This Savannah Bananas' Response to Email Mishap Shows How The Organization is "Fans First"

Fixing the mistake may have cost millions of dollars but it won the trust of thousands of fans!

Banana Ball owner Jesse Cole joins the crowd as the Auburn Tigers face off with the Banana Ball All-Stars at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Savannah Bananas are known for their unwavering loyalty to their fans. They pioneered the sport of Banana Ball to make baseball the best possible experience for fans. Of course they aren't perfect at it and the entire process is full of growing pains. Lots of ideas that they try don't end up working. But the entire organization learns from those and keeps going in an effort to support all of their fans! Jesse Cole just shared a story that illustrates that!

Last year, the Savannah Bananas sent out emails letting fans know of a few tickets left for games in Savannah. Those emails were supposed to be sent out to 4,000 fans. But they accidentally sent the emails to 44,000 fans! Fans were told time slots that they could get on to get tickets but when they got on all the tickets were sold out. Thousands of fans were left without tickets that they were promised they could get. What a disaster of a situation!

Instead of making excuses, the organization very quickly owned up to their mistake. Jared Orton, the President of the Savannah Bananas, wrote an apology and it was sent out to everyone. But they didn't want to stop there. They were ready to put their money where their mouth was, literally! They gave free tickets to everyone that was promised that they could buy them. And not only that, they bought those tickets from anyone that was not going to attend those games! All in all, it was a 6 million dollar mistake.

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This mistake shows how much the organization puts fans first. They don't care about money nearly as much as they care about the fans and people involved in Banana Ball, That is what makes the product so great. Every year the experience gets better because they are trying new things and they are willing to admit mistakes. This year is the start of the Banana Ball Championship League. A full league with six teams! This is a huge step but if anyone can make it work it is Jesse Cole and the entire Banana Ball team.

If you love Banana Ball and you want to stay up to date with every thing going on with Banana Ball then make sure to subscribe to the Banana Breakdown Podcast! And check out our interview we had with Savannah Bananas star Reese Alexiades!