Fans First, Entertain Always: How The Savannah Bananas Turn Baseball Into Joy

WEBVTT
00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.320
You're listening to Fandom Unpacked from Situation and Intix, the podcast series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment.
00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.239
It's pre-holiday cold season, but I am still producer Peter Yajisic, and I am hermetically sealed in my own recording booth.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:25.359
Joining me for today's QA are Situation CEO and founder, Damien Basadana, and president and CEO of Intix, Maureen Anderson.
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.519
Our guest today is Emily Cole.
00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:39.200
Her company, FanFirst Entertainment, owns the Savannah Bananas, the baseball team that's been electrifying fans across the country for nearly a decade by answering the simple question what if people that love baseball can come out and have fun?
00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:42.399
She and her husband Jesse have been writing their own rule book ever since.
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:46.880
I'm going to be back in a bit to ask Emily some listener questions, sent into fandomunpack.com.
00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.359
Damien, how about throwing out the first pitch?
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:59.439
Emily, a lot of our previous guests, and I mean a lot, have pointed to the Savannah Bananas as the example of getting fandom right.
00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.320
And enough to make you blush.
00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:08.959
When you hear that from the outside, how do you describe what you've built and who your fans are?
00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.480
Well, it's it's such a compliment to hear that.
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:17.439
And honestly, the way that we look at ourselves, you know, we don't have it all figured out yet.
00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:21.280
But what I will say is the name of the company is Fans First Entertainment.
00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:27.439
And that is our North Star, and that is who we serve, and that is who we think about and obsess about every single day.
00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:42.799
And I think just by keeping it that clearly that we are able to think about the fans and get fandom right, as they say, uh, whether we're at a stadium of 5,000 people or 105,000 people, that's who we're there to serve, and we never waver from that.
00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:47.280
So your mantra is fans first, entertainment always.
00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.239
How does that show up in real decision making?
00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:55.200
In what is typically, I would say the live event business is it's a limited supply business.
00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:00.319
Maximize the moment, charge as much as you can when you can, because you don't know how long this magical lasts for.
00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.159
Walk us, can you just walk us through?
00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:09.919
How about walk us through a recent moment where you had to say no to something that probably would be pretty profitable, but it wasn't truly fan first.
00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:17.199
Yeah, I think it's it's become almost simple for us to look at it through this lens of what is fans first?
00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:23.680
And so every decision that we make, we pretend that there's a fan in the room with us coming up with the solution for them.
00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.560
And so by using that lens, it really is simple to come up with these things that are fans first.
00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:35.199
We look at the friction point that a fan or a guest has someplace and we just work backwards from there.
00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:37.919
Is it hard to call and get a human to talk to?
00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:39.919
Is it hard to find information on a website?
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.599
You know, we start with those easy friction points and we work backwards from there.
00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:54.400
One of the big recent decisions, I guess, that we could talk about is our idea of not having the typical sponsorship packages for our team.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:00.159
As a sporting event or as an entertainment venue, a sponsorship is normally very front and center.
00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:01.520
It is very obvious.
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:07.280
And for us, again, we stopped and looked at the friction points of a fan's experience at venues.
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:13.280
Most people are not going to those venues to look at an outfield littered with advertisements.
00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.000
And so we said, okay, we're going to move away from that.
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.759
We are going to have a clear outfield wall.
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.560
In fact, we're going to go the other way and we're going to have a fan wall.
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:27.120
And so now our fans actually walk on the warning track and they go out and they sign our outfield wall so that they are a piece of history.
00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.479
They are a part of that game.
00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:37.439
And so really it's just looking at these little friction points that add up as the consumer to a point where we're frustrated or we're getting nickel and dimed at an event.
00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:46.240
And we try to erase all of those friction points so that people are truly just there to experience uh, you know, the game or the event or whatever that they're there to see.
00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.000
So that's the lens that we use.
00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.120
And I think by simplifying it like that, it helps us stay on brand and put our fans first.
00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.280
Well, what would an example look like?
00:03:55.280 --> 00:04:02.560
Because I'm sure on I'm sure there's people listening right now that would love to become some version of a sponsor with you.
00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:10.080
Like what could a sponsorship look like in in your eyes that that is kind of uh a one plus one equals three for the experience?
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:10.719
Yeah.
00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:18.240
So first of all, we will only use the word partnership, not sponsorship, because for us, it's truly looking at it as a partnership.
00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:25.839
So if somebody comes to us and they say we want to be involved, the only way we would even consider it is if our fans win.
00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:35.519
And so again, looking at an outfield wall, we don't feel like the fan is winning by having a big advertisement out on the wall or having a sponsored PA read.
00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.000
We as the team would be benefiting from a dollar standpoint, but the fan would not be benefiting.
00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:47.759
So if somebody comes to us and says, Hey, we know that your fans line up at nine in the morning, they tailgate all day, they come early for these events.
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:55.199
We want to come and provide at no cost to them and no work to them this item or this drink or whatever it is.
00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:03.600
So if people are waiting all day long in the sun, waiting for our gates to open for our event, and a true partner says, I want to come in and take care of these people.
00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.399
We are just going to hand out these things for them.
00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:08.800
That's a partnership we could we would consider, right?
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:18.720
So the business gets to get in front of those people, sure, but they are really just giving value to the person who is waiting in line who is going to come to an event, anyways.
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:26.800
So that's the only type of partnership, really, that we would consider is do our fans win completely in this situation with this partnership?
00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.839
I really wish uh movie theaters would follow this.
00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:37.519
I feel like the idea of, you know, total intrusion with brand sponsorship, you spit there for about 35 minutes before then the movie finally starts.
00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:43.279
Um, can I ask you a question that I know will make you blush, but I but I do ask it by design, and I think it's actually very important.
00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.399
How do you internalize all the success that you've had?
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:51.199
And I ask that because I would say that this comes out of left field.
00:05:51.199 --> 00:06:00.720
Um I I would say that your brand, it's like the number of people in the live event business that like look to it and are just completely inspired what you've done.
00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.319
And you're selling at Yankee Stadium, I just in my local area here.
00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:09.839
Like, you gotta sort of look around sometimes and just go, I are you surprised by the success?
00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:15.279
I would say that everybody in our organization is extremely humble.
00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:20.240
When when people compliment us or they say you guys have made it, we don't see it like that.
00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.959
We see ourselves as being in the first inning.
00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:28.399
And so when you're trying to achieve greatness and you're growing, that's what you're thinking about.
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.519
There's no time for us to sit back and rest on our laurels.
00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:37.439
There's no time to sit back and just look at all the success around us and not be working towards the next thing.
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:43.360
Our responsibility is to continue serving our fans to the best of our ability.
00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:48.800
It's to come up with the most creative, most fun, most experiential things for our fans.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:54.879
And so when that stays as our main goal, we don't sit back and say, oh, we've made it, we've figured it all out.
00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:56.399
We know for sure that we haven't.
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.480
We are a very young organization.
00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:08.720
There are lots and lots of brands who have been around for, you know, tons of years and experiences themselves that we can learn from, these generational companies that we have to look up to.
00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.439
And so I think it's really just having that mindset.
00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:16.959
It would be dangerous for us to get into a spot of, oh, we've made it, puff out our chest, look at us.
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:24.800
Because once we get to that point, I don't think the main thing would be the main thing anymore, which is continuing to find more ways to entertain our people.
00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.800
And that would be scary.
00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:36.480
And so I think just by staying humble and saying we have a lot of room to grow, we have a lot of improvements that we can make by considering that we are still in the first inning.
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:43.040
It's not a place where we are dangerously uh too cocky, I think.
00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:50.240
And so when people do say those things to us, it almost takes us, it almost, it almost knocks us off guard because we don't, we don't think we have it figured out yet.
00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:51.920
We don't think we're that we're the best at it yet.
00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:52.480
We're not.
00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:59.120
Uh listen, I have great admiration for the simplicity of your mission and how focused you remain on it.
00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.439
Uh Maureen, let me go, let you get in.
00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:02.160
Cool.
00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:02.720
Thank you.
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:07.199
Um I was curious about the ticketing and pricing standpoint.
00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.399
Is, you know, that's a big topic in the industry these days.
00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:16.000
And you have, you know, arguably, you know, this huge family fan base.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:23.199
And you've made some, you've bucked the system and you've made some unconventional choices over the years to really try and keep things simple and fan friendly.
00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:32.960
Can you talk a little bit about how prices and fees and values uh are all put through that fan's first lens, especially that the price and fee scenario?
00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:44.320
And then I'd also like to isn't, you know, is to ask about, you know, you creating a new closed loop environment of the secondary market announcement that you all made about uh about 10 days ago.
00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:45.600
Yeah, absolutely.
00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:47.200
It really started with this.
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:52.399
When we first launched the organization, we said, how can we not nickel and dime our fans?
00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:53.600
That's what they're used to.
00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.080
Fans are used to being nickel and dimed at events.
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.559
You pay for parking, you pay for the hot dog, you pay for the beer.
00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:00.480
It's it's cost after cost after cost.
00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:07.279
Or if you buy something online, there's a there's a convenience fee, there's a shipping fee, there's all these extra fees that add on to your tickets, right?
00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:18.720
And so from the very beginning, before we even launched the Savannah Bananas in Savannah in 2015, we said, how can we make this such a value-packed thing for people that they have to go try it out?
00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:23.120
It there's really no risk for them to go to go check us out at least once.
00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:27.919
And we knew once we had them there, there was going to be so much value that they would want to come back.
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:33.279
So when we launched the Savannah Bananas for the first time, we created the all-inclusive ticket.
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:43.519
So, still to this day, all of our tickets in Savannah, Georgia include all of your hot dogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, soda, popcorn, water, dessert.
00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:50.159
Because we want kids to be able to get up and go to the concession stand without saying, Mom and dad, can I have another $10 bill?
00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:51.279
Can I spend another $20?
00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:52.799
Can I have the credit card?
00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:55.600
We didn't want to have those nickel and dime moments.
00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:04.720
And so from the very beginning, I think that hopefully makes it clear that the value has been such a big focus for us and taking out that friction point of the added cost.
00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.600
And we've just evolved that and continued that over the years.
00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.320
All of our shipping for all of our merchandise, which has become a massive part of our business, is free shipping around the whole country.
00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.639
It's just we've never had shipping fees.
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:18.000
Why would we add that on?
00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.000
The convenience fees when you're buying tickets.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.519
There's nothing convenient about that.
00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.720
So when people buy our tickets, it is the price that they see.
00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.240
That is the ticket price.
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:30.559
We are hearing more and more that we should go up on tickets.
00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:34.399
That's why there's so much demand is that because that they're so affordable.
00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:41.600
Um, and I think that that's just the price we're willing to pay is to hear that from people because the last thing we want to do is gouge people.
00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.320
We want families to be able to come to these games.
00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.679
We are keeping it as affordable as we can for families to come out.
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.159
And that's something that we're gonna continue forever.
00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.519
Uh, to speak to this new secondary market issue.
00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.120
Yes, there is a supply and demand issue right now.
00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.919
We are so grateful to have over 40 million people on a wait list.
00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:08.960
But with over 4 million people on a wait list and not playing in front of that many people live, there is a supply and demand issue.
00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:09.919
We understand that.
00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:22.320
And so unfortunately, we are seeing that sometimes in human nature, there are people who will look out for themselves and try to win on uh, you know, somebody else's behalf.
00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:29.200
And so we have tickets that are being sold on secondary markets for three, four, five times what we sell them for.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.360
Obviously, we don't get any part of that.
00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:36.720
Individuals are just making thousands of dollars on these tickets that are being scalped.
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:42.240
And so it's not the perfect solution, but it is a quick solution that we can implement this year.
00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:51.600
We have been building behind the scenes another ticket platform, our own secondary market, so that the fan, the local fan can help another local fan.
00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:57.120
That's the whole premise is that people in this fan's first family are just gonna continue to take care of each other.
00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.919
And if it only takes care of 10% of people, at least it takes care of another 10% of people, right?
00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:03.679
In this first year, as we launch this.
00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:10.879
We want somebody to say, oh, you know, a wedding popped up in our life and we can no longer go to this game, but I want to help take care of another fan.
00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:16.240
I'm not gonna go gouge somebody on a different secondary market and make five times what I paid for the tickets.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.480
I just want to help another local family similar to mine in whatever city.
00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:27.039
And so I'm gonna list them on the fans first secondary website and they will be able to buy them at the same exact price.
00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:31.360
So we are now eating the cost again of selling tickets.
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.039
We are not making anything on that.
00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.720
We're actually paying more because of the charges and the platform costs that we had to build this.
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.000
Um, but that's fans first.
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:49.679
And so again, it was a simple decision for us to make to invest in this platform that we're building, is because we believe we can take care of more fans at that simple pricing.
00:12:49.679 --> 00:13:02.720
So, yeah, a lot of thoughts around all pricing and fees and ticket platforms, but it is something that we're very intentional about, something that we're thinking about all the time is how to continue to take care of people in that aspect.
00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:16.480
It's interesting because it's it's um with the whole concept of the pricing and that you had all in pricing, you know, long before the rest of the industry got mandated by, you know, FTC laws and rules and things like that.
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.639
So, you know, talk about bucking it.
00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:19.360
It's great.
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:27.519
Um, we have a lot of intics and ticketing pros who who tune in and who work in the traditional venues that you all are coming into.
00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:31.840
And you had talked earlier about reducing the friction points.
00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:57.519
As you come into these of these venues who may not have um as robust of a fan first concept or value proposition, what would be a small operational change that you think that these venues could realistically make the system, this season, excuse me, that would move them closer to a deeper partnership and engagement with a fur fans first experience?
00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.000
Yeah, that's something that we think about all the time, right?
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:03.519
We're in a new community, a new venue every single week.
00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:06.639
And so we have learned by doing.
00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:11.919
We have jumped in and had a new relationship with a new group every single week over the last couple of years.
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.720
And so we've learned a lot about how different operators operate and the pros and cons.
00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:21.679
I think that it all comes back to the communication and being on the same page.
00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:31.120
We are so intentional about going ahead of time on site visits and working with these people and making sure that the security team is on the same page as the food and bev team.
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.759
They're on the same page as our team and our entertainment.
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:35.919
We're on the same page with the groundskeepers.
00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:42.879
There's so many different players in this to make one of our events work seamlessly, right?
00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:49.519
We're going into somebody else's home and we're bringing hundreds of people and we're doing things on a ball field that have never been done before.
00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.600
And so there can be a lot of naysayers.
00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.159
There can be a lot of, hold on, what's gonna happen?
00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.120
This is our home.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.720
You're coming onto our turf.
00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:59.919
And so we try to do site visits years ahead of time.
00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.279
We try to talk to these groups years ahead of time.
00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:12.720
I mean, when people realize, or if people realize that when we announce our schedule, we've probably been in communication with a lot of these groups for years because a lot goes into this.
00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:17.360
And we do have to make sure that it's a fans first decision to go to these places.
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.919
There have been a lot of venues that we have turned down.
00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:29.279
They might have been the best offers monetarily, but if they were not gonna be the best fans first decision for our fans, we've turned those venues down.
00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:48.159
And that's been an interesting part of our growth is you know, you have this very beautiful, shiny thing in front of you, and you have to walk away from it because it's not gonna be the best decision, because security is not gonna let you do a certain thing, or groundskeepers aren't gonna let a single person on the field besides your players, or you know, whatever it might be.
00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:56.720
Um, and so that's something that that communication early really has to come into play, and that makes sure that we're gonna have a successful event.
00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:00.559
It's up to you.
00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:10.879
Join the professionals at InTIX 2026, our 47th annual conference and exhibition, January 26th through 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.960
Intix isn't just an event, it's your competitive edge.
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:18.720
The ticketing and live entertainment industry moves fast.
00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.519
If you miss this, you'll be catching up all year.
00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:25.440
Early bird registrations are open at intix.org.
00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:31.039
But wait, if you join Intiks as a member, you will unlock even more conference savings.
00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.639
We'll see you there.
00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.960
Hey, uh Peter, I think you've got an audience question.
00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.440
Yeah, I'd love to sneak in a listener question.
00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.559
Uh and first of all, Emily, congratulations on all your success.
00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.519
And I love that you said that you're you're just in the first inning.
00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.200
Uh, I can't wait to see uh where you guys go from here.
00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:05.440
The listener question I wanted to ask you first was thinking back uh on you know when you started to now, was there a single fan interaction or game moment when you thought, okay, this is this is bigger than baseball now?
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.720
Anything that stick out to you?
00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.200
My first thought goes to the national anthem every night.
00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.319
We are so go, go, go all the time.
00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:18.319
I mean, morning, noon, and night, 24 hours a day, 365.
00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.079
I feel like we're running, right?
00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:21.519
Because we are still a startup.
00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:23.359
And so that's what you do in your startup phase.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.359
You're running, you're grinding, you're growing.
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:33.920
Um, but the national anthem at every game I've been at has always moved me to tears because it's the one time of day that I have to stand still.
00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:45.599
And I look around and I am just in awe of the amount of people who chose to spend their entertainment dollars and spend their Saturday night with us.
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:46.799
And that moves me.
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.000
That moves me to tears.
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:54.799
And it moves me in a way that I want to continue to get better for them, for every single fan that's in the building that night.
00:17:54.799 --> 00:18:04.559
Um, and so that's a moment that happens fortunately every night that I get to slow down and look around at what we've built and just want to continue to get better for them.
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:10.640
It's one of my favorite moments of every game because it doesn't happen often and it's two minutes, usually more or less.
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:16.000
And um, it's just a beautiful, a beautiful moment for us to slow down in this startup phase.
00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:27.599
How do you approach recruiting and nurturing talent, both on the field, but also in the stands, the back office, and you have a, I think, a very distinct culture.
00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.799
Are there specific traits or expectations you have in new hires?
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.880
Just if you could take us through that process, I'd love it.
00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:36.000
Well, first I will say in the beginning, nobody wanted to work for us.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:39.759
Okay, so it's easy to look at us now and say, oh, they're so much fun.
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.039
Everybody wants to work there.
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:43.759
But man, it was pulling teeth in the very beginning.
00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:48.880
You know, it was uh this new unusual thing that people didn't understand.
00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.839
And so trying to recruit for that was very difficult.
00:18:51.839 --> 00:19:00.640
I remember the first time we had a dance uh choreographer come to practice and they were going to teach our players some dance moves, and it was not well received.
00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:05.119
I mean, most of the guys left the field uh because they're like, this is not baseball.
00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:05.759
This is not me.
00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.279
This is not what I signed up for.
00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:14.720
And so I just want to put that into perspective because now it is easy to say, oh, we have 12,000 people on a wait list to work for us.
00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:15.920
That is mind-blowing.
00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:19.920
That is crazy, and we're so grateful for that, but it wasn't always like that.
00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:26.319
And so we have just stayed very true to who we are and who we want to surround ourselves with.
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:31.119
The people who are joining our organization, they are lifelong learners.
00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:34.319
And I mean that in every, in every way.
00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:47.519
It's not just the people who work in the front office, it's the players, it's the cast members, it's the people who want to reinvent themselves, it's the people who want to grind, it's the people who we want down in the trenches with us because we're still there.
00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:52.960
Again, from the outside, people think that we have it all figured out and that we're this massively successful company.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:59.759
And in some senses, we are, but we still look at ourselves as the rookie, the person who needs to prove themselves.
00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:10.240
And so we're looking for those people who want to have that same tenacity or who do have that same tenacity to go after in life, you know, to better themselves personally and professionally.
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.200
We do a book club as a group.
00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:18.400
And one of the most recent books that we read was The Ideal Team Player by Pat Lincioni.
00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:25.359
And what stuck out to me in that book is finding people who are hungry, humble, and smart.
00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:30.240
And when I look back at how we hired, those are three things that very much stick out to us.
00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.400
The intelligence level just has to be there.
00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:37.680
There's so much autonomy in our company because we work in lots of different cities at all times.
00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.799
And so somebody has to be intelligent enough to just make decisions.
00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:43.599
You're not going to have somebody looking over your shoulder at all times.
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.319
But the hungry and humble really come into play once you're in the role because we believe that we are still in the first inning, like I said.
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:57.279
And so you have to have the hunger to grow because that's where the company is going.
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:08.640
And so when you have leadership saying, we don't have it all figured out, we don't want to be the smartest people in any room that we're ever in, we're continuously trying to surround ourselves with brilliant, thought-provoking leaders.
00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:14.400
We read, we listen to podcasts, we share articles, we're watching videos constantly as a company.
00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:27.680
And so just that hunger to get better and then the ability to stay humble while we're growing and say, you know, we have all these accolades or people telling us we're doing a good job or 12,000 people waiting to work with us or 4 million people waiting to come to a game.
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.279
I mean, that can go to your head.
00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:33.200
But we are very intentional at saying we do not know everything yet.
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.160
We are still learning.
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.640
There are so many people around us that we can learn from.
00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.599
So those are some of the qualities that we look for.
00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:48.799
Um, but yeah, it's interesting because from a staff standpoint, from a cast standpoint, from a player standpoint, all of these people are doing different things for our fans.
00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:53.519
But at the end of the day, they have to be fans first in whatever capacity that means.
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:58.559
And so we're looking for just a really great human on top of all those other things.
00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:08.559
We're looking for the person that just instinctively bends down and picks up the piece of trash, or instinctively reaches for grandma's hand and helps her walk in the gates as she's uh, you know, maybe stumbling up the steps.
00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.200
It's just a person that we want to be around.
00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.839
Uh, and that's our culture is very important to us.
00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.920
So I could talk all day about our culture.
00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.519
It's something that means a lot to me.
00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.440
And I think it's one of our secret sauces.
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.400
I think that if we stay focused on that, we'll be okay as a company.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:23.759
Yeah, no, I agree.
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.519
And I like the the hungry and humble, I think makes a lot of sense.
00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:33.839
Um, and just given all the the guests we've had on this podcast over the years, longevity is complicated in this business.
00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:45.440
And so doing that over an extended, continued extended period of time, and as you go through different phases as a company, um, I I I can't see that hurting you in any possible way to kind of keep that within the culture, and obviously you guys do a great job of it.
00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.319
Uh, Maureen.
00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:54.240
That's lovely because finding the uh the room to be the give everybody the grace to be actually humble is a really amazing piece.
00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:05.039
So which brings me to kind of when you look at your data with repeat attendance, the membership, the wait lists, all the metrics over 10 years that you all have amassed.
00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:17.359
Taking it beyond, you know, it's humanizing the data and what's really behind the member that those numbers is can you say that your community is getting stronger and it's not just about sales?
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.559
Oh, 100%.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:20.480
That's our that's our focus.
00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:26.319
I mean, truly, my husband, Jesse and I, we do not know day to day what's in the bank account.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:29.039
Those are those are not the numbers that we are focusing on.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:32.720
But I could tell you the number of fans we served online and merchandise.
00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:36.319
I could tell you the number of fans that are gonna come to each ballpark.
00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:45.839
When we stay focused as a company on those numbers, the people who we're serving, I truly believe that that is gonna help continue to keep us on the right path.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:47.039
Now that's pretty cool.
00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:53.680
I mean, when you look at the the community, is it's all about bringing it's being in service to a community.
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.200
And in this day and age, that that's that's above and beyond.
00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:04.720
And it's that's what I think makes you really special, is that you're also bringing families together and supporting foster care community.
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.240
And I was really interested in your Bananas Foster program.
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:19.039
Could you tell us a little bit more about how that work came about and influenced the way you think about belonging and caring inside the ballparks and outside of the ballpark?
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:23.200
Yeah, I love this topic so much because it's so near and dear to our heart.
00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.519
My husband and I are foster parents ourselves.
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:31.119
We have adopted our daughters, two of our daughters out of foster care and into our family.
00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.759
And so it's something that has always meant a lot to us.
00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:39.839
And when you look at the demographics of our games, it is mostly families who are attending these games together.
00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:49.440
And so when you look at those things, something that really means a lot to our family and the people who are attending our games, you know, as we were growing, we thought we have this responsibility.
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:51.519
We are creating a lot of joy in the world.
00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.119
And there is something to say about that.
00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:59.680
But we continued to feel like with a bigger platform, we had more responsibility to give in our community.
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:06.640
And when looking at all of those things together, it felt like we were being pulled to do something for the foster care space.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.240
It's this kind of this taboo topic that doesn't get spoken about a lot.
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:12.000
And so we said, why not us?
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.920
It's so near and dear to our heart.
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:19.680
Um, and not just to me and Jesse, but the entire organization has watched these girls grow up in our family.
00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:27.440
They have had a front row seat to the changes in their life and who they are as people and who they're becoming as young ladies.
00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:33.200
And so it really means a lot to all of us to, you know, better the foster care system.
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.240
And so we were knocking this idea around for a little while.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:43.599
And then, of course, my genius husband one night in the middle of the night sat up and said, Bananas Foster, I have the best name.
00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:48.160
Um, and from there, it was off to the races because how do you say no to a name like that?
00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:48.559
Right.
00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.960
So Bananas Foster was born.
00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:58.559
Um, and I will say from there, the tricky part started because we needed to figure out what our mission was going to be and what we were going to focus on.
00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:06.799
And with many nonprofits, you have to focus on things like fundraising and getting scary statistics out there and educating people.
00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:17.920
And so those are things that we thought we might intertwine into what we do day to day, but we wanted to really focus on staying aligned with who we were as a company.
00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:24.960
And so, as a company, if you think about Fans First Entertainment and Banana Ball, we are all about joy and happiness and laughter and family.
00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:30.640
And so we wanted to make sure that our nonprofit arm was also aligned with that and connected in those ways.
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:41.920
And so we started with this vision of, hey, let's just celebrate people in foster care, which is a very backwards way of thinking because there's not a lot of things to celebrate in foster care, right?
00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:42.960
It's just a hard space.
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:44.240
It's a tough subject.
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:48.000
But if you look hard enough at anything, there are things to celebrate.
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:56.400
And so sure enough, as we study more and we look more into this space, there are families and social workers who have been helping children for decades.
00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.799
And so we had this lens of let's just celebrate those people.
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:02.079
Let's focus on them.
00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:13.359
And so that's what we do now at every single game, whether it's a very small stadium or a very large stadium, we get a local family or somebody who has made an impact on that local community's foster care system.
00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:22.640
And we celebrate them on the field and we just tell a little tidbit of their story, and the crowd inevitably stands up and gives them a standing ovation.
00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:24.640
And it's just such a beautiful moment.
00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:31.839
Now, we know that this is this is spinning people's wheels and this is inspiring and this is educating people and creating awareness.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:36.720
And so it is doing all of those things that end up being the goal of most nonprofits.
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:38.559
But we start it with happiness.
00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:40.400
We start it with celebration.
00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:52.720
And the most beautiful thing when we walk off the field every night is seeing people from the crowd come into the stairwells and come into the aisles and hug these families and hug the people who we've just celebrated.
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:56.240
And they're saying things like, I didn't know this was going on in our community.
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:57.200
I had no idea.
00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.400
Thank you so much for serving these children for your whole life.
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:01.680
How can I get involved?
00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:06.400
It's just just such an organic, beautiful moment and it spurs a lot of action.
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:10.240
And so we're very happy to be the connectors in this story.
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:28.319
We're able to then talk to the people who want to get involved and connect them with people in that local community, whether it is the foster care closets or the mentorship programs or the licensing agencies, whatever it is that people want to get involved in, we're able to connect them and then hopefully bring them into this space.
00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:31.440
And then we move on to the next city and we do it again and again.
00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:33.680
And so that's a big passion of mine.
00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:46.000
I'm sure you can hear it in my voice, the way that I talk about this, but happy to hopefully make a small mark on the foster care world and inspire a lot of people, celebrate a lot of, you know, very unsung heroes.
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.720
I mean, Emily, thank you so much.
00:28:48.880 --> 00:29:06.240
It's just amazing to have fundraising turned on its ear as instead of, you know, the the woe is me plea is that it becomes the joyful celebration happiness plea, is that there's so much that, you know, we all have glass half full if we really just turn the you know the mantra on our heads.
00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:13.279
Uh we have a lot of listeners that are some of your biggest fans, and I think Peter has uh has an actual fan question too.
00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:14.000
I do.
00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:23.920
And and this question is from a listener who's actually also a former fandom unpacked guest, uh, sixth man CEO Jeff Quayar, who uh connected us with Hugh Emily, actually.
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:32.720
And when we interviewed him a few months ago, he talked about the banana boat experience that your fans uh are gonna have a chance to do coming up in February, I think.
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:41.920
Um and and his question was uh after everything the bananas have accomplished, when people said it wouldn't work, what still surprises you and why?
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:42.960
Oh yes.
00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:44.400
Great question, Jeff.
00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:54.000
Uh first, yeah, the the banana land at Sea Cruise is something that was born again because we wanted to serve our fans in a better way.
00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:02.000
As we are going to larger and larger stadiums, this was a way for us to try to connect with a smaller group of fans, some of our biggest fans.
00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.640
And so we work with Six Man, and it's such a fun project.
00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:14.559
And it's something that you wouldn't normally think a baseball team or a sports team is gonna do is basically rent out a cruise ship and throw a four or five day long party.
00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:15.839
Um, but that's what we do.
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:19.119
We try to say whatever is normal, do the exact opposite.
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.519
And how can we entertain these people in a different way?
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:24.160
And so very excited to continue to work on that project.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:27.920
This will be our second time doing it with Six Man and excited for that.
00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:41.599
But I think day-to-day, what continues to surprise me is the way that people look at banana ball as this bucket list item.
00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:45.119
You know, it's it is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day for us.
00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:53.680
We're in a new city every week, and we're bringing on new people, and we have orientations for new players and staff members, and you know, we're in the grind of running a business.
00:30:53.680 --> 00:31:03.359
And then we hear from a fan that this was a Christmas gift for their kids 12 months ago, and they are now traveling across the country.
00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.839
They've bought the merchandise, they've selected the tickets, they won in the lottery.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.359
This is their bucket list item for their family.
00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:27.759
Uh, when that, when I hear about that and when that actually sits and resonates with me, um, I'm just in awe that we are that to somebody, you know, because to me, we're just going about our everyday life trying to make the world a brighter place and create a lot of fun.
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:32.720
And sure, I know that the reality is that people want to come to tickets, come to games and get tickets.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:33.920
I understand that.
00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:49.359
But the fact that they're so they put so much work and time into it is still a foreign concept for me and still something I'm in awe of and something I'm so grateful for is that people just put us up on this pedestal and and plan their year around these events.
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:50.640
Uh, it's so, so special.
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:51.599
We're so grateful.
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:54.720
Yeah, no, th Emily, thank you so much for the time.
00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:59.359
And, you know, we've been really anticipating and looking forward to this conversation.
00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:01.440
Um, so I genuinely appreciate it.
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:05.680
Uh you live your values, uh, and I think that's rare in this business.
00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:16.559
And and one of the things I really admire is, you know, we we talked a lot about it, but how you bring communities together, and it it it really seems you leave a city in a better place than when you first arrived.
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:17.759
Uh, and that's awesome.
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:28.319
Um with all of the press coverage about the growth and success, what do people get wrong about your success?
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:35.279
And is there some, you know, is there something people misunderstand about the way you approach your business that that you think people should know?
00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:36.400
Oh gosh.
00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.000
There's there's so many things.
00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:45.440
And this has been a learning curve for us because we did kind of catapult into the spotlight.
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:50.720
And, you know, we always just say, we always say that we're just a bunch of kids running a baseball team.
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:57.440
And the reality is that's how we see ourselves still is these young go-getters.
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:07.200
And we're not as young anymore, we've been doing this for almost 20 years, but I still say that because we still see ourselves as people who are just learning every day and people who have a hunger to get better.
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:23.119
And so when you look at the press coverage and the front page news and the titles and the articles that are being written, um, it is a little daunting because all of a sudden everything is being covered.
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.000
And of course, nobody knows the inner workings of any business or family, you know, unless you're in those walls.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:42.640
And so we have to remind our people every day that if we keep the North Star the North Star, if we continue to serve our fans and do what's right in this world, um, that's all we can do.
00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:46.000
And there are going to be things that are said that are untrue.
00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:48.720
But again, that's the trade-off, right?
00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:58.480
Of being this size and of having four million people trying to come out to your events is somebody is gonna be upset about something or not like the decision that was made.
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:06.559
They might not have all the facts, of course, on how that decision was made, but they can speculate and they are gonna be upset about something and they have the right to be.
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:18.320
And so I think that's just what's been hard for us is just catapulting this quickly into the spotlight and into quote unquote stardom for a lot of our people who are very young and most of our team is in their early 20s.
00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:26.719
Um, and so it's just a lot of life experience that we are catching up on or we're doing very quickly, I guess you could say, uh, and figuring out together.
00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:32.400
But very fortunate for the positive press coverage that we mostly have and have a good relationship with a lot of media.
00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:35.920
So fortunately, we don't have to deal with much of that.
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:42.800
That is gonna do it for this episode of Fandom Unpacked.
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:51.920
If you liked what you heard today, please check out all the great QA interviews we've done over at fandomunpack.com, or by searching Fandom Unpacked and following the series in your podcast player of choice.
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:54.880
We'd also love for you to rate and review the show while you're at it.
00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:56.960
That really helps us find new fans.
00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:04.559
We'll be back in your feed in a couple of weeks with our first ever Fandom Unpacked retrospective, a look back at the best moments our guests have shared with us over the past year.
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:06.800
We'll see you next time, true believers.