Baseball is the most tradition-bound major league sport, but Georgia-based Savannah Bananas is breaking some of the rules of "America’s Game." Finding mass appeal with the team’s outside-the-lines brand of “Banana Ball,” Bryant University’s Mike Roberto and his former student Jonathan Huntley ’21 are explaining the success of the Savannah Bananas in a new case study in development for publication. 

The barnstorming baseball team, co-founded by Jesse and Emily Cole, has been delivering a unique ballpark experience since the Bananas' founding in 2016. Selling out games both locally and nationally, and amassing more followers on TikTok than any Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Coles are about to expand beyond the Bananas to create a six-team league to broaden their audience even further. 

So, what exactly is Banana Ball? On the field, there are some of the zany antics that have become familiar to fans of minor league baseball teams, like dancing base coaches and cheerleading squads comprised of senior citizens, according to the case study by Roberto, a trustee professor of Management, and Huntley, an actuary at the MassMutual life insurance company whose hobbies include baseball analytics.  

But while even the edgiest minor league clubs follow the game’s established rules, once the umpire says “play ball,” the Bananas have enlivened the competition with unconventional rules like awarding the home team an out if a fan catches a foul ball and instituting a “golden at-bat” where teams can bring their best hitter to the plate in a key situation, even if they’re not due to hit. Game times also are capped at two hours, and time-sucking rituals like hitters stepping out of the batter’s box and visits to the pitcher’s mound are prohibited.  

The Coles and the Bananas “basically have three heroes,” explains Roberto: P. T. Barnum; Walt Disney; and “Wild” Bill Veeck, who owned the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox and was known for bizarre stunts designed to boost fan interest. 

Surprisingly, the Harlem Globetrotters are not as high on the list of the Bananas' influences, despite common comparisons between the two sports entertainment teams.  

“They’re different in two fundamental ways: One, the games aren't rigged; and second, if you go to a Globetrotters game, it’s always the same show, whereas the Bananas try to keep the entertainment different from game to game,” says Roberto. 

Huntley, who first learned about the team online, found kindred spirits in a team where in-game drama goes far beyond classic baseball scenarios like trailing in the game by a run and being down to your final at-bat.  

“My two favorite movies are Moneyball and The Greatest Showman, which is a very unique combination, and all of a sudden there's this team that's just leaning into both of those things,” he says. 

Jesse Cole may channel Barnum with his habits of wearing a bright yellow top hat and suit, but Roberto and Huntley’s case study notes that Disney’s influence is apparent in the team’s dedication to removing “friction points” in the fan experience.  

“They are practicing the essence of all we teach about design thinking here at Bryant."

The case study quotes Jesse Cole saying, “We saw a problem – people were saying baseball is too long, too slow, too boring. We said, ‘How do we defeat that?’” 

In a lot of small but meaningful ways, each carefully tested through a process of trial and error, according to Roberto and Huntley. The team eliminated parking fees, included food and drinks in the ticket price, and stopped charging for shipping when fans purchased merchandise online.  

The Bananas also removed barriers between fans and players by greeting arrivals on the concourse, handing out programs, high-fiving kids, signing autographs, and taking photos with fans. 

“They are practicing the essence of all we teach about design thinking here at Bryant,” says Roberto, referencing the university’s Innovation & Design Experience for All (IDEA) program, which is required for all first-year students. 

Every game includes “something that has never been seen before on a baseball field, and that's why they need to do all of this brainstorming and ideating because fans come to expect that,” says Huntley. “The name of their company is Fans First Entertainment and everything they do is ruthlessly fans first. They will turn down profits 100 percent of the time to make sure people become lifelong fans.”  

The result has been average attendance figures that nearly match those of AAA, the top level of minor league baseball in the U.S., as well as eye-popping social media engagement and merchandise sales, says Roberto.  

Because the Atlanta Braves MLB team is a publicly traded company, Huntley was able to determine that while big league clubs get most of their revenue from the box office and broadcasting rights, the Bananas have been far more successful with merchandise sales, a significant portion of which is driven by social media. 

“Because of TikTok and YouTube, there's a whole generation of young people who know about the team. They just think it’s cool.” 

“They get a bunch of online sales from people who've never seen them play in person,” notes Roberto. “Because of TikTok and YouTube, there's a whole generation of young people who know about the team. They just think it’s cool.” 

Just how impactful have the Savannah Bananas been? Recently, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred floated the idea of a golden at-bat rule, taking a page directly from the Banana Ball playbook. 

“For traditional major league baseball, the writing's been on the wall for decades that they need to change, but they haven’t until recently,” making tweaks like a pitch clock and limiting pickoff attempt to speed up game play, says Roberto. 

“The team’s creativity aligns with design thinking, even though they don’t call it that,” adds Huntley. “They're just very courageous in being able to [work through problems] and always focus on their fans first.”  

Huntley's interest in Banana Ball extends to incorporating some of its lessons in his own life. “Jesse Cole says he writes down 10 ideas every morning," he says. "There’s probably a lot of bad ideas in there — he admits that — but it gets his juices flowing and they can lead to better ideas. I made my New Year's resolution to follow in his footsteps and start my day brainstorming 10 ideas, and I've really enjoyed that.” 

Roberto, whose previous case studies have looked at subjects like the rise of companies like Trader Joe’s and Planet Fitness as well as an analysis of the Columbia space shuttle accident, says he collaborated on the Savannah Bananas project with Huntley, his former student, because of a shared love of baseball and a mutual admiration of the team’s product and vision. 

“I love the people who zig when others zag because, to me, the essence of strategy is finding ways to find a distinct position in the marketplace,” he says. “And I especially love people who challenge the conventional norms in their industry.”