Find Your Yellow Suit

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Hey honeys and hustlers,

Jesse Cole stands out like a banana in a fruit bowl – and that's exactly his intention. The owner of the Savannah Bananas has done what many thought impossible: he's made baseball fun again for everyone, including people who never cared about the sport in the first place. Dressed in his signature bright yellow suit, he has transformed a struggling minor league team into one of the hottest tickets in sports entertainment. The Savannah Bananas aren't just playing baseball – they're putting on a show that combines athletic skill with choreographed dances, crowd participation, and the kind of viral-ready moments that spread like wildfire across social media. Think of them like the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.

In this article, I’ll be restraining myself from jumping up and down in joy that my friend Michelle has reached 3K subscribers on her newsletter. I’ll also be addressing something I wrote about in a previous article – sports teams becoming media companies, in a way that doesn’t exploit players’ name, image, and likeness to create AI avatars to tell people what to eat for breakfast.

When Jesse and his wife Emily purchased the team in 2016, they were taking over a franchise with poor attendance in a city that had already seen baseball teams come and go. Instead of following the traditional playbook, Jesse asked a simple question: "What would make this entertaining for everyone?"

The answer led to "Banana Ball" – their reimagined version of baseball with a two-hour time limit, no stepping out of the batter's box, no bunting, and plenty of theatrics. Players perform choreographed routines between innings, grandmothers dance with players, and batters might suddenly break into splits while running the bases.

What's particularly remarkable about Cole's journey is how he's transformed a local sports team into a global media company. Their recent streaming deal with TNT is just the latest milestone in a meteoric rise that's seen them:

• Sell out every home game, with a waiting list of over 500,000 fans

• Amass millions of followers across social media platforms

• Expand from their hometown to a traveling tour that reaches major venues like Fenway Park

• Build a YouTube channel that gained explosive growth in just one year

• Create memorable moments like their special exhibition with Clemson's baseball team

So what can we learn from a man in a yellow suit who turned America's pastime upside down?

1. Find your differentiation

In a sea of traditional baseball teams, Jesse didn't try to compete on the same terms. He created a category of one. For creators feeling lost in crowded niches, the lesson is clear: don't just do what everyone else is doing slightly better – do something fundamentally different.

2. Prioritize entertainment value

Jesse understood that people's attention is the most valuable currency. Even in a "serious" industry like professional sports, entertainment value trumps tradition. Information alone isn't enough anymore (i.e. when and where games will be held) – how you deliver it matters just as much.

3. Build community through experience

The Bananas don't just have fans; they have a community of passionate advocates. They've achieved this by focusing relentlessly on the fan experience, eliminating pain points (like excessive advertising), and making everyone feel like part of the show. In the creator economy, this same principle applies – how are you making your audience feel like participants rather than just consumers?

4. Content as marketing, entertainment as product

While many teams treat social media as a marketing channel, the Bananas treat it as a core part of their product offering. Their viral videos aren't just promoting the team – they are the team, just as much as the live games. This integrated approach to content creation is a masterclass for entrepreneurs looking to build authentic brands. He even created a YouTube channel, giving fans unprecedented access to the game performances. A lot of people told him not to – they felt that if fans were able to watch the videos, there would be less demand for the games. The complete opposite happened.

Finding Your Yellow Suit

The beauty of Jesse Cole's story isn't just that he found success, but that he found it by being unapologetically himself. The yellow suit isn't just a costume; it's a philosophy. It represents the willingness to stand out, to embrace what makes you different, and to prioritize joy in your work.

For creators feeling the pressure to conform to industry standards or follow established formulas (i.e. post 5 notes a day on Substack to grow), Jesse is refreshing. Success doesn't always come from fitting in or following best practices. Sometimes, it comes from asking, "What would make this more fun?" and having the courage to follow through on the answer, no matter how unconventional it might seem.

So ask yourself: What's your yellow suit? What bold, unexpected approach might transform your work from ordinary or expected to remarkable? The answer might just be the key to turning your own passion into something that spreads joy – and builds a thriving business in the process.