The Bates Bobcats are the athletic teams of Bates College largely based in Lewiston, Maine and the surrounding areas. The college's official mascot has been the bobcat since 1924, and maintains garnet as its official color. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports, most of which compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The school's men's and women's ski teams and men's and women's squash teams compete in Division I. Bates has rivalries with Princeton in Squash and Dartmouth in Skiing and selected hockey bouts. The college also competes with its Maine rivals Bowdoin and Colby in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB). This is one of the oldest football rivalries in the United States. This consortium is a series of historically highly competitive football games ending in the championship game between the three schools. Bates has won this championship at total of twelve times including 2014, 2015, and in 2016 beat Bowdoin 24–7 after their 21–19 abroad victory over Colby. Bates is currently the holder of the winning streak, and has the record for biggest victory in the athletic conference with a 51–0 shutout of Colby College. The three colleges also contest the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Chase Regatta. The college is the all-time leader of the Chase Regatta with a total of 14 composite wins, followed by Colby's 5 wins, concluded with Bowdoin's 2 wins.

Bates College is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals 813 acres (329 ha). It maintains 600 acres (240 ha) of nature preserve known as the "Bates-Morse Mountain" near Campbell Island and a coastal center on Atkins Bay.