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David Arden
Foreign.
Jason Tardick
Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. I'm your host Jason Tardick. We haven't done an intro in a second, but what a better time to do it than right here right now. While David Arden is sitting to my right, we are in Nashville, Tennessee. We just had a boys weekend. It was one hell of a time. David, just give people a little tease for what they can expect this episode.
David Arden
And in the recap.
Jackson Olsen
Yeah, this episode, great, great learning about a new industry. Great getting inspired by, you know, an up and coming social media star and athlete who has a really unique story of, you know, how he got there from instacarting groceries to playing baseball not in the MLB in front of 100,000 people. Really, really amazing episode. And yeah, little teaser. Amazing weekend with the boys.
Jason Tardick
Amazing weekend with the boys. We do have a giveaway, so make sure you stay tuned for the winner that we announce in the recap. If you can give us five stars right now, we have things to give away. Just make sure you put your Instagram handle and or your username so we can announce it in the recaps. The one thing I'll tell you about this episode is whether you're into sports or not, there's something happening at a larger level with entertainment and the crowds that are navigating and being, I say, I would just say drawn to different forms of things that are occurring within these forms of entertainment. And you see that with Savannah Bananas and it's changing the game in ways that we can't ignore no matter what you do for work, where you live or what your interests are. So stay tuned this episode and especially the recap. One quick little thing I want to tell you about an article I read this morning. The number of homes for for sale is finally rising. Buyers aren't interested. After years of frustration with fast rising prices and bidding wars, buyers now have the upper hand. In many parts of the country, there are more sellers that are cutting prices or offering concessions such as paying for buyers closing costs. That is due to the fact that the US Housing market had nearly a half a million more sellers than buyers in April. That's the biggest gap on record in seasonally adjusted data going back to 2013. That's according to Wall Street Journal and Redfin. So that's just a little financial training secret for you. But David, before we get to this episode, you got any curveballs you want to throw our way?
Jackson Olsen
Curveballs? I don't know. I think just lock in and listen. I think, I think if you haven't, aren't familiar with Savannah Bananas. Go on there. Go on. Jackson Olson's TikTok really quick. See what they're all about. I thought it was going to be a fad. When I saw it. I thought it was going to be a fad. I thought it was going to go away. I didn't really pay any attention to it. I. I was really skeptical. But it's here and it's got my attention and I'm a little. I'm getting hooked. I think I'm getting hooked on how they're doing so well and how they're blowing up. It's. It's pretty incredible.
Jason Tardick
It is pretty incredible. They are taking over. I also thought a fad was you and I saying we're going to go dancing this weekend, but let me tell you, we were dancing our little asses off this weekend. We played games, we played sports. It was good to be with you. We recapped that at the end of this episode. But episode you. You like that? All right, but enough of us. Let's get into the main episode. Let's ringing the bell with the one, the only, the star of the Savannah Bananas, Jackson Olsen.
David Arden
Welcome back to another episode of Trading Secrets. Today we are joined by social media personality, content creator and star of the Savannah Bananas baseball team, Jackson Olsen. For those of you who have been living under a rock and do not know the Savannah Bananas, they are the semi pro baseball team fol focused around the fan experience with their brand of banana ball similar to the decades long format of the Harlem Globetrotters. Jackson, a former collegiate baseball player who had inspirations to go pro after school, gained recognition from his baseball related tick tock content generating over 2.5 million followers caught the eye of the MLB and the Savannah Bananas, eventually giving him roles in social media and on the team, becoming the star attraction. We're going to discuss Jackson's unique path to a baseball career, the fascinating success of Savannah Bananas and where he sees his professional career going from here. Jackson, thank you so much for being on Trading Secrets.
Unknown
Yeah, thanks for having me.
David Arden
Savannah Bananas, that is a tongue twister, I'll tell you that much. I want to get into this though. I read a little bit about your career track and you were potentially going to be drafted but then you declined the offer. I know the landscape has changed, but tell me a little bit about that decision.
Unknown
Yeah, so when I was a junior, after my junior year of college at Hartford, I knew that I had potential to go in the draft. I had talked to 10 or 11 teams that year and I was pretty excited about it. Draft came and went. Didn't get drafted. I had an amazing year. I hit like 320, made like only three errors the entire season. So I'm like, all right, we're doing this, this is going to happen. Might be rounds 20 to 30, 15 to 20, who knows? Didn't get drafted. Went and played in the prestigious Cape Cod League and played pretty well. There was. And three weeks in I got an offer from the Diamondbacks to sign with them. And immediately when the scout told me, I was like, yeah, like why would I not sign? Like that's an obvious. He's like, go back, talk to your coach from Hartford, talk to your parents, talk to them. And they were like, no, you can't. Don't do this. Because the reason for that was go back for your senior year and have a good year and then get actually drafted and make a little more money and have the team be a little more invested in you instead of just signing the contract after the draft where they could just tell you to leave two weeks later. And it was the best decision I ever made to decline that because now I'm living my second dream.
David Arden
You're living your second dream, but when you declined that, you didn't end up getting another offer from mlb from, from a player perspective, we know you work with the MLB now, but from a.
Unknown
Player perspective, yeah, so I didn't get another opportunity. The next year was the COVID year. So what a lot of people don't know is that the MLB draft used to be 40 rounds.
David Arden
Right.
Unknown
So and then like 10 years ago used to be like 55.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And Covid happened and the draft went from 40 rounds and, and 1500 players picked to five rounds and 150 players picked. So those were literally the 150 guys that were like either top SEC and ACC players, guys who hit.450 the year before. It was literally the cream of the crop. And I unfortunately was not in that. But I have faith in myself that I would have gotten drafted if it was a 40 round draft that next year. Okay, but you can't think about that.
David Arden
That's tough. When they change the draft. Literally the year you're up for the draft, we went over some of these numbers. I was blown away by the signing bonuses for people that don't know any about the industry of baseball that are listening to this. You know when this first pick who was, what is he, 17, 18, 19 year old, he gets 10.5 million, then the next guys get 9.7 then 9 million guaranteed. What's the likelihood that these people will have a long career in the mlb?
Unknown
Hopefully a long time. Hopefully it's a long time. But the track record of what's happened in prior drafts, a lot of the guys don't make it. You can literally fill a baseball stadium and obviously have a few seats open. With the amount of people that have ever played major league baseball ever. And I'm saying gotten one at bat in major league baseball, you can feel like it's maybe, I don't know the exact number, but 35,000 maybe.
David Arden
How many players are out there on a roster? I just don't know the game on.
Unknown
A major league baseball roster. September call ups, there's 40. I'm pretty sure there's like 25 to 30 on the regular roster, but when playoffs come, they add more guys, but got it.
David Arden
Okay. So it's a tough sport to make it in. And those are some big numbers for signing bonuses. When you were offered your deal, what does that offer? Well, how, how did that work?
Unknown
Pennies, literally. I had to almost pay them to go.
David Arden
Really?
Unknown
It was gonna be like $5,000. But that in that moment, that's where I wasn't thinking financially at all about that. I'm like, this is my dream. I could potentially get on this team, have a really good year in low a single A, and then make my way up. Yeah, I wasn't thinking about long term at all at that point. I was just like, I get to be a minor league baseball player.
David Arden
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Unknown
I wasn't thinking about any, any of that.
David Arden
Exactly. Okay, cool. And then for people that don't know about the industry, if you do go single A, if you go do go double A or do you know how those contracts work? Is it like your performance goes up so they just call you up and then you're paid the league minimum? Do you know anything about that?
Unknown
Yeah, it takes you a while. Unless you're literally Jackson Holiday, who is like phenom, like, unless you're in that category, you're going single A. You're taking probably two or three years there, double A for maybe a couple years. And then if you're lucky and you're in the right place, right time, shortstop goes down with a hammy injury, like, that's your time. Derek Jeter, literally that happened to him. Like he went in not just because he was like, oh yeah, I'm going to be the shortstop. Like moving parts had to happen. And he luckily found himself starting at short. Obviously eventually he was Going to start at shortstop. But of course, like, you never know. Like, an injury happens and then you go in. But from a financial standpoint, minor league baseball players don't make. They're making that signing bonus, and that's probably the most they'll make if they don't make it up. It's crazy.
David Arden
It's just so crazy to me how every sport is so different in success rate. And also when you could start, right, you got some NBA guys are 16, 17, 17, 18, boom, they're in the league. You got NFL guys. It's very like high school, college. Then you go golf, an anomaly. Hockey, an anomaly. Sounds like MLB is, too. Now, from a career standpoint, you're in school, you then get your mba. But I'm looking at your resume, man. You had a lot of jobs before things picked up big for you. I see that you were a marketing intern at the financial advisory firm, it looks like in 2019-2021. I also see that you, you know, you've had a ton of success now, but at one point, you were delivering groceries for Instacart. So tell me about some of your jobs before things took a wild turn for you. And, like, what could you earn in those career tracks?
Unknown
Yeah, so I was. When I was in college and even high school, I was so invested in schoolwork and getting good grades, and it came from my parents instilling that drive in me to be the best at that. So when I was in school, I mean, my senior year, I think I had, like, a. I think I graduated with, like, a 3. 9. Damn.
Jason Tardick
3.
Unknown
9. GPA. One scholar athlete of the year for my conference. Like, things that no one would ever know now because I'm just a goofball on social media and, like, play for the Savannah Bananas. But, like, I took. I put so much pressure on myself to do well in that. And so I had a lot of opportunities to do things outside of sports and to have jobs, like, at. Not law firms, but, like, financial advisory places. And I just wasn't. And I had an internship, and I just knew I could not sit at a desk. I couldn't put on a suit every day and go sit at a desk. I knew there was something else out there for me. So that's where Instacart comes in.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
Where I didn't want to get a job. I didn't want to, like, say, yeah, I'm going to work here for two years and sign a contract. So I delivered groceries just to, like, make enough money to move to California. And hopefully get an opportunity out there somewhere to do something I didn't even know. I had no idea. And I'm not saying to young kids out there that you should definitely sure, go to California with $5,000 to your entire name. Not the best decision, but obviously it did end up working out. But yeah, I was delivering groceries on a city bike in New York City. My brother lived there, so I would stay with him sometimes. And it was a crazy point in my life and I'm glad that it happened because it gave me that drive to do more. And whenever I'm doing cool stuff like this and being on this podcast or being at the All Star Game or selling out Major League baseball stadiums, like, I always go back to that Jackson where I'm like, I literally was doing that. And because of that and that drive, now I'm able to do this.
David Arden
It's wild how those dots all got connected.
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David Arden
Full details before we go to the big move and all the things you've done, my curiosity is killing me here. As an instacart grocery driver, like and doing instacart on a bike in New York City, what could you make in a day? Like could you make 100, 200 bucks? Like how much money do you make doing?
Unknown
Honestly, I was kind of grinding it and I kind of figured out how.
David Arden
To do it well, like what's that model?
Unknown
And so I would make, I mean $40 on like per trip would take me 45 minutes. So I was ending up making like $300 a day doing it. Which as a kid coming out of College. Like, that's. That's a lot.
David Arden
Yeah, totally.
Unknown
30 chipotle burritos. Yeah, I like math it a little bit, but yeah. And then.
David Arden
Then you stacked away 5K.
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David Arden
So.
Unknown
But the. The good thing about that and what I always talk about, like, from that journey, like, I was posting videos on TikTok about Instacart and about my journeys, getting millions and millions. My biggest video ever was Instacart video.
David Arden
No way.
Unknown
12 million views. And so I was making money on TikTok in the Creator fund. I was making more money on TikTok from those videos than I was actually making from doing Instacart.
Jason Tardick
That is insane.
David Arden
Okay, the TikTok Creator Fund talks me about that million views. I'm here in Rumble and you get about like a thousand to two thousand per million views. Is that about right?
Unknown
That's about right. Now they changed it where it's only one minute. Videos plus. Right.
David Arden
Okay, that. Okay, but that's. What a wild conundrum. You're making videos of yourself, trying to grind so you can go to L. A delivering groceries, but you're making four or five times that from the views of that content.
Unknown
And then the coolest part about it was this is like the ultimate full circle moment from that time. Six months later, I was in la, I was making. I was actually working with some companies now, and, like, traction was growing on social media. Instacart comes to me and they say, hey, we want you to do an ad.
David Arden
Incredible.
Unknown
Made more on that ad than I did my entire time working for Instacart.
David Arden
How much did you make working for Instacart for all those trips?
Unknown
For all those trips. I mean, total, probably $10,000. Okay, maybe that. Maybe that amount around there somewhere.
David Arden
Unbelievable. All right.
Jason Tardick
A lot.
David Arden
I feel like if I had to define your career summary, it is full circle. So another full circle moment is you're. You're doing all these videos, you're gaining traction, you're gaining popularity. And then of all people, the mlb, of course you're doing baseball content, but the MLB notices your videos at this point. How many followers do you have before the MLB reaches out?
Unknown
I was right after college. So probably 150,000 on TikTok and like 15,000 on Instagram at that point.
David Arden
With 15,000 followers on Instagram and 105 or 110,000 on TikTok, are you making good money off it or just a couple bucks here and a couple of.
Unknown
Bucks here and there? Wasn't doing any deals before MLB Wasn't working with any companies.
David Arden
So MLB reaches out. This is huge.
Jason Tardick
This is.
David Arden
This is astronomical to you that now it'll be calling you for something else.
Unknown
I'm instacarting at this time. I'm in Costco in my hometown, New Milford, Connecticut. I literally remember I was getting, like, either toilet paper or something. Like, I remember exactly where I was, got the message, and I was like, oh, my God. Like, I don't know what this is. They didn't even know what it was going to be. MLB was like, hey, we have this opportunity. Would you be interested? Like, yep, drop. I'll drop everything right now and do anything you want me to do.
David Arden
Okay. And so this was their inaugural class of social Media Content Creators, 2021. You're one of the first to do it. What the hell is the job Description of a 2021 Creator Class of MLB for the first time ever? What does it look like?
Unknown
Yeah, so they didn't know is like the first ever time any league did anything like this. So they had no idea. So they were basically just like, go make 12 videos over the course of four months. And at a baseball stadium. It could be about baseball. It could be anything. So I made like 75 videos.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
So they told me to make 12, and I made 75 because I was like, I know I'm not going to make a lot doing this. They weren't paying a lot. It was very little. But I'm like, all these little things that I was doing, I'm like, it's all gonna pay off somehow. Like, I didn't know how it was going to pay off, but I knew it was going to. And I made all those videos and kind of distinguished myself as the major League baseball creator. And I was trying to do that the whole time.
David Arden
We know you're doing really well with social media, and there's a lot of money behind that. You did 75 videos. Are you making less than $1,000 per video at this point?
Unknown
Oh, wait, way less. Yeah. Yeah.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
Way less. Like, astronomically less.
David Arden
Okay. And are you. When you work for MLB, are you working for them as like a W2 employee or you like a contractor of talent Contractor. Okay.
Unknown
That whole time.
David Arden
So you did talent of the MLB one way or another. Yeah, it happened.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
Then Savannah Bananas finds you. And so it was. Did they find you or did you find them?
Unknown
So they actually. So actually before that, there's also a little section before that where I ended with MLB doing the creator class.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And then game time, a company ticket Company reached out to me and they.
David Arden
Were like, a deal with game time.
Unknown
Really? Yeah, let's go.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And they basically saw that I had posted 75 videos. They. I was literally flooding the feeds of people. I was trying to flood the feed. And they sent me out a Major League baseball tour. And they basically said, hey, we want you to go to the California stadiums. However many stadiums there are in California. 5 or whatever. Rank them on a scale of, like, food venue experience. So I did that. And then they were like, let's do the another seven and another seven and the rest of them. And so it basically turned into like a thing where I'm ranking every single stadium now, making good money doing it. And I'm like, wow, all of that MLB creator class thing paid off here. Then the bananas comes into play. I'm at my 23rd stadium ranking, and I get a call from Jesse Cole, who's the owner. Before that, I had posted a video about the Bananas. I'm like, this is so cool. Like, I don't even remember the exact video I posted. I posted something about the bananas. Jesse Cole, the owner saw it and was like, let's do this.
David Arden
Did you post that video with the intention that hopefully Jesse Cole would see you?
Unknown
Yeah, 100. I saw the team. I saw them dancing. I'm like, they're making TikToks on a baseball field. I'm making TikToks. I played baseball. Perfect connection.
David Arden
What are we doing? Why am I not hired?
Unknown
Yeah. And that's why I was like, I gotta do this.
David Arden
Okay, let's go back to gametime app real quick. So they're hiring you seven videos at a time. A lot of social media influencers and creators have been on this podcast. They talk about the business and economics. If they're asking you to rank the venue and the food and all that, connect to me how a video like that is helping them drive downloads. Like, where are they getting their business value from?
Unknown
Yep. So in the middle of every single video, I gave a code.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
So it was basically an ad embedded. It almost felt like in a YouTube video where, like, you get that ad in the middle of the video.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
But you're still going to watch the entire video because you want to see what the ranking is.
David Arden
Sure.
Unknown
So I'd be like, use code Jackson Olsen. 15 for 15% off. And we drove a ton of sales on tickets. And I think it also just like, from a sports aspect, like, I was showing off a stadium. People are like, if they're not baseball fans, but they follow Me, because I love the Greatest Showman or Taylor Swift or whatever I was posting before or Instacart. They were like, oh, baseball, cool. Maybe I'll go to a game. Oh, he gave us a code. Let's maybe help Jackson out, too. I don't know.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
So it's kind of like getting into the mental part of, like, why people do what they do. And it did pretty well.
David Arden
Okay. At this point, we know the MLB wasn't giving you a thousand bucks a video. Were you making at least a thousand bucks a video for this?
Unknown
Finally? Was.
David Arden
Sounds like a lot more than. But then, yes, it feels like it might have had a little bit more than a thousand bucks.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
Yeah, it was. It was good. And that was almost two years ago now.
David Arden
Okay. So now money's cranking a little bit. You're starting to get the wheels spinning. You're in a much better position than you were when you started out with the dream. In $5,000. Before I go to the next stop, best food that you reviewed, what was the food and what ballpark was it?
Unknown
So you might not like this, but it was a pulled pork sandwich with Reese's peanut butter cups in it. Sounds bad. Sounds terrible. I told him, I'm not trying it. It's at Kansas City. And I was like, I'm not trying this. There's no way. And they were like, just take a bite. People don't think they're going to like it at first. I tried it, and I'm like, this peanut butter and pulled pork goes together like nothing else.
David Arden
I actually just had a PB&J sandwich with bacon in it.
Unknown
It's kind of like that.
David Arden
I was like, I didn't want to try it. And, like, just try it. It was actually pretty legit, so. All right, I'll give you some. I'll give you something there. I'll give that a try. If you guys haven't tried it out, go try it out if you're offered it.
Jason Tardick
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David Arden
Okay, so then you said you do the video. Jesse Cole sees the video and he reaches out to you. What does negotiations look like to get you on the team? What does a contract look like? What's the whole process? This is unconventional. It's a different business model than anything out there. Tell me about it.
Unknown
Yeah, so at first I was literally supposed to go and just film content for a weekend. Like, he was that. He was like, let's work together somehow. That was the first text he sent or message. And I'm like, work together? Does that mean he wants me to play? Or does that mean he wants me to just make contact? That's what I'm doing. I didn't even know if he knew that I played baseball at a D1 level and played in the Cape Cod League and had an offer to be drafted. He just knew that I was going on this MLB tour.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And so we talked on the phone. I was like, if you ever need a shortstop or anywhere in the. Anywhere in the infield, like third base, they already had a shortstop. They already had a second baseman. Ryan Cox, Dalton Malden. But I'm like, you need a third baseman, let me know. And two weeks go by. And he was like, yeah, we'll take you for two weeks in this summer series thing. They were trying out. And after that two weeks, I didn't know I could be cut, I could be released. And. But I'm here. I'm here for the full time now.
David Arden
So did you have to try out or was the two week, like, playing field? That was kind of technically your tryout?
Unknown
That was a tryout. Yeah, but there are tryouts every single year.
Jason Tardick
Okay.
Unknown
But luckily I found myself at the right place, right time. And yeah, pretty good coincidence, I would say.
David Arden
Okay. And so something like that. Are you negotiating, like a yearly thing? Is it, like, do you. Do they also include, like, how many posts you have to do? Like, how does the. The business economics of being a player in the Savannah Banana role look like comparing it to like being a pro baseball player.
Unknown
Yes, Obviously it's very new. Yeah, they don't really. I mean, there's no, no one to look at. There's no teams to look at. Like before this, other than the Globetrotters of like, how do we do, how do we form contracts for these guys? Like, we don't get paid for, like posting stuff. Obviously you want to because you want to build your own brand, but now we have year contracts. Who knows? Maybe in the future There will be five year contracts, 10 year contracts, like actually Major League Baseball.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
But right now it's year to year, which makes. Makes total sense to me because I'm like, you never know what these guys are going to want to do or if they're going to leave or if they're going to want to stay or. It's just very new. But yeah, there's yearly.
David Arden
So when does your annual contract come up?
Unknown
It's January to January.
David Arden
January, January. So you're becoming, though, like you're the, the star of the crowd. Your social media is blowing up. You're, you're, it's all about the fans and you're very engaged with the fans. When you go into that next negotiation, are you like, what a wild circumstance you're going into a sports negotiation with your social media analytics comments from moms and dads and children across the country.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
And then also like the, just your overall performance as a baseball player. Like, do you put that all on the table? I know your manager's here. Like, how do you negotiate why your value should go up in a situation like this?
Unknown
You want to take over? No, no.
David Arden
So he's like, it makes my job hard.
Unknown
No, I'll talk. Yeah. So basically it's, I mean, when I look at the bananas, I look at how are you affecting the game on the field? Social media is. You get your own brand deals. I'm working with Capital One right now at All Star Game. Like, that's totally my thing outside of bananas.
David Arden
So common sponsorship between us. I did my book tour. Capital One, let's go.
Unknown
That's awesome. So that stuff I don't really look at, like, oh, I have this many followers, so this should happen. I should get this much. I look at it as like, I'm playing really well right now on the field. I'm doing crazy trick plays, throwing between my legs. I'm engaging with fans during the game, after the game, creating new fans. And that's kind of how I look at it too. Like, if you create a lot of new fans, you should be rewarded for that. Like, that's kind of how I'm seeing that. So obviously, negotiations, I'll bring all that up. But the most important part to me is people come to these games and they think they're just going to see a mockery of baseball. No, they're coming to these games to see good, really good competitive baseball with crazy tricks with home runs, with guys getting hits. And so that's what I want to bring in. That's what I bring into the table. Like, hey, I know I'm the social media guy and I'm bringing in fans, but I'm a baller, dude. Like, respect me for being a good baseball player, too. And they really do respect me. So it's pretty cool to have that.
David Arden
Okay, another question that kind of connects the two between pro and what you're doing and exactly what you just said, being a ballerina, having a lot of hits, having home runs, doing trick plays. Are there any incentives in the contract? Like, is there anything close if you get a certain amount of home runs or you do anything, I don't know, for the organization that you are incentivized to do it, or is it more just like, here's your fee for the year, go get it.
Unknown
Here's your fee for the year, go get it. I think in the future they might add that in, but they're still navigating it. They don't really know. Like, no, like I said, there's no. No prior things to look at to understand, like, how are we supposed to do this right now? People are going to look at the bananas. In 100 years, if there's a football team that comes out that's like trying their own thing or a soccer team, like, they're going to look at the bananas like, what did they do? And so in the future, maybe, but right now, now, if you're running a.
Jason Tardick
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David Arden
Okay, you guys have sold. At least from what I read, you've sold out every game since 2016. Your daughter deemed the greatest show in sports. That's by espn. And we saw that you sold out the Washington National Stadium 42,000. For someone that hasn't seen it, explain to people what exactly it is. And then the follow up question to that is the why, how and why is something like this selling out at.
Jason Tardick
The way it is?
David Arden
But first for people haven't seen it. Tell us a little bit about what they can expect.
Unknown
Yeah, so the main thing about the bananas is that we break down the barrier between fan and player. So banana ball is baseball with nine rules. So from a two hour time limit to batters can't step out of the box or it's a strike, no mound visits. So if you're a pitcher and you just gave up six runs, like your coach isn't coming out to talk to you like, hey man, it's okay. Like you're good. No, like, figure it out. Get the out. There's a showdown, tiebreaker if it's tied at the end of the game. So it's batter versus pitcher and he has to score and the pitcher has to go. If they hit it, he has to go around and get the ball and tag him out before he hits home. It's like it's, it reminds me of WWE a little bit with like crazy antics like that. There's a bunch of other rules give a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out. Okay, so the other game out we're in Buffalo. I had three at bats that game. Two of the at bats I fouled out to a fan.
David Arden
Oh, love that.
Unknown
Kind of like, you got to be kidding me. Like, and I got mad the first time, but the second time I was like, you know what? Like this is banana ball. So you can expect a lot of stuff like that. Bring your gloves obviously.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
If you want to catch foul ball.
David Arden
Exactly.
Unknown
But the main part and your second question, like, why, why does this work? It's we break down that barrier. When you go to a Major league baseball game, you're lucky if you get one autograph Honestly, probably zero. You're probably not getting players to come up to you. We are. From the moment that those gates open until the gates close and everybody goes home, we're interacting with every single fan. Every single fan for whether it's Vib. Very important bananas. We have a bunch of fans come in early, we sign autographs for them, play catch with kids, we deliver roses to little girls in the crowd. Is how baseball should be. It's how sports should be. You're not anything without your fans.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And a lot of these professional athletes don't understand that. And they're getting paid a lot of money. So I do get it. Maybe if I was in that position making $10 million.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
To play a sport, maybe I would probably have that. I can't say that I wouldn't.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
But being on this team really makes you realize that like the fans come first in everything or else you're nothing.
David Arden
Do you think there's something bigger that's happening here? Like we're seeing MLB certainly not struggle, but audience is definitely down. They're trying to get the newer generation, the Gen Alphas and the Gen Z's. More eng now have the pitch clock. As a result of that, you're also seeing the Miami Marlins who are getting on average like 3,000 people to attend a game, which is the worst attendance in the entire league. I think about what you guys are doing is putting up 42,000 people. I mean, when you look at trajectory, do you think there might even be a bigger play? Like possibly outperforming an actual pro sports team and pro sports league?
Unknown
Yeah, I don't know. I mean that's interesting to think about that. And I mean we've seen the numbers of whether it's Athletics, Oakland Athletics and all these teams.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
I'm not saying that they should go to banana ball rules, but I mean the pitch clock helps. Obviously, like from our stand, like we have a two hour time limit, so we have this thing called the world's fastest inning. So literally when the last out is made, the entire team runs on the field. The batter's already ready in the box. And like people need speed. They need speed. And so I think regular baseball right now is seeing that it is a little bit slow and kids might not want to stay at the ballpark until 10pm when it starts at 7, they get there at 5, they leave at 4. That's six hours. Like they got to go to bed, they have to go to school. Our games end at nine and then they can get some autographs and go home but they know it's going to be a two hour game. So like I said, I'm not saying MLB should take all the banana ball rules like that, but there are some things that they can definitely take from you.
Jason Tardick
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David Arden
I just think about demographics. Like we saw what happened with the super bowl and Taylor Swift being involved. Right. Obviously different demographics of people will watch the game if you have tick tock trends and other things going on in faster pace. So it'll be interesting to see what it's all about. Do you and the other guys that are playing for the team, do you ever talk openly about what you're making and like do you have an idea of what other people on the team are making?
Unknown
A little bit. Yeah. But we, we try to stay away from that just because I mean also with like social media and brand deals like that, we actually, we actually talk about that a little bit more.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
But with the actual bananas, not really. You don't go there. It's that like awkward thing of like yeah bro, how much are you making?
David Arden
It's a tough thing. I mean that's what we talk about in the podcast all the time. It's interesting. Can do you have any exclusivities because you're with Savannah, like, do they do there any blocks on types of deals you can do on social media because you're part of the team? No.
Unknown
Which is really cool. Yeah. We have a lot of freedom to do anything. Like coming working with Capital One. I didn't even have to tell them that I was doing that because I know that that's fine. I mean, I'm trying to think of, like, there's really nothing. I mean, we on the field, we wear Evo shield uniforms, of course. So I can't just go out there and, like, wear a Nike uniform uniform. But that's literally it.
David Arden
There's interesting.
Unknown
They're really cool with that kind of stuff.
David Arden
Yeah. Because we get a lot of people that come from network shows, reality shows, and. And if those networks have certain partnerships with alcohol brands or commercials, they can't touch those. So to think you have like an open forum to do whatever you want is pretty big. One of the things you got, we saw here is a big partnership with Reebok. And we know that you're joining a roster that includes icons. Right. Like Shaquille o' Neal, Allen Iverson. First of all, congratulations on that Reebok deal. Where did it come from? How'd they find you?
Unknown
Yeah, so I think it's just my, like I said, trajectory of where I started to where I am now and just getting my name out there and flooding the feeds. I love saying that, like, flooding the feeds of people. Like, that's how you get your name out there. You gotta post a lot. And so I think it just came from posting every single day and being a part of the bananas and trying to grow my image while also staying true to myself. And their big thing is to not be afraid to be yourself. And in my bio, I've had it since I was 20 years old, says don't be afraid to be you. In TikTok and Instagram, I haven't changed it once, and they were really drawn to that. About how I'm not afraid to be myself and how I'm trying to inspire a future generation of athletes to not care about stats and not care about personal accomplishments. But what's the team like? What is like, do you want to win championships? You want to win, you want to be a good teammate, you want to lift people up? And I think that's what they are drawn to, and that's just from my content.
David Arden
Unbelievable. We've heard Capital One, we've heard mlb, we've heard Game Time Map, we've heard Reebok what is like the marquee partnership? Like the best deal you ever got in social media.
Unknown
Reebok's really cool, but Gatorade, Gatorade. Gatorade's pretty legit.
David Arden
Your manager's like, dude, you better say it. I was like, yeah, Gatorade, come on now.
Unknown
We did one last year with them. It was just a couple videos.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
But this year, it's a full blown year partnership. Like Gatorade athlete. So that's like the coolest.
David Arden
I mean, Gatorade athlete now.
Unknown
Yeah. It's weird though, because it's like I'm still an influencer, so it's like I'm doing both. I'm a Gatorade partner, Gatorade creator, Gatorade athlete. Like, it's kind of all of the above, which is a very new space. But I'm actually, it's cool to be like not a pioneer, but like kind of a pioneer of that. Like, all right, these athletes are becoming influencers.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
And I want to show people in the future, maybe 20 years, like, hey, this is what I did and this is the space it's in now. And now there's a million influencer athletes out there. Every Major League Baseball player has a million followers on Tick Tock. They're doing brand deals on the side. Like, that's not a thing right now. But no, it's going to be.
David Arden
Yeah, it's not at all. It's really interesting actually how a ton of athletes are. Haven't figured out the creator space yet. And they're creators that are creating more impressions than athletes that are playing 24 7. But creators come at a much cheaper price. Right. If you want a big time athlete, you're looking at seven figures, but you might be able to get more impressions, more analytics, more, More eyeballs with someone that isn't an athlete that can generate that. And they have a huge platform with like, I don't know if you could share this, but with a, with a deal, like a year deal with Gatorade, this is a six figure plus deal, right?
Unknown
Yes.
David Arden
I mean, that's, that's incredible coming from running the streets of Instacart, literally. To do a six figure deals with Gatorade and some of the other brands that you've worked with. That's really impressive. The big question is, you have so many moving parts here. How do you kind of take this, this piece of art, if you will, and make it directional for what's next? You go into like MLB commentating, do you go into tv? You Know, like what, what is next for you with this career track that has been wild in all different directions?
Unknown
Yeah, that's the thing. Like, I want to play for the bananas as long as possible.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
And I'm always doing where I'm always like, wherever my energy is taking me, that's where I'm going. And that's what Jesse Cole always tells me and tells the whole team. Like, follow your energy, follow your energy. Because if you follow your dream, you might not know exactly what your dream is. Like, I don't have a dream right now other than inspiring kids and playing baseball and making fun videos. Like, that's my dream right now. And obviously making money while doing it. That's the cool part too. But maybe five years, six years, I like hosting. Maybe whether I was a host for a game show or something, that excites me right now. And I know that I wouldn't be able to do it in the next three or four years, but maybe after that. I love food, so maybe doing like a Anthony Bourdain style food show. Yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of things that excite me right now. But no dreams yet. No big dreams. Like, I want to. I want to be this in five years.
Jason Tardick
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David Arden
Plus, have you been approached to be on any unscripted television shows?
Unknown
I've been approached about some, like, reality dating shows.
David Arden
Your manager's shaking his head. Which, which reality shows?
Unknown
They don't, like, say it. In the mess in the deal, they say, like, they say a big. I don't even know how they explain it, but they say, like a reality dating show on a major network or whatever. And then like, Love Island. The producers from there have, like, asked me, but really. And it's because I post a lot of single content. Yeah, yeah, yeah. About, like, how I'm single and looking for love and all this stuff. Those videos always do very well.
David Arden
Yeah. Would you ever do a show like that?
Jason Tardick
Yeah.
Unknown
I'm not gonna say no because I'll never say no.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
To anything. But I just can't see myself, like, having to play that part because I'm so open and just like, I, like. I don't know. I wouldn't be able to. I know they're all. I know a lot of them are faking it a little bit. You have to, like, the camera's on you. You can't just be, like, totally yourself. Yeah, but I would just be totally myself and probably say something terrible or. I don't know. I wouldn't be able to do it. I just wouldn't be able to do it.
David Arden
I'm wondering with, like, an audience that you have, which is. Is, you know, the people that follow you. What are the ages? I feel like it's like it's younger.
Jason Tardick
Right?
Unknown
It started younger and now because those, like, a lot of the younger kids, like, they can't drive themselves to a Bananas game.
David Arden
Sure.
Unknown
Their parents. So now, Now I have all the parents. And like, sometimes even today there are four or five parents with kids. The kids didn't know who I was, but the parents were like, hey, you need to take a picture with him. He's in the Savannah Bananas Jackson Olsen. Then they were like, oh, but it's like, the parents recognize me now.
David Arden
Got it.
Unknown
So it's kind of both and then. Yeah.
David Arden
I also wonder if there's a business, would there be an issue if you go on a reality show and you are yourself and something happens, does that impact brands working with you? Like, I don't know, some of the big brands because your audience is like younger. I wonder if there's a high risk factor there of you going on a dating show for your actual brand. That's driving a lot of the revenue.
Unknown
Yeah, I stay really, I stay really safe with my content. Like, obviously it's goofy and I'll make like fun videos with my teammates and music videos or whatever.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
But I stay on that line of like, I'm not gonna cross that line of being like too, too goofy and like maybe like, like embarrassing goofy. Like that.
David Arden
Yep.
Unknown
So I kind of stay on that line and I'm, I'm. I would probably be a little bit worried. I would, I would be fine. I would do fine. But I'd be a little bit worried of like if there's that one sound clip that gets out of me saying something. Not bad. Not swearing.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
Like, like something like that. Like that 12 year old kid who looks up to me because I'm a baseball player.
David Arden
Yep.
Unknown
Maybe not anymore.
David Arden
All right, well, we do have also this following of this podcast, 80 Women. So they did submit some questions. More on the personal side. Are you dating right now?
Unknown
No.
David Arden
You're not dating right now?
Unknown
I do not have a girlfriend.
David Arden
Okay. Is there. I do not have a girlfriend. All right, give your your new fame. In the last few years has have you ever gone on a date or received a DM from like someone you're just like, I can't believe this person's reaching out to me.
Unknown
Not really. No. I don't know, like, maybe I have to go back and look more. I don't look at my DMs.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
A ton.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
There hasn't really been one and I haven't gone on a date with anyone. Yeah. After my last. So me and my ex girlfriend were both influencers and both in that space.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
Not there were problems with that, but it was just a lot of like overlap between the things. So now I'm like, maybe I want to date a girl that. That doesn't even have social media.
David Arden
Interesting. All right. So that, that's possibly on your radar.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
All right, good stuff. Well, I think we covered almost all that A to Z. It's wild how far you've come from, you know, turning down that deal with Arizona Diamondbacks to now being hired by the mlb and then at the Home Run Derby, something like that. What are you doing at the Home Run Derby?
Jason Tardick
For work.
Unknown
So working with Capital One, showing off. I worked with Capital One of the World Series and a couple times before. Really cool. Long term type. My partner. Not like a year deer like Gatorade or Reebok, but it's really cool to work with them. Yeah, showing off. There's a big Capital One village at the old chocolate baseball stadium, which is really cool by the way. It's like a retro baseball stadium. So just showing off everything you can do as Capital One cardholder.
Jason Tardick
Cool.
Unknown
Yeah, that's awesome.
David Arden
And for anyone out there that's trying to build their TikTok, trying to get in the creating game, any tips, tricks, strategies you use that maybe they can deploy?
Unknown
Yeah, just be yourself and be fans first. And everything you're doing, think about that 12 year old that's watching you and emulating everything that you're doing. And you might not think it right now, but when you get to a point where you posted a thousand videos, that's all I'm thinking about now of. If I post this video, that kid that's watched all a thousand of my videos, like, will this change his mind about me?
Jason Tardick
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David Arden
I love it. Okay, couple money questions and then we're gonna wrap with the Trading secret. Money questions. Do you have a Dream for how much you want to make one year. Like one year. I know I'm gonna make this amount of money. No.
Unknown
And the reason for that is again, our owner, a guy I look up, look up to a lot billion fans before a billion dollars.
David Arden
I like it. I like it. And I know his strategy was like they were in serious debt before they. And they almost had to pull the plug and now look where they are today.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
Here's another. My question. What is one thing that you overspend on? You know, you overspend on it, but unless you go completely broke, you're not going to stop overspending on it.
Unknown
Food and specifically kava.
David Arden
Is that why you're laughing?
Unknown
Double chicken.
Jason Tardick
I get no money other than spend Chipotle and Cabo.
Unknown
I don't spend any money.
Jason Tardick
Ever Spend any money.
David Arden
So you're a big saver then.
Unknown
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Tardick
You gotta get your business manager on the show.
David Arden
Yeah. What's your trick then? Because most people in this, this economy are struggling with spending money.
Jason Tardick
What do you do?
David Arden
You're just very aware of everything.
Jason Tardick
You're.
Unknown
Yeah. And I think we're just like, we're traveling so much for the bananas and we're like, there's no opportunity where I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna buy a house now. Like there's. I live in Savannah, Georgia. It's pretty cheap to live there.
David Arden
Yeah, yeah.
Unknown
It's nice being able to live and know that like I'm not having to worry about that. But also not spending a bunch. But kava, I'm getting double chicken, getting avocado, getting. It ends up being like 25 a time every day.
David Arden
I've gotten a lot of answers to that question. Chipotle Cava have never.
Unknown
Yeah, usually it's jewelry or like shoes.
David Arden
The last girl had it was a twenty thousand dollar Hermes bag that she got invited to buy. A little different than Chipotle.
Unknown
I would say shoes, but I now I get my shoes for free from Reeboks.
David Arden
Okay, there you go. So now you a couple bucks there. All right. Do you have any type of investment strategies, tips or tactics, Any type of money, anything you do that's different that maybe back people back at home could apply to their lives?
Unknown
Yeah. So like I said, obviously crazy busy with baseball. So I do have a business manager who handles a lot of that for me and he'll run stuff by me. But right now in my life, I know for a fact that I have to focus on the fun and focus on that. And obviously I'm 26. So obviously I should start thinking about that, but right now, it's working for me. And money is obviously going to be a big part of my life eventually, but it's pretty cool. Right now. This. It's more about having fun and inspiring kids and just, like, doing what I'm doing because I. I trust it. And I know where I was delivering groceries for Instacart, and I was having just as much fun as I am.
David Arden
Right now doing that Interesting Chase the fun. The last one I got for you. This one might be tough for you. You win $100,000 today, you got to spend all of it in 24 hours. Where's you spending it?
Unknown
Paying off my mom and dad's mortgage, probably.
David Arden
Oh, I like it. Yeah, I like it. Wow. He likes fun. Doesn't spend much.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
Loves the people he loves. Tell you what, ladies, there's a catch for you right there. Go dm Jackson Olson. You know, he's not looking for a celebrity or anybody with a blue check.
Unknown
Well.
David Arden
Well, possibly.
Unknown
Possibly he might be.
David Arden
All right, we'll see. Never say never. That's probably Jackson Olson's mantra in one second sentence. But we got to wrap up with a trading secret. Something people couldn't learn from a Professor Tick Tock tutorial or anything on YouTube only from your experience. So it's one trading secret. Jackson, what could you leave us with?
Unknown
Oh, man. Keep people invested in your content. It's really hard to do that, and it was hard for me at first. Make sure that first five seconds in that last five seconds is gonna make them watch it again. And that's literally the key. That's the only reason I'm a Savannah Banana, only reason I worked with mlb, only reason I'm here right now is because I was able to keep people invested for just enough time in my life.
David Arden
Okay. And then I want to follow up with that. Trink Secrets. It's a really good one. By keeping them invested, is it vulnerability being the root of connection? Is it leaving on cliffhangers? Is it just keep them fully entertained? Like, what exactly do you do to keep them invested?
Unknown
You tell them exactly what the video is about in that first five seconds. So whether it's. I could. I could easily show a clip of me catching a ground ball and throwing it between my legs and getting the out. But instead of that, I'll say, I'll like. It'll be a picture of me, and I'll say, you'll never do that in a game. So it'll say that wording up top. And people are like, oh, do what in a game? And then it'll pan to the video of me throwing it between my legs. Because everybody can see, everybody can watch a highlight and be like, oh, that's cool. But when you put some personality behind it and like put some people that chirp you and a little chip on your shoulder type thing.
David Arden
Yeah.
Unknown
So that's how you change the video from 10,000 views to a hundred thousand.
David Arden
I like it. It's all about framing.
Unknown
Yeah.
David Arden
It's like framing the story to keep people entertained. And I think no matter what people do in their life, whether they're a content creator or they're just a salesperson at home or whatever you're doing, you got to keep people entertained. You got to tell that story. You're clearly doing that. We're excited for what's to come. Where can people find everything you have going on on social media?
Unknown
Jackson Olsen underscore on everything. And I also just became a YouTuber, kind of. I'm just posting shorts.
David Arden
Okay.
Unknown
But, but yeah. So on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, a.
David Arden
YouTuber, a former Instacart driver, a Savannah banana. I can't say that is a tongue twister. A content creator. A to Z, you're doing it all. You're doing it well. It'll be exciting to watch your journey. Thanks for coming on Trading Secrets.
Unknown
Yeah, thank you.
Jason Tardick
Ding, ding, ding. We are closing the bell to the Jackson Olson episode with the Savannah Bananas. I'll tell you what, it doesn't matter if you're a baseball fan or not. You cannot ignore what is going on with the business case of athletes having fun, singing, dancing, literally playing baseball out of Savannah, Georgia and now going on a tour across 25 states in 40 cities selling out stadiums. With 80,000 plus fans taking over social media, you just can't ignore what's going on. I got the one, the only the curious Canadian with me. I'm going to kick it to you in a second. Before I do, I got stuff to give away. We are now in Nashville, Tennessee. I've just moved into my new place, so go give us five stars. Leave us a review and I will name a winner from the influencer closet. I'll be sending you something. So just go give us five stars and that is coming. But David, we are here in Nashville, Tennessee. How you feeling? What'd you think of the episode?
Jackson Olsen
Great to be here in Nashville. Quick shout out to a Velo Airlines for flying us down here for a little boys reunion weekend. Needed it. It was amazing. We are coming at you on Sunday. Energy is a little low from all the activities and festivities this weekend, but it got a nice little pick me up with this Jackson Olson episode. And Jay, we can go a bunch of different ways with this because you just said it in your little intro to the recap here. I mean, I think the thing that blows me away the most is it's, it's actually an argument that you could argue that the Savannah Bananas and what they're doing has a business better business model than Major League Baseball, which is.
Jason Tardick
A crazy, crazy conversation. But if you look at what's happening in baseball now, how they have the shot clock, how they're trying to get the game go faster because they're not picking up the volume that they used to the entertainment. They're not picking up Gen Z the way they used to. And now it's a different form of entertainment, but it's still like watching the game. Have you been to a game? Have you seen this?
Jackson Olsen
I haven't been to a game. I've just seen it it through social media like a lot of people. And I will tell you this, Jason, every single person that I know that has been to a game thinks it's incredible. And I think a lot of those people went into the game maybe as a hater or even skeptical or didn't think that the bang would be worth the buck. And it is. And they are selling out. I know that you talked in this episode about the Washington National Stadium. 42, 000 people, Jay. They're now selling out college football stadiums. They're selling out the big house in Michigan. 100,000 plus people. They're selling out NFL stadiums, converting them into baseball diamonds. I mean you couldn't have the MLB All Star Game if they tried to sell to the big house in Michigan. Couldn't even do it. That's the best players on the planet in the sport that they're doing. It's just crazy.
Jason Tardick
I try to understand, like for everyone that's listening to this, you know, maybe you have kids, maybe you're interested in going. I'm trying to understand. I haven't gone. Why is it taking off the way it is? Social media popularity, 6 million plus tick tock followers feels like they're trending every day. They have media deals with espn, Disney plus True tv, the CW Stadium, Bailey. I mean, you know, again, they're on tour right now. Why? What is the whys? We sit here and try and like figure out for ourselves as we're Listening to this, like, what's next and why? What is the why here? What do you think?
Jackson Olsen
I think it's exactly what he said a million times. Fans comes first. Fans come first. They are putting the fan experience, number one. They are making it fun for the fan. They're engaging them in the game. If a fan goes and catches a foul ball, it's an out. Like that in itself is the coolest thing ever.
Jason Tardick
I didn't know that.
Jackson Olsen
Yeah, they're making it family friendly. I mean, all those elements are just incredible. And you hear like, you know, the energy of this, of the guy who founded the Savannah Bananas. He always talks. And he said a billion fans before a billion dollars. Like, like, will it change? Do all good things come to an end? Why are they able to do it? They're listening to the fans. And Major League Baseball, I'll just say, is a sport where it is a little bit of like old school. Like it's a little like unwritten rules. Like you don't dare hit a home run and throw your bat flip or else, like you're disrespecting the game. Like you dare you hit a home run, don't run by, don't run around the face bases too slow. Also don't run around too fast. You might insult the pitcher and be disrespectful. And that is at the end of the day, a little boring. And you know, you hit, you go from the New York Yankees who just changed their no facial hair, no long hair policy for the first time ever, you know, and you said the pitch clock. Is this a way to just like kind of throw those unwritten rules out the window? Because you're getting, you know, you have competition now.
Jason Tardick
Yeah, I mean if you think about this, actually at all levels of sports and entertainment, we're seeing a massive shift and that the traditional ways of like you just talked about like the cookie cutter approach to sports and what should be accepted and all these things, they're changing at such a fast rate. Just this past week, literally just this past week, we saw Caitlin Clark, who we know is the best basketball player, women basketball player in the world, gets in a fight in a scrum in one of the WNBA games and her, her teammate backs her up and essentially throws the girl to the ground and it's an all out brawl. And she gained 7,800,000 followers in 24 hours. That's unconventional. That like fights and throwdowns in basketball are what's like creating these trending topics. Are we starting to see something in like all of sports and all entertainment where there, there is no blueprint for what we consider entertainment and what we consider acceptable. That's another thing too. Like the interesting thing I found about that clip when she tossed the teammate is I feel like 10 years ago, maybe 20 years ago should have been like scrutinized and had that issue an apology. Now she's like the star, the queen, like the person. There's a whole and you're a coach, like you're seeing these kids and how things are changing. What's the overall theme here? I think there's something else happening.
Jackson Olsen
The overall theme and you see it in college sports is like maybe it's that you're starting to give the athlete more power and more influence and the fan now. The fan now as well. And I'm wondering taking it back to like Savannah Bananas, like I'm wondering Jackson olson, he's got 1.9 million on tick tock. He's got 800 over 800, 000 followers on Instagram. He talked very openly about all the brand deals that he's able to do outside of his contract and that the sport that he plays in the way this event had been plays is actually helping him grow that following and create more money outside you're in the, you know, talent agency game. There's probably a good. He's probably beating out net income at the end of the year a lot of MLB players because of this brand deals that he's getting and we, we didn't find out how much he was making through Savannah Bananas. But my question is that is what happens when the MLB starts losing players to go play a more fan friendly, fun, shorter season, less demanding version of as he mentioned in the episode high quality Baseball. The only thing I can compare it to is maybe the live tour how they try to change things, make it a little more fan friendly. Music playing during the events. Three days, 54 holes, shotgun starts. So everyone's playing golf at the same time. So I, I just think it's a more. It's giving more influence to the fan and more influence to the player. But at the end of the day business is business.
Jason Tardick
The current minimum MLB salary in 2525 season is $760,000. So I don't think that these players are making quite that yet or even close to that. Agree just yet. Maybe that could change down the road.
Jackson Olsen
But how much do you think he's making in social?
Jason Tardick
Oh, I mean especially given the fact they're selling out stadiums. If these brands can do deals that are structured around the games. Like they're going to get some kind of exposure to that through him. He should be making, you know, 500 million plus.
Jackson Olsen
Yeah.
Jason Tardick
I mean, all day.
Jackson Olsen
And he's. And he's with the big brands. He's with Reebok, he's with Gatorade. Like, like those are some massive brands that he's with. So he's doing it.
Jason Tardick
I am surprised. He's a lot like, I'm surprised there's not, you know, I don't know. Did you see on Pat McAfee show the other day, George Kittle was up there talking about tight ends University Tu and he had a green screen and behind him on the green screen, he had every single brand that sponsors tight end University here in Nashville, Tennessee. And Pat McAfee was like, I don't think we got that approved. And then they cut to a commercial break and George Kittle was still on the screen, but his backs were gone. There's a lot of, you know, if, if one company is sponsoring one brand, then to have someone under that entity be sponsored by a competing brand, that creates a lot of issues. And I'm surprised there's not more of that here. But I mean, he was very clear that he could do his own thing. So, you know, and so it's really cool to see someone who dreamed to be in the MLB still have the opportunity to do it and do it in something that like, is more meaningful to him and more impactful to him. Any other big takeaways from this episode?
Jackson Olsen
Yeah, I mean, we could go dollars and cents about like just how poorly played, like minor pro teams and leagues are. But I think one thing I gotta say before we kind of re wrap it up is he's pretty inspirational too. Like, I loved how he talked about the. When he was an ambassador for MLB and he had to do 12 videos throughout the year and he ended up doing 75. And he was just like, he didn't get asked to do it, he did it. And that led to the game time thing and the game time thing led to the Savannah bananas thing. And he was like, that was my payoff. Like, I. No one asked me to. I wasn't getting compensated for it, but like, I just did it. And because I did it, that catapulted him to eventually where he is now, which is a place he never ever thought he'd be. You know, I just love the full circle story of him instacarting and then doing a deal with Instacart, like six months later. When he moves to la. Like he's pretty inspirational for that. Like Hustler that's listening to this episode that maybe has no idea what Savannah Bananas are if, if that's possible by now or really the details of baseball and sports. So those are my takeaways. He's pretty inspirational guy.
Jason Tardick
I really like this episode. David, before we wrap up, we also have to make sure that we are giving shout out and sending away to our reviewers. Amy Roberts from Syracuse gave us a five star rating saying documentary elementary batteries. I've heard people say bat trees. No, it's batteries. So Amy Roberts, you have won something from the influencer closet. So just shoot us an email Trading secrets@jason tyre.com we'll get something over to you. Conversely though, we have another review. This is not our winner for this.
David Arden
Week but Sarah, give us a review.
Jason Tardick
Again and maybe next week you will be a winner. David, I don't know if it was my review you were talking about, but I was saying that Jason does not know how to say the word documentary. David, you are using it correctly. Jason is not. That comes from Sarah Vessa 1:9. I will say, David, there are a lot of reviews talking about this.
David Arden
This.
Jason Tardick
It's elementary. Signed a Northern Mainer. There's a lot of conversations about this and these type of conversations make me want to bring our listeners onto the show. So I think we might have to get back to taking some callers in, bringing some of the money mafia back, getting this community in, getting ready to go and I'm excited about that. Before we wrap little Life update, we're here in Nashville. Let's do a little recap of the weekend.
Jackson Olsen
Oh, man, weekend was amazing. It felt like we were teenagers again, man. Like it was all surrounded around quality time around competition, around sports, around being active. It was amazing. I mean, we just don't.
Jason Tardick
Deep dinner talks.
Jackson Olsen
Deep dinner talks. Like you just don't get this. Quality time with friends with everything that's going on, you know, lucky to have supportive partners that allow us to be here and do these things and, you know, that's what it's all about. But yeah. Unbelievable spot you have here. The weather was perfect. I mean it was smoking hot. But it was, it was an unbelievable weekend.
Jason Tardick
Yeah. I think one of the cool things like about our friendship is that we can really tell one another how we're.
David Arden
Feeling about one another.
Jackson Olsen
100 right.
Jason Tardick
Like we can get in the weeds. Like, like you, you had deep conversations about me.
David Arden
Like, you know, you say you want.
Jason Tardick
To be married and you Want to have kids? Like, let's talk about the things that I think you need to adjust in your life to start getting there and start like doing these things and pulling back at work a little bit and delegating, dating and all. I mean like they're just deep talks from deep friends where the constructive criticism is extremely valuable.
Jackson Olsen
Yeah, it really is. Like more there's so many positive affirmations you get in a week like this and there's so many ways that you come out of a weekend and in the moment maybe you're, you take it one way but you're able to reflect and it's just honesty. And we've said, how many times we say this weekend, like, man, I couldn't imagine having a friend group where I couldn't chirp someone, whether it be like, you know, light hearted, fun, like trying to get under their skin to like get the edge in a game but at the same time like just give my honest opinion. And it isn't always right, but it's an opinion and the person wants to hear it and they want to process it and they want to ask questions and you know, nothing is filtered. So it's, they're the best. I encourage everyone out there. We even talked about wanting to start like an app or like a book or like a game where it's like, call it like a reunion. Like reunion. And you have to ask these like hard hitting questions and if everyone is able to be vulnerable and talk about it like, like it's the best man. It's just the best because we, I.
Jason Tardick
Mean we conversations we did bring up like some of these topics. If you're sitting around with friends, next times we're like, all right, by 50, tell me exactly what your dream would be. By 50, where do you think you'll be? What are some of the top qualities that you like about your physical appearance? What are top qualities you don't like about your physical appearance? What are top things you love about your brain? What are things you don't love about your brain? Like we just got into all the.
David Arden
Weeds on random questions.
Jackson Olsen
Are you have like when you're 75 years old, what, what time period in your life are you going to reflect on and think those were the best days? Are you in them? Have they already happened? Have they not happened yet? And our friend group is all in similar places but also slightly separate. I have a kid with one on the way. Hawk is engaged. Evan has one kid. You are lurking and searching and wanting to find that so you know the experiences and elements and advice and feedback and, you know, it's amazing. And. And, you know, we're all super, super supportive of each other. It's. It's the best.
Jason Tardick
It is the best. The only thing I'm going to take a quick pivot back. I want to go quickly go back to Savannah Bananas, because it just came top of mind and then we'll wrap here is when you talk about the fan first, it's this conversation about just even our friendship taking each other first, like, diving in. It's interesting. We've talked about on the show a little bit. When you go to an MLB game, when you go to a hockey game, a football game, whatever, when someone gets on the Jumbotron, it's like they hit the lottery. And it's kind of an interesting psychoanalysis of, like, why is it when fans get on the Jumbotron, it's like the best moment? And is that kind of what Savannah Bananas and social media and everything in the world happening today is like, you're getting your jumbotron moment.
Jackson Olsen
I just think that's an amazing version of your ADHD brain. Really kicking in the high gear there. Circle around and bringing that up. I think so. I think it's a way to feel special. It's a way to feel seen, feel heard, make a memory, right? Like, that's it. Like, I've never been on the Jumbotron. I think at this age.
Jason Tardick
Never been on Jumbotron.
Jackson Olsen
I think at this age, if I was, I'd be, like, mortified and like, be like, almost like nervous with Carter. Oh, yeah, I know. If Carter was there, oh, I would love it. I would hold him up like Simba. It would be like, the best ever. But if I was a kid, it was like, it would have been the best thing ever. I would have remembered for the rest of my life.
Jason Tardick
Interesting.
David Arden
Yeah.
Jason Tardick
Yeah. All right.
David Arden
Well, it seems like there's some things.
Jason Tardick
Happening not only the Savannah banana land, but in the David Jason friendship land here in Nashville, Tennessee. We got a big summer ahead. Lot of action and a lot coming up for Trading Secrets. Some massive guests are on the way. Stay tuned. I'll be in New York City filming with many of them, some of the biggest hosts in tv, even some of the biggest and best journalists in the political realm. We're starting to hit all angles here in trade and secrets, so stay tuned. Make sure to give us a review. And we are going to be giving stuff away from the influencer closet. And I'll tell you what, David, as we wrap this, I think we should go back to the family room and watch a documentary.
Jackson Olsen
Those documentaries have been flying around this weekend. Flying around, flying around.
Jason Tardick
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Trade Secrets. When you can't afford.
Jackson Olsen
That dream Making.
David Arden
That money money on me Making that money Living that dream.
Trading Secrets Episode 240: Jackson Olson – From Instacart to Gatorade Deals with the Savannah Bananas
Podcast Information:
In this captivating episode of Trading Secrets, host Jason Tardick welcomes social media personality and Savannah Bananas baseball star, Jackson Olson. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, the conversation delves deep into Jackson's unconventional career path, remarkable social media growth, and his pivotal role with the fan-centric Savannah Bananas team.
Jackson Olson, a former collegiate baseball player, shared his journey from aspiring to be drafted into Major League Baseball (MLB) to redefining his career through content creation.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"It was the best decision I ever made to decline that because now I'm living my second dream." — [04:41]
After not being drafted, Jackson pivoted to content creation while delivering groceries for Instacart in New York City. This period was crucial in building his social media presence.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"I was making money on TikTok from those videos than I was actually making from doing Instacart." — [13:19]
Jackson's proactive approach to content creation led to significant opportunities beyond Instagram and TikTok.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"I was trying to flood the feed. And they sent me out a Major League baseball tour. And they were like, let's rank every single stadium." — [17:01]
Jackson details his transition to the Savannah Bananas, a semi-pro baseball team known for their entertainment-focused "Banana Ball."
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"We break down the barrier between fan and player. Banana ball is baseball with nine rules... it's like WWE a little bit with crazy antics." — [28:31]
Jackson’s growing influence has attracted significant brand deals, enhancing both his personal brand and the Savannah Bananas' visibility.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Gatorade's pretty legit... it's a full-blown year partnership. Gatorade athlete." — [34:55]
Looking ahead, Jackson envisions a multifaceted career blending sports, media, and personal passions.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"I'm just posting shorts... Where can people find everything you have going on on social media? Jackson Olsen underscore on everything." — [49:20]
Jackson shares practical tips for emerging content creators and insights into maintaining authenticity.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Just be yourself and be fans first... think about that 12-year-old that's watching you and emulating everything you're doing." — [43:24]
As the episode wraps up, Jackson reflects on the synergistic relationship between fan engagement and personal branding, highlighting the transformative potential of blending sports with digital influence.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"The only reason I'm a Savannah Banana, only reason I worked with MLB, only reason I'm here right now is because I was able to keep people invested." — [47:47]
Episode 240 of Trading Secrets offers an inspiring glimpse into the evolving landscape of sports and digital media through Jackson Olson’s story. From delivering groceries to securing multi-million dollar brand deals, Jackson exemplifies the modern athlete-influencer who leverages authenticity and fan engagement to carve a unique and lucrative career path. As sports continue to adapt to changing audience preferences, models like the Savannah Bananas highlight the potential for fan-centric approaches to redefine success in the industry.
Connect with Jackson Olson:
Stay Tuned: Don’t miss upcoming episodes where Trading Secrets explores more groundbreaking stories and strategies to help you navigate the financial and professional world successfully.