How The Savannah Bananas Are Redefining A Traditional Pastime

Forbes

The barnstorming organization is generating more than $100 million in revenue—but its yellow-tuxedo-wearing owner, Jesse Cole, is more concerned with chasing a billion fans than a billion-dollar valuation.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/09/21/the-savannah-bananas-baseballs-zaniest-team-are-now-worth-half-a-billion-dollars/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Well, with the Bananas, we're trying to create the greatest show in sports, but what it started

00:12as is just a traditional baseball team playing college summer baseball, and we just wanted to

00:17make it fun. And so goal of making baseball fun. So yes, we had dancing players and we had

00:21celebrations, but now really it's a piece of the puzzle. And that puzzle is in that goal is to

00:27create the sport of banana ball. The bananas were the first one to get us started, but now as we

00:31build this game of banana ball, we want to take this show, this sport, you know, all over the country

00:35and all over the world, because we see how fans react to it. It's about the joy, it's about the fun,

00:40and we're trying to bring this everywhere. And for us, you know, we want to create 1 billion fans.

00:44And I believe sometimes it can even be easier and more possible when you go to the fans. You don't

00:50have the fans come to you. You go to the fans, you travel to the fans, you go places where others

00:54won't go. You go to small cities, you go to big cities, you go to NFL stadiums, you go to college

00:58football stadiums, you go to minor league parks, you do pop-up games, you go where the fans are.

01:02That's how you create fans. When we first started, we had to go everywhere to try to convince people

01:07to let us play. The same thing, when we first started the bananas, we had to convince players

01:10to play for us. When we first did our one city world tour, we were just trying to convince one city.

01:14We had to go through a lot of cities to get one city to say yes. In year two, in 2022, we did seven cities.

01:19We probably had 20, 30, we were like, we don't get it, we're not interested.

01:22Now things have changed. They're reaching out to us. We're hearing from venues, some of the most

01:26iconic, well-known, biggest stadiums in the world. And it's something that, you know, as a kid,

01:32when we started the bananas and I was sleeping on an air bed and we only sold two tickets,

01:37I'd never imagine that. Any unconventional expenses? Is there a team choreographer

01:41that we don't know about? Yes, we have. We certainly do have choreographers, but they also dance.

01:45Maceo Harrison, who's been with us for multiple years, he is our first base dancing coach,

01:49but he's also our choreographer, and he's unbelievable. You look at that, we have people

01:53in music, we have people in dance, we have people that can sing. We have a band on each team, live bands.

01:58For many of you watch, it's like, they look like dancers, and these guys weren't dancers,

02:01but they put so much effort with our team to make it great, and that's fun to watch.

02:06I can definitely admit I was one of those people that thought banana ball was not real baseball.

02:11I was that person that just, I just see it pop up on social media, and the only thing that would come up

02:15on my feet is guys dancing on the baseball field, and I never thought it would be for me.

02:20My name is Kelsey Whitmore, and I play for the Savannah Bananas,

02:24and I'm also a Women's USA National Team member.

02:27Once the door opened, and once I've stepped into it, it's bigger than just dancing.

02:31It's not, like, banana balls aren't just dancing.

02:33Like, I'm still out here working on my craft as a baseball player.

02:37Like, I'm still throwing my bullpens.

02:39I'm still throwing flat grounds with my catch play partner,

02:42and we're working on our pitches and our grips, you know.

02:45Guys are still mashing balls in the box.

02:47I still got to compete on that mound.

02:48This is the most locked in and focused I think I've ever been playing baseball

02:54and at the same time being able to feel so free playing it

02:58because we're not just about outcomes.

03:01It's about how can we compete, have a good time,

03:03but also, like, make impacts on people.

03:09Yeah, I love baseball.

03:10You know, my dad grew up in, you know, this obsession of baseball.

03:13You know, he took me to the field every day,

03:16and I had the big goal growing up south of Boston to play

03:18for the Red Sox to play at Fenway Park,

03:20and so that was everything for me, and I was fortunate.

03:22When I was in high school, I had scouts coming to my games, professional scouts.

03:25I had college offers, scholarships,

03:27and I went and got a full college scholarship going to Wofford,

03:30and I was like, this is it.

03:32This is where I'm going, and then had a pretty good career,

03:35not as good as I would have liked,

03:37but then I tore my shoulder, and that ended my career,

03:39and it was devastating.

03:40I mean, I didn't, it was hard to take.

03:42I didn't know what I was going to do,

03:43and everyone said, go into coaching.

03:45I did for a summer in the Cape Cod League,

03:47and I was bored out of my mind.

03:49I couldn't play.

03:50I couldn't make an impact, and then I started watching.

03:52I was like, man, I'm bored in this game.

03:53These are the best players in the country in Cape Cod League,

03:56and I was bored, and I realized,

03:58well, what if we made it more fun for everyone?

04:00And so that kind of pushed me into the front office

04:02and trying new things at our games

04:04that we've never tried before.

04:05Do you see this as an alternative or competitor

04:08to Major League Baseball?

04:09No, I've never seen this as a competitor to Major League Baseball.

04:11You know, at Major League Baseball,

04:12they have the best players in the world for baseball.

04:15We're trying to create and have the most entertaining players.

04:18So it's two completely different worlds.

04:20They're playing baseball.

04:20We're playing banana ball.

04:21Their goal is to win championships,

04:24win the World Series, and compete with the best players.

04:26Our goal is to put on the greatest show every single night

04:28and to put the fans first.

04:29None of our games are scripted.

04:31So that is a similarity.

04:32You never know the competitiveness that Major League Baseball has.

04:35We want to have that as well.

04:36But we also want to be putting on a show

04:37every aspect of the game and going nonstop.

04:40This past year, we were at 17 Major League Stadiums.

04:42Fortunate to sell all of them out.

04:44We're going to continue to go to Major League Stadiums.

04:46And I think our goal collectively

04:47is how do we bring more kids, more fans,

04:49bring this next generation to more ballparks

04:52and playing the game.

04:53And I think we're both doing a pretty good job of it.

04:55Is this surreal to you

04:56that we're sitting here in Yankee Stadium now?

04:59Seven years?

04:59You know it's crazy.

05:01If you were to ask me that maybe a couple years ago,

05:03I would say yes.

05:04You know, as I sit here with you right now,

05:06I love creating, sharing, and growing.

05:10So I'm passionate.

05:10This conversation I love.

05:12But as soon as this finishes,

05:13I'm just going to get right back

05:14and start getting with our team

05:15and how can we deliver the best show?

05:16How can we make it great for everyone?

05:17Like that's what I think about.

05:19At the end of the night,

05:20at the end of two sold-out nights,

05:21I take a second, I look around,

05:23and I'm truly proud of what we get to do.

05:26And so for surreal, yes,

05:28if you zoom out, 100%.

05:30But we got a job to do.

05:31We got a responsibility,

05:32and we got to make this greatest show

05:34the greatest experience possible.

05:35That's what I obsess over.

05:36We got a job to do.

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