Jesse Cole, founder and owner of the Savannah Bananas, shares his journey from struggling to revamping baseball into an exhilarating experience with 'Banana Ball.' Forget traditional rules; in this game, stepping out of the box means a strike, and fans catching foul balls means outs! He reveals their all-in ticket package, merging food and fun while ditching ads and fees. With 3.2 million in line for tickets, Jesse's fan-first, long-term strategy has transformed skepticism into fervent support, making the Bananas a viral sensation.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
10 Years Experimenting in Gastonia
Jesse Cole started as a failed general manager for a minor league team with only 200 fans and $268 in the bank.
He innovated wildly with theme nights and entertainment to increase attendance, turning the team profitable over 10 years.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Starting in Savannah After Proposal
Jesse proposed to his wife at a ballgame, then visited Savannah and saw their historic stadium nearly empty.
He convinced the city to lease the stadium for a college summer team after the minor league team left.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Desperate Early Days in Savannah
The Savannah Bananas started disastrously, selling only two tickets in three months.
Jesse and Emily sold their house, lived in a garage on a twin airbed, and shopped with $30 a week to keep the team afloat.
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Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
Mike Michalowicz
In 'Profit First', Mike Michalowicz introduces a behavioral approach to accounting that flips the conventional formula from 'Sales - Expenses = Profit' to 'Sales - Profit = Expenses'. This system involves taking a predetermined percentage of sales as profit first and then allocating the remainder for expenses. The book provides practical, step-by-step advice and case studies to help entrepreneurs manage their businesses more effectively, ensuring early and sustained profitability and long-term growth.
The Savannah Bananas have created a whole new sport. It’s baseball, but it’s not. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and incredibly entertaining. For example, if you're batting, and you step out of the batter’s box... it’s a strike. If you bunt, you’re out. If a fan catches a foul ball… you’re also out. Games are capped at two hours with no exceptions. It’s sacrilegious to traditional baseball fans everywhere. But it’s hard to argue with their numbers: they have 3.2 million fans on a waiting list to see them and have been selling out 80,000-seat football stadiums over the past few months!
Today, we sit down with Jesse Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas and creator of Banana Ball. We unpack the whole story, staring with a failing college summer league team, an air mattress, and a $30 weekly grocery budget. But these days... it's safe to say that Jesse and his wife don’t have to sleep on an air mattress anymore! And they have built the business in their own way, fully under their control, and uniquely “fans first”. They have a unique all-in ticketing model, where your game ticket gets you full access to food along with your seat. There are no ads or sponsorships. There are no ticket fees or middlemen. And in fact, Jesse and crew will even pay the sales tax on your ticket for you! Jesse is just totally obsessed with delighting fans, controlling the end-to-end experience, and thinking long term… even if it means leaving (a lot) of money on the table today.
This may be our most fun ACQ2 (or Acquired!) episode ever. Enjoy!
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