How the Savannah Bananas SOLVED Profitability

TL;DR

Jesse Cole took over a failing minor league baseball team in Savannah, GA with almost no money, renamed it the Savannah Bananas, and turned it around by prioritizing entertainment over winning baseball. He eliminated ads, introduced all-inclusive tickets, sped up games to a two-hour limit, and added gimmicks like grandmother dancers, choreographed dances, and trick plays.

Key insights

• The team was essentially given to Jesse Cole for little money (he overdrafted his bank account by a couple thousand dollars) and initially drew only 100–200 people per game.
• Jesse Cole realized the business was not about baseball but about entertainment, drawing inspiration from Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum books.
• He systematically identified things he hated about baseball games (ads everywhere, expensive beer, slow pace) and did the exact opposite.