Celebrating 10 Years of the Savannah Bananas!

A look back at how far the Savannah Bananas have come in 10 years and where they are going next!

A Savannah Banana baseball sits on the PNC Park grass. / Ethan Morrison / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jesse Cole’s 10 year journey is proving to be legendary, stuff of myth and rumor. Buying a summer league college baseball team and stadium with the idea of making the oldest professional sport in American history more fun. Attempting to change the sport with the most rigid loyalty to unspoken rules, traditions that go back generations and fan bases that began as far back as the 1800’s. This concept is the basis for a movie you wouldn’t believe, you’d shut it off. It’s ridiculous and thanks to Jesse’s wild ideas and willingness to continually take chances here we are 10 years into the successful experiment that is the Bananas from Savannah. Not to get that confused with Banana Ball as that began just five years ago. The Bananas began as the embryo, the caterpillar, the beginning of an evolution that would soon change the world. 

The foresight to have an opening night on June 2nd, 2016, wearing green jerseys because at the beginning this wasn’t a finished product and they weren’t “ripe” yet was genius. This thought process rings true today, not exacting maximum affect for today but rather choosing to mature and ripen over time. A million times through this evolution Jesse could have stopped, smelled the roses, sold the brand, partnered with private equity and sold out. He didn’t, isn’t and won’t be doing that. The growth really makes no sense and the percentage growth which I documented recently in another article
(Click here to read) looks more like a typo than fact . It’s not seen in business and certainly not in sports.

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I can’t wait until Harvard Business School has a “Jesse Cole” class. I envision it being called “Betting on yourself and putting your fans first.” It is an old school 1950’s style of idealistic dream chasing through wholesome concepts. They closed on the franchise and stadium on October 5th 2015. They immediately went into the stadium only to find phone cables cut, internet gone and every single thing inside the stadium of any value or that could serve any function had been removed. A bleak start that turned more bleak as Jesse and Emily would eventually sell their home, empty their savings and were reduced to sleeping on an air mattress all just to make payroll and take care of those on this mission with them. 

In February of 2016 they announced they would be known by a new name. They were relentlessly and ruthlessly criticized by the community and when most would have thought the mountain was to high, Jesse had faith. He had faith that his fans first concept and the show they could put on would be more than enough to win over those soon to be fans in close proximity. The first marker point for those on the outside to begin to take notice was when they won the league championship in their inaugural year of 2016. In 2017 they would celebrate the first completely sold out season as the stands were completely filled for each game. 

Jesse maintained a steadfast interest in correcting things he saw that fell short of holding the fans attention. He knew that something had to be done and they had to do something different. This birthed the concept of Banana Ball. In June of 2020 as the world was fighting though a global pandemic, the Savannah Bananas debuted a new game filled with flair and fun. Playing for more than a thousand people in the stands the crowd was vibrant excited and by the end of the night a phenomenon was born. 

BANANA BALL!!

If you have ever seen the popular television show “Bar Rescue” before you know Jon Taffer has a stress test night were they see if the concept works and then finds the holes that ultimately need to be plugged. Jesse did that by doing a 1 city world tour as they left Savannah for Mobile, Alabama in March of 2021 for a two night road show to see if this concept had legs. The field baring a legendary name in Hank Aaron Stadium got to see a new Hall of Fame caliber performance as the Savannah Bananas sold out both nights. The tide was turning, the current was picking up speed and you could tell even then this thing was off to the races. 

The current was so strong that once the Bananas from Savannah had now won their third CPL League Championship, Jesse would announce on August 6th 2022 that Banana Ball players would be departing the league and the sport of baseball. They would now be entering into a full time highly competitive sideshow called Banana Ball. August 19th, 2022 would be a land mark day as the Bananaland special would debut on ESPN bringing this story of Jesse and Emily Cole, the Savannah Bananas and Banana ball to the mainstream sports world. This would prove to launch the brand into social consciousness even further as they were now knighted by the “World Wide Leader”. 

The strange got stranger as it is one thing to have a fun team name of the Savannah Bananas, then you choose to play with additional flair while still winning, now you stretch out and play this brand of ball exclusively as they walked away from traditional baseball and then September 15th, 2023 they were invited back into baseball in all of it’s tradition and lore. They were honored with a a special “Going Bananas” Exhibit in Cooperstown, NY at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Bananas were team one and the Party Animals the original foe. May 30th, 2024 Banana Ball welcomed a new competitor in the Firefighters. Less than a month later the Party Animals would sell out headliner games in Vegas, Greenville and Greensboro. The momentum was visible the wind at their backs as the sensation and social media fan engagement made it so no one could ignore the brand and they were now firmly in the zeitgeist. When you have a hot hand, do you fold? No, time to double down and Jesse again did just that as he announced the 4th Banana Ball League team in the Texas Tailgaters and giving a team a new home base other than Savannah. 

Can’t get crazier right? Not much more you can do? How about a cruise? Yeah they did that too. October 14th, 2024 Banana fans embarked on the maiden voyage of a Savannah Banana themed vacation at sea featuring shows and entertainment throughout. Needless to say the Bananas now had their sea legs and were looking for the next thing. 

Having a sell out at an MLB stadium in their back pocket from March of 2024 they decided to press their luck and try selling out an NFL stadium. They chose a place that was rich in recent sport success as the city affectionately referred to as “Champa Bay” played host at the Buccaneers, Raymond James Stadium. The only sports venue with a life size pirate ship equipped with live firing cannons was sold out and now the Tampa Bay area had went from Brady to Baker, now Bananas. 

2025 proved to be the biggest year in it’s history as Banana Ball was represented in 17 MLB stadiums, 4 football stadiums and all of this witnessed in person by more than 2.2 million fans. 2025 also launched the first ever Banana Ball Tour Championship and now the long awaited Banana Ball City Selection Show on October 9th at 6:30pm will tell the world what cities they will be visiting this time around and also growing the league again by two teams!

Hard to think that things could get any better and when you are full steam ahead its dangerous to spend anytime looking in the rear view but the recent history would tell you I would take the futures on this investment. If you are in Vegas the weakest bet you can place is red or black but if it’s me, I’m putting all of my money on YELLOW! 

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The Savannah Bananas celebrate 10 years!!

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