Why This Baseball Team Has a 4.2 Million Person Waitlist With Savannah Bananas Founder Jesse Cole - A Bit of Optimism

Transcript

Simon Sinek (0:00)

You're going to the nosebleeds and trying to understand the experience. And you understand there is a front of stadium experience that is different and better. Nobody minds front of the stadium, but not at the expense of the first class experience.

Jesse Cole (0:11)

They focus on that, right?

Simon Sinek (0:12)

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 unheard of.

Jesse Cole (0:19)

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 for tickets. It's their bucket. That's what. That's our wait list is that long. They get their chance if they go up there and they don't get to feel that interaction. You know, we say every night is someone's first show, every single night. And so if it's their first show there, how do we make sure it's special?

Simon Sinek (0:42)

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. But 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 ball player 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. You know, where everybody's looking for apps, everybody's looking for online content, everybody's trying to sell something to Netflix and Hulu and 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?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Why This Baseball Team Has a 4.2 Million Person Waitlist"

A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek featuring Jesse Cole, Founder of the Savannah Bananas
Release Date: April 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Simon Sinek sits down with Jesse Cole—the exuberant, yellow tuxedo-clad founder of the Savannah Bananas—to explore how an experimental, fan-obsessed approach turned a little-known baseball team into a sellout sensation with a waitlist of over 4.2 million eager fans. Together, they unpack how a philosophy of relentless experimentation, deep purpose, and care for fans (over investors) built not just a new genre of sports entertainment, but a movement based on joy, inclusion, and belonging.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Redesigning the Fan Experience (00:00 – 02:42)

Both share how typical sports events prioritize expensive experiences, leaving the “back of the stadium” and its fans overlooked.
Jesse’s philosophy: “Win the upper deck.” Make every fan, regardless of seat, feel special because every night is someone’s first show.

"Every night is someone's first show, every single night. And so if it's their first show there, how do we make sure it's special?”
— Jesse Cole (00:19)

2. Origins of Savannah Bananas and Jesse’s Philosophy (02:42 – 10:37)

Jesse, a lifelong baseball player, found watching traditional games boring. He wanted games to be fun, entertaining, and always evolving.
Influenced by Walt Disney and P.T. Barnum, Jesse aimed to blend spectacle and careful design into the team experience.
It took years of failing, experimenting, and focusing on entertainment before finding a lasting formula.

"The greatest creators, they create something that they would love.”
— Jesse Cole (03:11)

Jesse stresses the importance of continually improving, with post-game reports and the mantra: “Compete against yourself”.

3. Building a Business on Purpose (09:32 – 12:39)

They discuss the entrepreneurial trap of chasing growth for the sake of growth, and contrast it with Jesse’s passion-driven, fan-centric model.
Jesse and his wife risked everything for their vision, even selling their house and living on an airbed to launch the Bananas.

"Nothing matters more than making people feel like they matter." — Jesse Cole (14:15)

4. Moments that Matter & Fans First Stories (13:11 – 16:51, 50:00 – 57:00)

Jesse recalls the first Bananas show and a grieving family who attended after losing a loved one. A player goes above and beyond to comfort them—a defining “fans first” moment.
Simon likens Jesse to Walt Disney—both are obsessive about experience and joy for “the human being on the receiving end.”

5. The Players: Redemption, Joy, & Reinvention (15:31 – 20:48)

Bananas players are often those cut from pro ball, finding a new sense of purpose, fun, and family with the team.
The games are real competitions (unlike the Globetrotters), but surrounded by performance, trick plays, and celebrations.

"When you have fun, you play better.”
— Jesse Cole (16:49)

6. The Influence of Disney & Barnum (21:45 – 26:13)

Jesse models aspects of the Bananas on Disney’s “always plus the show” mindset and Barnum’s promotional genius.
Small details—from the “berm” at Disneyland to how rides are timed—inspire the Bananas’ meticulous choreography of the fan journey.

"Make your experience so remarkable that it does all the marketing for you.”
— Jesse Cole (22:13)

7. Fighting for Accessibility and Inclusion (37:00 – 47:00)

Jesse refuses to spike ticket prices, absorbs fees, and even gives away food at home games.
Merchandise and fan pride drive secondary revenue, NOT price gouging.
Jesse shares heartwarming stories of deliberate inclusion: roses for little girls in the upper deck, sing-offs in the nosebleeds, personal autograph lines that last until every last fan is met.

"Win the upper deck." — Jesse Cole (39:47)

8. Creating Lifelong, Generational Fans (47:10 – 49:54)

Bananas emphasize lifelong loyalty over short-term profit—drawing inspiration from brands like Disney and The Grateful Dead.
Even young children (“Banana babies”) grow to become lifelong fans.
Simon lauds this approach as a model for enduring, generational business.

9. Notable Emotional Stories & Personal Roots (50:00 – 57:00)

Jesse tells the story of a father who lost his wife and brought his seven kids to a game—the Bananas’ extra care turned tragedy into a memorable, healing night.

"The last gift my wife gave our kids. I could never imagine a better gift." — Fan Story, as shared by Jesse Cole (53:50)

Jesse’s own childhood: As an only child of divorced parents, shy and introverted, a formative experience meeting baseball Hall-of-Famer Lee Smith—and how that seeded his lifelong “fans first” approach.

10. Purpose, Fear, & Long-Term Vision (27:21 – 35:01, 63:34 – End)

Jesse’s biggest fear isn’t failure or losing money, but irrelevance—losing the emotional connection with fans.
They reflect on how timing, social isolation, and technology have made real, shared experiences (like the Bananas provide) more essential than ever.
Simon predicts that as artificial intelligence rises, real human connection—and what Jesse is building—become even more vital.

"You're creating togetherness, you're creating joy, you're creating feeling seen. And I love that.”
— Simon Sinek (35:01)

Jesse dreams of creating a Disney-like entertainment world, continually innovating, experimenting, and refusing to raise prices for profit’s sake.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On Relentless Improvement:
"We do 15 to 20 things every night that we've never done in front of a live crowd... The greatest competition is yourself." — Jesse Cole (09:03, 09:32)
On “Fans First”:
"Nothing matters more than making people feel like they matter." — Jesse Cole (14:15)
On Accessible Joy:
"40, 50, $60. No ticket fees, no convenient fees. We pay all your taxes… free on YouTube." — Jesse Cole (37:00, 46:25)
On Origins:
"I wanted to create fans of people that weren’t baseball fans.”
— Jesse Cole (08:28)
On Family Legacy:
"One of the first original banana babies now just went to our banana ball youth camp." — Jesse Cole (47:16)
On the Future:
"Focus on the next quarter century. What can we build?"
— Jesse Cole (26:13)
On Failure and Taking Swings:
"Swing hard in case you hit it.”
— Jesse Cole quoting his dad (54:26, 64:17)

Notable Timestamps

00:19 — "Win the upper deck."
03:11 — On creating what you’d love.
09:32 — "The greatest competition is yourself. This is the infinite game."
14:15 — Fan story from the first Bananas show.
16:49 — "When you have fun, you play better."
22:13 — "Make your experience so remarkable that it does all the marketing for you."
39:47 — "Win the upper deck" strategy explained.
46:19 — On refusing to raise ticket prices and finding alternative revenue.
53:50 — The story of the family who lost their mother.
54:26, 64:17 — "Swing hard in case you hit it."
62:12 — "Five year old you is in the nosebleeds." (Simon framing Jesse’s mission)

The Savannah Bananas' Ethos:

Fans First. Every decision is for the fans (not Wall Street, not sponsors).
Make Every Moment Special. Every night is someone’s first show; no detail too small.
Accessibility and Joy. No gouging, no hidden fees; inclusion over profit.
Relentless Experimentation. New acts, interactions, and experiences nightly.
Purpose Over Profit. Long game thinking: generational loyalty and belonging.

Summary Takeaway

Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas have created far more than a baseball team. They’ve woven together theater, athleticism, and radical hospitality into a business—and a community—built for human joy and connection at every level. Their success, argues Sinek, is proof that in a disconnected, distracted, and profit-obsessed world, betting on passion, inclusion, and the genuine human experience is not just good business—it’s essential.

If you’re seeking inspiration about reinventing experiences, leading with purpose, or breaking from industry convention—this episode is a goldmine of actionable optimism.