Jesse Cole on Savannah Bananas dream ⚾ ‘First our goal was to make baseball fun!’ | Pat McAfee Show

0:00 ladies and gentlemen, Yellow Tux, JESSE, JESSE COLE.

0:05 WHAT'S UP, GUYS?

0:06 OKAY, SO CAN YOU please tell me how you go from if the story is right,

0:12 I I tried to Google as much information as I possibly could,

0:15 so I'm kind of being held hostage by whatever

0:17 they decide to show me about your story,

0:20 but I did read in depth over a million bucks, 1.7 million, you sell your house,

0:24 you and your wife sleeping on a mattress on the floor

0:26 basically with your visions of what this could all be.

0:29 How many years ago was that and do you have the visions at that point

0:34 of selling out Texas A&M 100 and some thousand tickets for a gimmick baseball?

0:39 Like how big did you dream and believe in where you're at now?

0:42 How can you describe Well, at first our goal was just to make baseball fun.

0:47 We were a college summer baseball team when we started,

0:49 so and we only sold, you know, two tickets in our first three months.

0:53 So that's when we had to sell our house,

0:54 empty out our savings account, sleeping on an air bed.

0:57 But yeah, we believe we can make the game fun,

0:58 more entertainment, more excitement, and make the game faster.

1:01 And so yeah, we I mean, when we started the bananas,

1:04 we had a male cheerleading team, the mananas, the dad bod cheerleading squad,

1:07 the banana nanas senior citizen dance team, but more than anything,

1:09 the players were all in on celebrating, dancing, and having fun.

1:12 And after a few years, we you know,

1:14 we were selling out games, but fans were still leaving games early.

1:16 And that's when we said we have to change the rules and create a new game.

1:19 And back in 2020, we played our first ever banana ball game, you know,

1:23 with a 2-hour time limit, you win the inning,

1:24 you get a point, no bunting cuz bunting sucks.

1:27 If you bunt, you're thrown out of the game.

1:28 Fans catching foul balls for an out.

1:30 We've added all these new rules and just took

1:32 it on the road with a a bigger dream then,

1:35 but went from one city world tour to now playing

1:37 in front of 3.4 million fans this year and 102,000 on Saturday.

1:41 Jeez, congratulations on it all.

1:42 Obviously having the fortitude to continue to go

1:45 forward whenever everything is seemingly against you

1:48 and to believe in yourself is obviously a great

1:50 story for future generations to listen to and experience.

1:54 So you're a content driven company, would you describe yourself?

1:56 How do you describe you?

1:57 Are you a live event company?

1:58 Are you a content driven company?

2:00 And who do you find are most interested

2:02 cuz I think you and the Dude Perfect crossover

2:04 seems like a perfect demo match and also

2:06 a massive home run not only in Texas A&M, but probably anywhere you go, right?

2:10 That's very similar markets.

2:12 Yeah, we're a live entertainment company.

2:13 We obsess over the fan experience.

2:15 So fans start showing up at 2:00 for a 7:00 game.

2:18 There were 40,000 people in the plaza 4 hours before the game.

2:21 So we do a show from 2:00.

2:23 The fans are out there meeting fans at 2:00,

2:25 live show in front, live show afterwards.

2:27 We stay we sign to the last fan.

2:29 We are obsessed, but yeah, it's really the sport of banana ball.

2:31 You know, people have compared us to the Globetrotters,

2:33 but the sport of banana ball is what we're most proud of.

2:36 There are six teams competing to go

2:38 to the Banana Ball Championship and it's unbelievably competitive.

2:41 I mean, we had 23 trick plays on Saturday night, six home runs.

2:45 They're trying to compete and win every show,

2:47 but we're also trying to put on a you know, a lot of entertainment non-stop.

2:50 The Texas Tailgaters ran into it with a Reese,

2:53 who's the football stadium home run king, I'll have you know.

2:57 I think I don't know if you saw the other

2:59 day I caught one of your guys' games on ESPN2.

3:02 Congratulations on getting your licensed on ESPN for even bigger appeal,

3:06 not just digitally, but also linear reach.

3:08 I mean, you're doing fantastic.

3:10 We will follow along and watch your next business move as you

3:14 continue to go all in in this particular sphere by the way,

3:16 so I appreciate you doing what you're doing there.

3:19 But football stadiums, how do you pick and choose where you're headed?

3:23 Because Texas A&M Kyle Field obviously historic,

3:26 legendary place for college ball, fills up for you.

3:29 Do you feel like you fill up anywhere

3:31 or like what what are the best places for Savannah?

3:34 Cuz you came here, Indianapolis, filled up immediately.

3:37 I think you sold out three times if you needed to.

3:39 Are you everywhere right now or how do

3:41 you kind of view where you're selling these places?

3:43 Yeah, we're we're in 45 states, 75 stadiums.

3:46 Every single team has sold out.

3:48 We have 4.2 million people on the wait list.

3:50 And yeah, with football stadiums, you know,

3:52 we we started with Clemson last year and the first college and stadium

3:55 and sold 81,000 tickets and the environment with Dabo Swinney and C.J.

3:59 Spiller coming back and just the the atmosphere was electric.

4:01 Like we got to do these college football stadiums.

4:03 And then you know, also with the NFL,

4:05 we did the Superdome and Drew Brees came in and just

4:07 there's these great moments that we can create in a competitive environment.

4:10 So yeah, we've heard from numerous stadiums over 100,000.

4:13 We still got we got Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee in 3 weeks.

4:17 It's going to be 101,000.

4:18 That's completely sold out.

4:19 Boise State for the party animals headliner and the blue field.

4:23 That's going to be a lot of fun.

4:24 University of Oregon.

4:25 So just you mix these worlds.

4:26 College football is known for the atmosphere.

4:28 Pat, you know this better than anyone, but now you put in our show

4:30 with non-stop music and performances plus trick plays,

4:34 backflip catches, it's a great marriage and we're

4:36 having fun at these college football stadiums.

4:37 It's a beautiful thing.

4:38 Obviously if people are getting introduced to sports in this manner, we love it.

4:42 If they're just enjoying sports in this manner, we love it.

4:45 I appreciate the fact that you went out there and did it.

4:47 Now, in your business story, there's probably a climax moment or two.

4:51 Go ahead, D But.

4:52 Yeah, Jesse, you're talking about filling stadiums, you know, 100,000 plus.

4:55 Now, when was the moment if you can go

4:57 back a little bit when you really knew like, okay, we we've arrived.

5:00 When was that moment?

5:01 What was the venue?

5:02 Kind of what was the year?

5:03 We've never arrived.

5:04 You know, we're just getting started and that's the mindset and I believe that.

5:07 We're going to take this all over the world.

5:08 People think it's just a circus, just a show.

5:11 These guys can play and do things that people

5:12 have never done before on a baseball field.

5:14 So I still haven't felt that, but for me growing up south of Boston,

5:17 always a dream to play at Fenway Park, play professionally.

5:20 When we went to Fenway Park and sold

5:21 that out and watched the whole stadium turn yellow, that was pretty special.

5:25 But now, you know, every night, as big as this game was, guys,

5:27 we did a pop-up game on Thursday in front

5:29 of only a thousand fans and we didn't tell anybody.

5:31 We went to a high school and surprised

5:33 fans and created moments that people have never seen.

5:35 Like I love creating those fans

5:36 first moments that people have never experienced.

5:38 That's where this all comes into play.

5:40 Where can we play next?

5:41 You never know.

5:42 I'm excited I'm excited for your I'm excited

5:45 for your promotional brain to continue to do absurd things.

5:48 I just want to let you know that.

5:49 I am excited to see what you come up with, brother.

5:52 There's a few of them in history.

5:54 Big time promoters.

5:55 Obviously you are a promoter.

5:56 That is that is what you are.

5:58 With baseball being kind of your venue and how

6:00 you do this, you're you're hitting on all cylinders, man.

6:03 We got stilts guy home run.

6:05 Daisy Duke pitcher with cowboy boots, obviously awesome.

6:08 The ninja umpire, the dancing umpire.

6:11 All this and I don't know I don't know what your brainstorming room is like.

6:16 I don't know when or how you come about getting your ideas or whatever,

6:20 but that in of itself is probably its

6:22 own show that I would like to watch, brother.

6:24 I'd like to see your process in coming up

6:25 with all this and then how you think it's

6:27 going to go over versus how it actually goes

6:29 over and adjusting on the fly and all of it.

6:31 I really respect what you got going on.

6:34 Thank you.

6:34 My question for you is I mean, again,

6:35 we're always trying to do things that have never happened before in sports.

6:38 Where do you think we should play?

6:39 Where would be somewhere crazy or something wild

6:41 or something we should do that would shock people?

6:44 That's a good one.

6:45 The moon.

6:46 The moon, yes, that's what we've talked about for a few years.

6:48 That's going to take a few years.

6:49 What else?

6:51 [laughter]

6:50 Okay, so something like that.

6:53 Time Square would be sick.

6:54 You can rent it out.

6:55 We learned that with They don't care about dimensions, which is cool.

6:57 Like obviously these football fields dimensions are

6:59 Lucas Oil Stadium would show up for you.

7:01 Oh, that'd be wild.

7:02 If you did Lucas Oil Central Park, New York City, that'd be interesting.

7:06 That would be sweet.

7:07 So we're thinking of large patches of grass.

7:09 saw Shakira did 2 million on a beach, so you mentioned the beach, that'd be

7:12 The beach, yeah.

7:14 Well, it'd be tough for the banana boys though to run on the sand, you know,

7:17 especially the boot scooter, you know,

7:19 he's going to be in a little bit of trouble out there.

7:21 We'd send the coconuts.

7:22 That's our that's our newest team, the coconuts.

7:24 They'd be all over the beach.

7:25 How many teams you got total?

7:26 Six?

7:27 We got we got six teams, yeah, in the league, Banana Ball Championship League.

7:30 Yeah, the Indianapolis Clowns obviously coming in a big way.

7:33 How do you feel about the cosmic baseball that's happening as well?

7:36 Hey, anything that can make the game fun, man, we're supportive of it.

7:38 I mean, we're just trying to bring more people out and you know,

7:40 they're doing a great job and I think we all win and it's an abundance mindset

7:44 and the more people that are bringing out kids

7:46 and families to have fun, that's a win, man.

7:48 Love it.

7:48 As baseball continues to go and your league continues to produce great baseball,

7:53 it only works if there's good baseball players.

7:55 Go ahead, Tone.

7:56 Yeah, Jesse, you talked about how good the the players actually are.

7:59 One of the cool stories earlier in the season,

8:00 Tristan Peters used to play for the Savannah Bananas,

8:03 is now playing on the White Sox.

8:04 I believe he's hitting like 284 for the White Sox.

8:06 So like I think a lot of people

8:08 think that it's like not actually talented baseball players,

8:11 but they they are, right?

8:12 They're some of the best baseball players in the world, correct?

8:15 Well, yeah, look at Jackie Bradley Jr.,

8:16 World Series champion, All-Star, full-time player with the Clowns.

8:19 He hit for the cycle the other night.

8:20 We got guys, you know, first round picks, second round picks.

8:23 They can play and now they're just learning how to do

8:25 unbelievable trick plays and performances

8:27 and putting it together and that's why, man, I it's so great, you know,

8:30 we created this a bunch of us, but I get to sit back and and be

8:33 a fan and watch things every night and just be like,

8:36 I can't believe that just happened.

8:37 And that's what's exciting about it.

8:38 Nothing surprises.

8:39 I mean, we get surprised every single night and that's what's crazy.

8:42 Live events, obviously.

8:43 AJ has the last question for you here, Jesse.

8:46 Yeah, Jesse, I'm curious like when you're

8:47 acquiring new talent, I guess first off, what's the process like trying to find

8:50 guys that are very talented baseball players,

8:52 but also like entertainers and big personalities.

8:54 And do you set expectations when they sign?

8:56 Because I'm thinking like, hey, we have a pop-up show on Thursday.

8:59 I thought I'm just going to be playing Kyle Field.

9:00 I don't want to I'm tired.

9:01 [laughter] I don't want to go over here and play a game for a thousand people.

9:04 How do you deal with those kind of things?

9:06 Well, we're fortunate.

9:06 When you join us, you know what it's about.

9:08 It's about fans first.

9:09 You know, the reason we're here, the reason we get to play in front

9:11 of record-breaking crowds is because we put the fans

9:12 first and we're the first ones signing autographs

9:14 and meeting them and we're on all the time.

9:16 But yeah, it was hard.

9:17 At first, guys, no one wanted to play for us.

9:18 I mean, it was impossible.

9:20 But now, you know, we have thousands of guys,

9:22 thousands of players and that are reaching out and it's it's

9:25 amazing to see because they know they have to be fans first.

9:28 They know we have to perform.

9:29 But I mean, we're getting like Derek Jeter,

9:31 Broadway, one of the best Broadway performers ever.

9:33 He played college ball at UCLA back with Gerrit Cole, Trevor Bauer.

9:36 And so now he's bringing that world together.

9:38 So when you can mix the worlds of entertainment and sports together,

9:42 man, it's fun to watch.

9:43 I'm trying to start I'm trying to start being accurate with throwing.

9:47 I'm trying.

9:48 We're ready for you in Indy, man.

9:49 You put on a show.

9:50 I well, yeah, I would like the show to be one that doesn't look ass.

9:55 [laughter] You know, I've I've it.

9:55 You know, we saw Tino.

9:57 Yeah, Tino Martinez.

9:58 That was awesome.

10:00 Don't want that.

10:01 That was cool.

10:01 Saw Russell Wilson get gunned out after

10:03 that guy goes in between the legs and everything.

10:05 These guys are throwing 93 miles an hour, 94 miles an hour.

10:07 It's not easy.

10:08 THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.

10:09 I NEED TO PRACTICE.

10:11 BREES GOT SCREWED, TOO.

10:12 YEAH, THE COW.

10:12 BACKFLIP, was that the backflip catch?

10:14 Which one was the backflip catch?

10:16 We don't need that.

10:17 Who did that up?

10:17 Yeah, yeah, they'll they'll make you look bad with the trick play.

10:19 That's pretty That's Yeah.

10:21 THEY'LL MOSS THE out of you.

10:22 they do.

10:23 Everybody, you know,

10:23 you cuz you get a little people uh older than what it maybe your demo is,

10:28 cuz I assume your demo is what it is, right?

10:30 We all see what it is.

10:31 And then uh their parents, and they love it.

10:33 I think these people really enjoy their lives whenever

10:35 they're watching uh Savannah Banana Baseball and everything like that.

10:38 So, you got some people that are like, "I hate it.

10:40 It's corny or whatever." And it's like,

10:42 "I'm baseball, this is bad for baseball." It's like,

10:44 "All right, go out there." You got a pitcher out there actually Oh, yeah.

10:47 Throwing 30.

10:48 They're actually cooking while also doing a full Yeah.

10:51 dance routine and then stepping on a mound and 100%.

10:56 Frank.

10:56 88 or whatever.

10:57 It's like, how that These guys unbelievable baseball.

10:59 I didn't know there was this much talent in the baseball world.

11:02 I enjoy what you're doing.

11:03 I appreciate what you're doing.

11:05 And uh keep trailblazing, brother.

11:07 Can't wait to watch what you do next.

11:08 I appreciate you guys.

11:10 Ladies and gentlemen, that's Jesse Cole.

11:11 Yeah, Jesse.