if you believe your account has been used without your permission. We authenticate accounts through a third-party provider; see the Privacy Policy.

5. Free play

Summer Cup Preview is free and we may change, limit or discontinue it. Nothing in the free product is a purchase, and free play creates no entitlement to a paid league.

5a. Beta participation

Before Franchise Apex goes on sale we run a free public beta. If you take part:

You pay nothing. There is no charge, no card, and nothing to refund.
It is a test, and it may break. We may reset league data, change rules mid-season, take the service down, or end the beta. We will tell you when we do. A beta season is not guaranteed to finish.
We would like your feedback, and you are free not to give any. If you do send us feedback, Section 10.4 applies to it.
When Franchise Apex goes on sale, beta participants receive a single-use coupon for 50% off their first paid season. It is issued to your account, is not transferable, cannot be combined with another offer, and cannot be applied to a three-season pass. It expires 60 days after it is issued, and it lapses if your account is closed. It has no cash value.

Everything else in these Terms (conduct, the simulation, historical names, privacy) applies to beta play exactly as it applies to paid play.

6. What you are buying (paid leagues)

A purchase buys one manager's seat in one specific season of one specific league. It is not a subscription to the service and it does not renew automatically. If you want a second season, you buy a second season.

When you buy a seat you will be shown, before you pay: the price, the league's size, its season length, its era and strength band, how often games are played, and what happens if the league does not fill. The price shown at the time of purchase is the price that governs your purchase, even if we change prices later.

Discounts and passes. We may publish discount codes and may offer codes to particular managers. Only one code applies to a purchase; where more than one could, we apply the one that saves you the most and tell you which we used. We also sell a three-season pass: three seasons of one tier bought together at a reduced total price. A pass is charged in full when you buy it. The two later seasons are yours to use when you choose; if we discontinue Franchise Apex before you use them, we refund them as described in Section 11. A pass cannot be combined with a discount code.

System-managed clubs. Leagues may contain clubs managed by our software (“system-managed clubs”), and we tell you which ones. A league that does not attract enough human managers by its deadline may be completed with system-managed clubs: up to two in a ten-club league, three in a twelve-club league, and four in a sixteen-club league, and in a league of any other size no more than one quarter of the clubs, rounded down. You will be told how many before your league begins, and your league page will show which clubs are system-managed for as long as the league runs. This is disclosed here because it is material: you may be paying to play in a league where up to a quarter of the clubs are not managed by people. If we start a short-handed league under Section 7, it may have fewer clubs than its listing or more system-managed clubs than these limits; we will tell you which, and how many, before it starts, and you may take a full refund instead of playing.

If another manager stops playing. A human manager who stops making decisions has their club kept running by our software so that your season does not stall. We do not identify which manager has stopped. Your league page shows how many clubs are currently run by our software for any reason, whether they were system-managed from the start or taken over after a manager stopped playing. Where a league has a commissioner, we may tell the commissioner privately which clubs are not being managed so that the commissioner can follow up.

We may activate a league that has not met its normal minimum. In the early period of the service we reserve the right to start a short-handed league rather than cancel it. If we do, we will tell you before it starts and you may take a refund instead of playing (Section 7).

Premium features (included with every paid seat or sold separately as described at checkout) buy permanence and presentation: persistent franchise identity, retained history, deeper written coverage. Premium never buys a competitive advantage and never hides a game result, box score or statistic from any manager, paid or free.

7. Fill window, roll-forward and refunds

7.1 The fill window

A public league opens a fill window of 72 hours. At the deadline one of three things happens:

The league has enough human managers. Remaining seats are filled with system-managed clubs within the limits in Section 6, and the league starts.
The league does not have enough human managers. We will email you at your account address and ask you to choose: we move your purchase forward to the next league of the same type at no additional cost, or we refund you in full. If we do not hear from you within 48 hours of that email, we move your purchase forward.
We activate anyway under the discretion in Section 6, having told you first and given you at least 24 hours to choose a full refund instead.

7.2 Limit on roll-forwards

If your purchase has been moved forward twice, or no league you have been placed in has started within 60 days of your purchase, we will refund you in full automatically, unless you tell us you would rather keep waiting.

7.3 How payment works

When you buy a single season, we place an authorization (a “hold”) on your payment method and take payment when your league actually starts. If the hold expires before then (for example, because your purchase moved forward), we may place a new hold, or charge you when your new league starts. We will not take payment for a single season before a league you are in starts. If we cannot place a new hold, we will ask you to update your payment method; if you do not do so within 7 days, we may release your seat without charge. If your league never starts, in most cases there is no charge to reverse; if there is, we refund it in full. Three-season passes are charged in full at purchase.

7.4 After your league starts

Once your league has started, your seat is in use (other managers' seasons depend on it), and purchases are not refundable for a change of mind.

If something goes wrong on our side (for example, an error on our end prevents your club from taking a meaningful part in the season), contact support@dugoutlore.com. We will, at our option, refund the affected season or give you a replacement seat in an equivalent league. Section 12 does not limit this remedy.

7.5 Checkout refund policy and chargebacks

Our plain-language refund policy is shown to you at checkout and is part of these Terms. If it and these Terms differ, whichever is more favorable to you applies.

If you dispute a charge with your card issuer, we may suspend your seat or account while the dispute is open. Please contact us first; we can usually resolve billing problems faster. This does not limit any right you have under law or your card issuer's rules.

8. Conduct

You agree not to:

Coordinate with other managers to manipulate a league's outcome, including arranging lopsided transactions or deliberately losing to benefit another club.
Operate more than one seat in the same league, or use another person's account to gain an advantage.
Buy, sell, transfer or share an account or a seat.
Attempt to interfere with the simulation, our infrastructure, or other managers' access, including automated scraping that degrades the service.
Harass other managers, or post unlawful or abusive content in any name, handle or message.
Submit content you do not have the right to use, including Major League Baseball or club logos or marks, or use a name, handle or image that impersonates a real person.

We may investigate suspected collusion using gameplay records, and we may suspend an account or remove content while we investigate. Where a manager has manipulated a league, we may reverse the manipulation, remove the manager, or void the season, and we will tell the affected managers what happened.

9. The simulation, and what this service is not

9.1 How games are decided

Game outcomes are produced by our simulation from your lineup, pitching and strategy settings (your “cards”) and from historical player performance data. Every plate appearance includes an element of chance.

9.2 Results are final

Once a game is played, its result is final, and we do not replay or change results on request, except (a) to correct a technical error, (b) under Section 8, or (c) during the beta (Section 5a). If we change a result, we will tell the affected managers.

9.3 This is not gambling

There is no wagering. Your entry fee buys participation in a league. There is no cash prize, no prize of monetary value, and no payout of any kind based on how your club performs. Titles, trophies, records and rankings have no monetary value. We do not award money, free seasons, credits, discounts or anything else of value based on how your club performs. You cannot win money on Dugout Lore.

9.4 Written coverage is generated interpretation, not a record

Game summaries, series wraps and scouting reports are produced with the help of an automated language model and may be wrong, awkward, or incomplete. They describe simulated games and are not statements of fact about any real person. The box score, play-by-play, scoring plays and statistics are the authoritative record of what happened in the simulation; where the written coverage disagrees with them, they are right and it is wrong.

10. Historical names, content and data

10.1 Historical names and statistics

Dugout Lore uses the names of real baseball clubs, players and seasons, and statistical records of real games, to simulate historical baseball. Club and player names are used only to identify the historical clubs and players whose performance we simulate. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Major League Baseball, any MLB club, or the Major League Baseball Players Association. Any club names and marks belong to their respective owners.

10.2 Our materials

Our own materials (the simulation, the written coverage, the artwork, the site) belong to us or our licensors. Subject to these Terms, we give you a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the service for its intended purpose. You may share screenshots and your own league's results freely. You may not copy the service or use our content commercially without permission.

10.3 Your content

“Your content” means the club names, handles, messages, images and other material you submit to the service. You keep ownership of your content. You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display and distribute your content as needed to operate and improve the service, including showing it to other managers and in retained league histories, for as long as it remains on the service and for a reasonable period afterward for backups and league records. You confirm that you have the rights to your content and that it complies with Section 8. We may remove any content that we reasonably believe breaches these Terms.

10.4 Feedback

If you send us ideas, suggestions or other feedback about the service, in the beta or at any other time, we may use it for any purpose, without payment or other obligation to you.

10.5 Copyright complaints

If you believe material on the service infringes your copyright, send a notice to our designated agent: John Reggio, Chin Music LLC, 611 South Dupont Highway Suite 102, Dover, DE 19901, support@dugoutlore.com. Your notice must include: (a) your physical or electronic signature; (b) identification of the copyrighted work; (c) identification of the material you claim is infringing and where it appears on the service; (d) your contact information; (e) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and (f) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf. If your content is removed in response to a notice, you may send a counter-notice to the same agent. We will close the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

10.6 Data sources

Historical statistics are drawn from the Lahman Baseball Database © Sean Lahman / SABR, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), and from Retrosheet.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".

11. Availability and changes

11.1 Changes to the service

We may change, suspend or discontinue any part of the service. We try not to disrupt a season in progress, and where we must, we will tell the affected managers.

11.2 Refunds if we end paid play

If we end a paid season before it is completed for any reason other than your breach of these Terms, or we discontinue Franchise Apex, we will refund the full price of that season and the full price attributable to any unused seasons on a three-season pass. A temporary outage that does not prevent the season from finishing is not an early end of the season. Free play and the beta are not covered because nothing was paid.

11.3 Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. For a material change, we will email you at your account address and post a notice on the site at least 14 days before the change takes effect, and we will ask you to accept the updated Terms the next time you sign in or buy a seat. Changes that are not material, such as corrections or clarifications, take effect when posted. If you do not agree to an update, you may stop using the service and close your account. If a change materially affects a purchase you have already made and disadvantages you, we will tell you and offer a refund of that purchase. An update does not apply to a dispute that arose before the update took effect.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

12.1

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT HISTORICAL DATA OR WRITTEN COVERAGE WILL BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE.

12.2

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA OR LOSS OF GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS.

12.3

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) US$100.

12.4

These limits do not reduce the refunds and remedies we promise in Sections 6, 7, 11 and 13, and they do not limit any liability or any right you have that cannot be excluded or limited by law.

13. Termination

You may stop using the service at any time and may ask us to close your account. We may suspend or close an account for a breach of Section 8 or another material breach of these Terms, for non-payment, or where required by law.

If you close your account, a season in progress is not refunded (Section 7.4), but we will refund any purchase whose league has not started and, on request, any unused seasons on a three-season pass.

If we close your account for a breach, your club may be run by our software for the rest of the season and the season in progress is not refunded. We will refund any purchase whose league has not started and any unused seasons on a three-season pass.

What happens to your data on closure is described in the Privacy Policy. Sections 9.2 to 9.4, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15, and any refund or payment obligation that arose before closure, continue to apply after your account is closed.

14. Governing law and disputes

14.1 Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs Sections 14.3 to 14.9.

14.2 Try to resolve it with us first

Before either of us starts an arbitration or court case, the party with the claim must send the other a written notice describing the claim and the relief sought: to us at support@dugoutlore.com and 611 South Dupont Highway Suite 102, Dover, DE 19901, and to you at your account email address. We will both try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for 30 days after the notice is received. Any limitations period is paused during those 30 days.

14.3 Agreement to arbitrate

Except as Section 14.4 provides, any dispute between you and us arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration rather than in court. A court, not an arbitrator, will decide any dispute about whether this Section 14 is enforceable, what it covers, or whether the class-action waiver in Section 14.6 applies.

14.4 Exceptions

Either of us may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and (b) ask a court for an injunction to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property or interference with the service.

14.5 Rules, fees and location

The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect when the arbitration is filed. If the AAA is unavailable, we will agree on another administrator, or a court will appoint an arbitrator. We will pay all AAA filing, administration and arbitrator fees except any portion that the AAA rules assign to you, and that portion will not exceed the fee you would pay to file the claim in court. The arbitration will take place by video or telephone or, if an in-person hearing is required, in the county where you live. A claim of US$10,000 or less will be decided on written submissions unless the arbitrator decides a hearing is needed. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could award and must apply the same limitations periods a court would apply, to both of us.

14.6 Individual claims only

YOU AND WE EACH AGREE TO BRING CLAIMS ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU AND WE EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL FOR CLAIMS SUBJECT TO ARBITRATION.

The arbitrator may not consolidate claims of different people without the consent of all parties.

14.7 Public injunctive relief

If a claim seeks public injunctive relief and a court decides that applicable law does not permit that relief to be waived or decided only on an individual basis, that claim will be severed and decided by a court, after any individual claims in arbitration are resolved.

14.8 Your right to opt out

You may opt out of this agreement to arbitrate by emailing support@dugoutlore.com within 30 days after you first agree to Terms that contain it. Include your name, your account email address and the statement “I opt out of arbitration.” Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

14.9 If part of this section is unenforceable

If the class-action waiver in Section 14.6 is found unenforceable as to any claim, that claim will proceed in court under Section 14.10 and not in class arbitration. If any other part of this Section 14 is found unenforceable, the rest of it remains in effect.

14.10 Courts

Any claim that proceeds in court will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in New Castle County, Delaware, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction, except that you may bring a small-claims case in the county where you live.

14.11 Changes to this section

If we change this Section 14 after you have agreed to it, the change will not apply to any claim for which notice was given under Section 14.2 before the change took effect, and you may reject the change by emailing support@dugoutlore.com within 30 days after it takes effect.

15. General terms

15.1 Entire agreement

These Terms, including the checkout refund policy (Section 7.5) and the information shown to you at checkout, are the entire agreement between you and us about the service.

15.2 Electronic communications

You agree that we may give you notices and communications electronically, by email to your account address or on the service, and that they satisfy any requirement that they be in writing. Please keep your email address current.

15.3 Assignment

You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. We may transfer ours in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of the service, and these Terms will continue to bind the successor.

15.4 Severability

Except as Section 14.9 provides, if any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the rest of these Terms remains in effect.

15.5 No waiver

If we do not enforce a provision, that is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.

15.6 Events beyond our control

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. This does not reduce any refund we owe under Sections 7, 11 or 13.

15.7 Independent parties

Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, employment or agency relationship between you and us.

15.8 Taxes

Prices do not include applicable sales and similar taxes, which will be shown at checkout.

15.9 Headings

Headings are for convenience only and do not affect how these Terms are read.

16. Contact

Chin Music LLC · 611 South Dupont Highway Suite 102, Dover, DE 19901 · support@dugoutlore.com