On December 25, 2023, Bates signed with the Michigan Panthers of the UFL.[10] Bates's signing was one of several personnel decisions the league made based upon kickoff abilities as the UFL adopted a kickoff rule requiring the ball go 80 yards for a touchback, 15 yards longer than other levels of organized football.[11]
On March 30, 2024, during Week 1 of the 2024 UFL season, Bates made a game-winning 64-yard field goal against the St. Louis Battlehawks, the longest field goal in the history of both the UFL and its predecessor leagues,[12][13] five yards longer than the previous record set by Donny Hageman the previous year.[14] The first in-game field goal of Bates' life,[15] it is tied as the second-longest recorded field goal in professional football history.[15][16][17] Coincidentally, the lone longer kick—Justin Tucker's 66-yard kick for the Baltimore Ravens against the Detroit Lions in 2021—occurred under nearly identical circumstances and on the same field (Ford Field).[12] Bates, who had only attempted – and missed – one field goal before in his life (in high school),[15] had made the kick twice, the first being discarded due to the Battlehawks icing the kicker.[18] Bates would go on to, to date, kick two more field goals of 60 or more yards in 2024: an April 7 kick against Birmingham Stallions from 62 yards out, and a 60-yard kick against Arlington Renegades on May 5.[19][20] The ball Bates kicked on the 64-yard field goal is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its "Pro Football Today" exhibit.[21] He was named to the 2024 All-UFL team on June 5, 2024.[22] His contract with the team was terminated on June 17, 2024, to sign with an NFL team.[23]
Detroit Lions
On June 18, 2024, Bates signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Lions.[24][25] Bates was one of only two UFL players to make a National Football League 53-man roster out of 77 who participated in the NFL's 2024 preseason (the other being Jalen Redmond).[26]
In Week 7 of the 2024 season, Bates kicked a 44-yard game-winning field goal as the Lions defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 31–29,[27] also being awarded NFC special teams Player of the Week for this feat.[28] In Week 10, Bates kicked a 58-yard field goal against the Houston Texans to tie the game before hitting a 52-yard game-winning field goal in a 26-23 victory. Both field goals only narrowly passed through the uprights, on opposite sides from each other.[29] In Week 13, on NFL on Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears, Bates missed his first career NFL field goal, which was from 45 yards. In Week 14, Bates kicked a 34-yard field goal to win a close game on Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers after a successful drive by the Lions.[30] In Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, Bates achieved the Lions single-season franchise record for points scored, surpassing the previous record of 134 points set by Jason Hanson in 2012.[31] In the same game, Bates earned unintentional notoriety when cameras for Monday Night Football caught Bates in a seemingly suggestive hip stretching routine, to which he responded: "It's fun. I understand it."[32]
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