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Why This Baseball Team Has a 4.2 Million Person Waitlist With Jesse Cole | A Bit of Optimism Podcast

We talk a lot about building successful things. But what does it actually take to build something people love? Jesse Cole has built an entirely new genre of entertainment: The Savannah Bananas and the Banana Ball League. They’re a viral sensation, selling out stadiums across the country, and have over 4.2 million fans on their ticket waitlist. On the surface, Banana Ball looks like a wild and entertaining version of baseball. But underneath it all is something much more disciplined: an obsession with the fan experience. Jesse calls his approach _Fans First_ and it’s more than a slogan and the title of his book… It’s a standard. Every minute of the two-hour games are crammed with attention grabbing spectacle. It’s a full-blown live experience designed for every seat in the stadium: players dance, fans are part of the show, trick plays defy the laws of physics, there are multiple sing-alongs… all during an actual baseball game. In this conversation, we talk about building something new for others, from embracing years of failure (including selling just two tickets in the first three months), to creating experiences that make people feel included, joyful, and valued. We also discuss how he took inspiration from Disney and PT Barnum, the importance of affordable in-person experiences, and how his team reviews every single detail after every show to get better the next day. Because what Jesse’s building goes beyond just entertainment. It’s a place where people can feel seen for generations to come. And in a world that often moves too fast to build things with care… Those human details might be what matter most. This… is A Bit of Optimism. + + + To learn more about the Banana Ball League or sign up for the ticket waitlist, check out: https://bananaball.com/ Or if you want all things Savannah Bananas, head to: https://thesavannahbananas.com/ + + + Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do. Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game. + + + Website: http://simonsinek.com/ Live Online Classes: https://simonsinek.com/classes/ Podcast: http://apple.co/simonsinek Instagram: https://instagram.com/simonsinek/ Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/simonsinek/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonsinek Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simonsinek Simon’s books: The Infinite Game: https://simonsinek.com/books/the-infinite-game/ Start With Why: https://simonsinek.com/books/start-with-why/ Find Your Why: https://simonsinek.com/books/find-your-why/ Leaders Eat Last: https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/ Together is Better: https://simonsinek.com/books/together-is-better/ + + + #SimonSinek

Simon SinekhostJesse Coleguest
Apr 14, 20261h 5mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. SS

    You're going to the nosebleeds-

  2. JC

    Yes

  3. SS

    ... and trying to understand the experience. And you understand there is a front of stadium experience that is different and better.

  4. JC

    Yeah.

  5. SS

    Nobody minds front of the stadium, but not at the expense of the back of the stadium.

  6. JC

    Everyone's on the first-class experience. They focus on that.

  7. SS

    Right. To go to the back and say, "Let's make this experience wonderful at this price range, at this distance. How do we do that for you?" Is, is unheard of.

  8. JC

    A term that you hear our team say every day is win the upper deck. We feel more purpose because it's like these people, these fans have waited two, three years-

  9. SS

    Yeah, yeah

  10. JC

    ... for tickets. It's their-

  11. SS

    That's crazy

  12. JC

    ... bucket. Like, that's what... That's our wait list is that long. They get their chance. If they go out there and they don't get to feel that interaction, you know, we say every night is someone's first show.

  13. SS

    Yeah.

  14. JC

    Every single night. And so if it's their first show, their- how do we make sure it's special?

  15. SS

    If you love sports or if you have children or if you happen to like musical theater, then your algorithm is probably feeding you videos of a baseball team dressed in bright yellow uniforms, doing things, let's call it, differently. That's the Savannah Bananas. And like the Harlem Globetrotters from the 1960s to professional wrestling through the 1980s, what the Bananas founder, Jesse Cole, has done is created an entirely new genre of sports entertainment. Jesse was a great ballplayer, whose dreams of going pro didn't happen because of an injury, but he still loved the game, sort of. He found it boring, and so he changed it. Obsessed with every detail of the experience, he started experimenting, teasing out ways to cram excitement into every minute and tailor the experience to fan enjoyment. The players spend hours with fans. They do trick plays and choreographed dances, and it's all happening during a real baseball game. No matter where they go in the country, they sell out stadiums. In fact, they have a four-year waiting list with over 4.2 million people waiting to get a ticket. For Jesse, Fans First isn't just a slogan or the title of his book, it's a standard. And maybe that's why it's working these days because in a world that's optimized for speed and scale, Jesse is building something with care, and his players and his staff and his fans can feel it. This is A Bit of Optimism. First of all, the fact that you have created an entirely new genre of entertainment-

  16. JC

    [laughs]

  17. SS

    You know, where everybody's looking for apps, everybody's looking for online content-

  18. JC

    Yeah

  19. SS

    ... everyone's trying to sell something to Netflix and Hulu and, you know-

  20. JC

    Yeah

  21. SS

    ... Amazon. You decided to start a thing that's in real life. You can sell out a stadium more easily than the local team. What was the birth of the idea?

  22. JC

    Well, we won't s- we wouldn't sell out when we first started.

  23. SS

    Well, yeah.

  24. JC

    I mean, it was, it was a, a real challenge. The birth of the idea, we put ourselves in our fans' shoes. You know, I played baseball my whole life and loved playing, but as soon as I started watching, I realized there were challenges. Too long, too slow, too boring. Parts of the game that were just, "Why is this happening?" You know, batters stepping out of the box for 30 seconds and mound visits that take forever. And I realized that it was just, there was an opportunity to create something fun. And you know this, the greatest creators, they create something that they would love.

  25. SS

    Yeah.

  26. JC

    And so I just, I remember watching a game once and I was like, "I am bored out of my mind." Now, I played the game, Simon. So, like, as someone who played, you should love it.

  27. SS

    Yeah, yeah.

  28. JC

    And I didn't. And so, you know, I just said, "What if it was nonstop entertainment? What if, you know, there was music? What if there was dancing? What if there was celebrations? What if it wasn't, you know, the same rules like everyone else?" And then you just started watching how your fans react.

  29. SS

    Yeah.

  30. JC

    After 20 years, you continue to find, you know, a, a method to it on how you can continue to plus it every single night.

Episode duration: 1:05:51

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