Banana Ball

43 snips

Jun 17, 2025

In this entertaining chat, Jesse Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas and author of 'Fans First', shares his journey from a lackluster career to revolutionizing baseball entertainment. He emphasizes how traditional sports needed a fun overhaul, leading to wildly innovative game experiences. Inspired by icons like Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum, Jesse discusses the Bananas' approach of continuous creativity and fan engagement, including unique rules and energetic performances that turn each game into an unforgettable spectacle.

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ANECDOTE

Jesse's Boredom Sparks Revolution

Jesse Cole was bored managing a baseball team that should have been his dream job.
He transformed the experience by making it unforgettable and fun for fans and players alike.

INSIGHT

Create What You Love

Great creators design what they would love themselves.
If it doesn't excite you, it won't excite your audience either.

ANECDOTE

From Player to Entertainment Innovator

Jesse Cole was an excellent player but found watching baseball boring.
This frustration pushed him to learn from entertainment industries like Disney to create a new kind of baseball experience.

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In this episode of Daily Creative, we sit down with Jesse Cole, the founder of the Savannah Bananas—a phenomenon that's redefining what it means to have fun at a baseball game. We share Jesse’s incredible journey from feeling uninspired in a “dream job” to igniting a revolution in sports entertainment. Bored with the traditional, slow-moving experience of baseball, Jesse asked the pivotal question: “How could we make this fun every time?”

We explore how Jesse leaned into bold ideas, ditched the predictable playbook, and replaced blandness with pure creative energy. Drawing inspiration from visionaries like Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum, Jesse made it his mission to build a show fans couldn’t stop talking about—complete with dancing staff, wild rules, and a sense of spectacle that makes every moment count. From the struggles of his early days as a young general manager, turning around a failing team with empty stadiums, to the sold-out, wildly viral success of the Savannah Bananas, Jesse reveals how continuous innovation and fan-first thinking can transform not only an experience, but an entire industry.

We go behind the scenes to unearth the Bananas’ creative process, from weekly idea pitching sessions inspired by Saturday Night Live to relentless experimentation and audience feedback. Jesse shares how his commitment to fun, learning from outside his industry, and obsession with new ideas keeps the Bananas experience fresh, exciting, and unforgettable night after night.

Five Key Learnings from This Episode:

Create What You Love: The most remarkable creators, like Jesse, build experiences that they themselves would truly enjoy. If it doesn’t excite you, it’s unlikely to excite your fans.
Embrace the “What If” Question: Growth and innovation come from questioning industry assumptions and daring to envision something completely different, even if it sounds “too much” at first.
Learn Across Industries: Pull the best ideas from outside your field. Parallel thinking and adaptation of concepts (from Disney to the circus to WWE) helped make Banana Ball truly unique.
Prioritize Experience Over Promotion: People must experience your difference—not just hear about it. The Bananas invest in the fan experience, letting viral moments and word-of-mouth do the marketing.
Iterate Fast and Learn Relentlessly: The Bananas test new ideas every night, seek feedback, and adjust constantly to create moments audiences will remember and want to relive.

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