How The Savannah Bananas Became The Biggest Show in Baseball
Huddle Up is a 3x weekly newsletter that breaks down the business and money behind sports. Subscribers include investors, professional athletes, team owners, and casual fans. So if you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join 88,000+ others who receive it directly in their inbox each week — it’s free. Today’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By Goldin!
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Friends, The Savannah Bananas are the most viral sensation in sports today. They have more than 5 million followers on social media. Their games have been featured on ESPN, and they make about $200,000 during each home game throughout the season. But it wasn’t always this way. Jesse Cole and his wife Emily purchased the minor league baseball expansion team in 2016. They sold their house and emptied their savings. They moved into a garage-turned-studio apartment, slept on an air mattress to make ends meet, and went from $0 in debt to $1.8 million in debt. Of course, many people thought they were crazy. Minor league baseball teams notoriously never make any money, and the Cole’s were now going to stake their entire financial future on an unproven expansion team in Savannah, Georgia. But here’s the craziest part: The Cole family knew what they were doing and completely reinvented what a baseball team looks like. They introduced new rules — no bunting or walks and a 2-hour time limit. They made games more accessible — tickets cost just $20 and include hot dogs, burgers, and soft drinks. And they intentionally focused on the fan experience — games are filled with wild promos like juggling pitchers, a Banana pep band, and dancing grandmas. This fan-first approach has helped the Savannah Bananas become the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. For example, the team is about to embark on a 70-game tour across 33 cities in 22 states, and the waitlist for tickets is already 500,000 people long. So my team and I decided to create a documentary on the Savannah Bananas. We explore how Jesse Cole initially came up with the idea, why their fan-first model has worked so well, how much money the team makes today, and more. You can watch the full video on YouTube using the link below. And if you enjoy it, please share it with your friends, as this took us several weeks to put together. Have a great day. We’ll talk tomorrow. Interested in advertising with Huddle Up? Email me. Your feedback helps me improve Huddle Up. How did you like today’s post? Loved | Great | Good | Meh | Bad Extra Credit #1: Private Jets Invade Arizona For The Super BowlMore than 1,000 private jets were parked in the Phoenix area this weekend for the WM Phoenix Open and Super Bowl LVII. That resulted in 4,000 more take-offs and landings than usual, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and more than 200 private jets departed immediately after the Super Bowl on Sunday night. 
More than 200 private jets departed Arizona airports immediately after the Super Bowl 🤯 (Reddit: u/Thinking4Ai)
Extra Credit #2: Rihanna Capatilizes On Her Halftime PerformanceThe NFL didn’t pay Rihanna for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show (this thread explains why), but she still found plenty of ways to capitalize. For example, on Monday, Rihanna was the #1 streamed Spotify artist globally with 63.5 million streams. She has already gained nearly 3 million followers on Instagram alone, and searches for her cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty are up 833%.
The impact of Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance: • #1 most-streamed artist globally • 118.7 million viewers (5M more than SB) • 17 songs in the Top 40 on Spotify • Gained 3 million Instagram followers • Searches for Fenty Beauty are up 833% The Super Bowl effect is real 📈
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