Making Baseball Fun the "Fans First Way": Jesse Cole / Owner, Savannah Bananas

Direct Talk

The Savannah Bananas,

a regional baseball team
in Savannah, Georgia,

have been creating a lot of buzz.

While Major League Baseball attendance
has been steadily declining since 2015,

the Savannah Bananas
have sold out every single game

since their first season in 2016.

The team competes in the
local summer collegiate league,

one of the top prospect affiliations

for aspiring professional players
in the United States.

Besides playing baseball,

the Savannah Bananas' coaches and players

breakout into dance routines during games.

Their mission:

making baseball fun.

The team's TikTok account
has 2.8 million followers,

attracting a worldwide fanbase.

They have more followers
than any Major League baseball team.

The mastermind behind
the Savannah Bananas' success is

Jesse Cole, co-owner of the team.

Always dressed in a yellow tuxedo,

he goes all out to entertain the fans.

I want our fans to come
to the ballpark, and say,

"You wouldn't believe what happened
at a Savannah Bananas' game today.

That was the most fun
I've ever had at a baseball game."

It's the game of baseball,

with just entertainment baked into
every piece of the game and experience.

We asked Jesse Cole about "Fans First Way,"

his unique approach that has reinvented
what a baseball team can be.

Making Baseball Fun the "Fans First Way"

When baseball started in the 1800s
and grew to be America's pastime,

it was the biggest thing going on.

It was the only sport.

Everyone was watching
Babe Ruth, Ted Williams.

It was everything.

Now as we get into the 21st century,

there are so many forms of entertainment.

On our fingertips, on TikTok, on YouTube,

we can get entertained just like this.

And so, baseball has been challenged,
because it has stayed very similar.

And in fact, the games
have become even longer.

So, we're trying to be ready
for the world where it is today.

And...

people love entertainment.

They want to be entertained.

I think that was the goal when
people came to baseball games originally.

And they still come to
baseball games to be entertained.

We're just trying to add
another level of that.

Take it up a notch.

It's gameday at Grayson Stadium,

the home of the Savannah Bananas.

Before each match,

the whole team comes out to greet fans

who line up hours before play begins
to participate in the pre-game show.

Inside the 4000-seat ballpark,

Cole is seen on the field

and in the stands,

interacting with the
sold-out crowd between innings.

The Savannah Bananas' games are so popular

that there are currently over 70,000 people
on a waitlist to purchase tickets.

It is a circus.

But it's also a baseball game

breaking out in between that circus.

The baseball field is our platform.

That's our stage.

And everything else is a circus.

And that's..., what we're trying to do
is to create this environment

where you never know where to look.

You never know what's next.

You expect the unexpected.

And that makes it fun
and exciting for our fans.

The team's popular first base coach

is a hip-hop dancer.

When there is no action on the field,

his amazing moves keep the fans entertained.

The regular baseball game,
you often can't touch,

it's just a baseball game,

but you have this stage

with thousands of eyes watching.

And how can you use a first base coach
or a third base coach to add entertainment.

And so, I thought,

could we have a dancing first base coach.

And so, we had auditions
and found the right character,

and he came out there and started dancing.

And I watched as the fans lit up.

They were cheering, they were clapping,

their phones were out taking videos.

It was something you wouldn't see
during a typical baseball game.

And dancing has become
a huge part of everything we do

because baseball players
are supposed to play the game.

Why can't they dance and celebrate more,
and be a part of the show.

And what we say is whatever is normal,

do the exact opposite.

Despite the silliness
and the circus-like atmosphere,

the Savannah Bananas play solid baseball.

In 2016 and 2021,

they won the
Coastal Plain League Championships,

a regional league made up of 14 teams.

A professor at a local
business school took notice.

I was giving a speech maybe four years ago.

And I was saying our players play better
because they have more fun.

And the professor heard me
and he goes that can't be true.

So, without me knowing

he studied, all of the players in the league,

and he realized that there was
only one team that showed a correlation

to playing better because of culture,
atmosphere, and fun,

and it was the Savannah Bananas.

And it wasn't even close.

And then he followed up
by doing the study again the next year

and the same thing.

And so he goes, I can statistically prove now

that by putting on a Savannah Bananas uniform
you will play better

because of the fun,
the culture and the atmosphere.

The Savannah Bananas
have no corporate sponsors,

so the ballpark is ad-free.

Instead of billboards,

there is a Fan Wall

where fans can sign their names.

97 percent of the team's revenue
comes directly from the fans.

I just like the Savannah Bananas.

I'm not very familiar with
other baseball teams,

but I do like this team.

I'm from Tampa originally,

and you watch a baseball game in Tampa.

It's normal 9-inning baseball,

not very fun.

You come here and there is
always something going on.

We've been fortunate to
sell out every single game

and we're probably
the only team in the country

that's doing that from a baseball standpoint.

And so, when you sell out every game,

your fans are contributing
and saying this is worth it,

I see value in this.

And then with that, because we try to
create a great show, a great experience,

our fans from all over the world,
every single day are buying merchandise.

They're wearing the jerseys,

they're wearing the hats,
they're wearing the shirts.

And so that definitely takes care of
the program and the organization.

Based on his experiences,

Cole published a book titled "Fans First"

to advocate the importance of
building fans for any business.

Everything we do, every decision we make,

should be asking ourselves,

is this fans first.

Does this put the fans first.

And if we do that,

in the long term, in the long game,

the fans will be there for us.

Because we will always put them first

and so that's what we built
this fans first way

into our ecosystem, into our DNA.

I think anybody no matter what you do

can focus on creating fans

and fans are the most passionate people.

They believe in what you do.

They're there for you
when things are going badly.

And I think every business can build
those fans by doing certain things to

create an experience that's unforgettable.

Jesse Cole grew up in Massachusetts,

playing baseball with his dad,
who was a baseball coach.

His dream to become
a professional player was shattered

when he sustained a shoulder injury
while playing college baseball.

With his life plan changed,
he got a job as a baseball coach.

I remember vividly, sitting in the dugout
and watching the game,

and realizing something.

I had the best seat in the house,

in the dugout,
with the best players

but I was bored out of my mind.

And I realized that
if I was a guy that knew the game,

understood it, played it at a high level,

and I was bored,

good luck for the regular fan

that doesn't understand the game as well.

And so, it was a real a-ha moment

that I was like, there's an opportunity

to make the game so much more fun
for the average fan.

For the average person that wants to
come out and just have a good time.

and that was the a-ha moment for me.

At 23 he landed a job

as a general manager of
a regional team in North Carolina.

The team had been struggling to sell tickets.

I realized over and over again from fans,

that they said, "Ah you know
our employees don't like baseball.

Our non-profit isn't interested
in coming to the game,

they don't really like baseball."

Heard it over and over and over again.

So, I said, how do I...

let people know that it's more than baseball.

We have a vision more than baseball.

So, I started reading more
about the entertainment business,

than I was about the baseball business.

And I said how do we bring from the
entertainment field into the baseball realm,

and get people excited
about coming to a game.

Cole took inspiration from P.T. Barnum,

the legendary 19th century circus ringmaster

and entrepreneur from New York City.

Dubbed as the 'Great American Showman'

he was larger than life and
entertained thousands of people.

I was put on the show
at the field in Gastonia,

just dressed like everyone else,

and after reading about P.T. Barnum,

P.T. Barnum wouldn't be
dressed like everyone else.

And so, I thought what if I wore a tuxedo.

So, I actually, the first tuxedo I wore

had long tails

and a top hat,

but it was all black,

and it was 100 degrees that first game,
and I almost melted,

it was so hot.

So, I realized, can't do that.

And so, I searched online

and our first team in Gastonia

had yellow in their colors as well, gold.

And so, I found a yellow tuxedo
and it stuck ever since.

In 2015,

Cole heard the minor league team
in Savannah had left,

and that the ballpark was deserted.

He took a leap of faith and relocated

to start a brand-new team

implementing his "Fans First" philosophy
from the ground up.

The key for what we do, you guys,
is experimentation,

trying new things, trying new things,
seeing how fans react.

As you know, every night,
we work really hard to see all the greens,

that's brand-new stuff every single night.

In order to keep the games exciting,

Cole's daily routine

is to write down ten new ideas
in a special notebook.

If you're trying to get in good shape,
you work out every day,

I work my idea muscle every day.

So, I can just think of a theme
and come up with ten ideas.

Now a lot of them aren't great ideas,

but if you want to come up with great ideas,

you have to come up with more ideas,

quantity leads to quality.

So, when you have hundreds of ideas,

you'll eventually have a few
that actually work.

Before each game,

Cole and the players take time to discuss
and rehearse their new entrainment acts.

The vision is to get 4,000 people
in the stadium to stand

and do the angels in the outfield.
That's the whole goal.

So, what happens with you guys,

you guys are fully bought in

and you are fully like this,

and then all of a sudden,
the crowd will start doing it, too.

During the game,
when the team is in trouble,

an angel appears in the outfield.

It's a parody of the scene
in the iconic baseball movie,

"Angels in the Outfield."

Every night we want to try
and reinvent the fan experience,

and add new things to the field, to the game,

to the stands,
that people haven't seen before.

And you know I think being relevant
is very important for all teams.

And how do you stay relevant?

You keep innovating.

You keep reinventing.

You keep doing new things.

You keep your fans wanting more.

And that's what we'll keep doing,

Cole's boldest experiment so far

is a special exhibition series
called "Banana Balls."

In order to speed up a game,

"Banana Balls" use different rules

and limit playtime to 2-hours.

For example, a batter
can steal first on a wild pitch,

and if a foul ball is caught by a fan,

the batter is out.

Oh, that was caught!
It's out number three.

How about that?
Zack Whelen pops out to the crowd.

We were so fortunate in our first few years

that the games were selling out.

But we noticed one thing,

fans were still leaving games early.

And I thought about that, I said,

no one ever leaves a great movie,
in the middle of the movie

and says, "Oh I had a great time"
and just walk out.

So why are fans leaving baseball games early.

And so, as we looked at it, we said

the game's too long,
we gotta do something dramatic.

So, we looked at all the things
that slow down a baseball game,

and we said,
"Could we do the exact opposite?"

And what makes innings long,

and how do you keep batters
from stepping out,

and we just started writing down ideas.

And so, in 2018 we did a test game,

with all these new rules, at a college

and played 9 innings in 99 minutes.

And the players said it was the most fun
they ever had playing baseball.

And at that point we were like
this could be something.

So, the next year
we tested it in front of fans.

The fans didn't leave at all.

And then now as we've played numerous games,

98 percent of our fans

stay till the end of the game.

Which I've never seen before.

Whether playing by regular rules
or the Banana Ball,

Cole is reimagining
the endless possibilities of baseball,

the sport he has loved since childhood.

I think standing out
is huge for whatever you do,

whatever industry, whatever sport,
whatever business,

and to stand out you have to be different.

PT Barnum said "No one ever made a difference
by being like everyone else."

I believe we weren't born to fit in.

We were born to stand out.

And everyone has something
that makes them different,

something that's unique.

And I believe that we should amplify that.

Often, it's so easy that
you wanna fit in with everyone else.

I think by being different is
how you achieve true greatness.

And you succeed

because you're not afraid to do something
that no-one else has done before.

We asked Jesse Cole to write down
a phrase that guides him.

Dream big and go bananas.

I believe anyone can achieve anything

if they believe big, they think big,

they think bigger than what
they've accomplished before in their life.

And then they're also
not afraid to get a little crazy,

get a little different
and completely go bananas.

Dream big and go bananas.