Banana Ballin': Fan First Entertainment Conveys Savannah Bananas Magic via Remote Production, Out-of-the-Box Thinking

Banana Ballin': Fan First Entertainment Conveys Savannah Bananas Magic via Remote Production, Out-of-the-Box Thinking Two control rooms in Savannah, GA, are the home of production By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Tuesday, August 26, 2025 - 2:28 pm

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Without any hyperbole, the Savannah Bananas are the greatest story in sports over the past two years. The former collegiate summer baseball team that turned into a must-watch YouTube sensation is selling out professional baseball and football stadiums across the country, and its games air on ESPN and TNT Sports linear networks.

Success didn't happen overnight: it took the willingness of Fan First Entertainment founder/Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole and President Jared Orton to take a risk. The team has become a catalyst for fun for fans young and old, and the well-oiled machine runs with remote productions from two control rooms in Savannah, GA; an onsite production van; an agile technical-services team; and the initiative to keep improving.

All Savannah Bananas games are livestreamed on Banana TV, the team's dedicated YouTube page.

Working for Jesse Cole is very empowering, says Mitch Rubenstein, head, production services, Savannah Bananas. The one thing he wants is to plus up' the experience. Every time you watch our show, there are always new things that are added.

Birthplace of Banana Ball: Fan First' Begins With Free Streaming on YouTube Cole believes in putting the fans above everything else. From affordable prices on tickets, food, and merchandise to a first-class show for those willing to spend money on coming to the ballpark, he understands that the team wouldn't exist without these loyal customers. After competing in the Coastal Plain League from 2016 to 2018 and splitting time between the traditional game and Banana Ball - the team plays by a unique set of rules - from 2018 until 2022, the franchise decided to focus exclusively on its brand of entertainment-based baseball.

One of the two control rooms at headquarters in Savannah handled remote productions for the Bananas vs. Firefighters at Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards Aug. 1-2.

Cole's fan first ethos is reflected in the organization's broadcasting approach: providing a completely free viewing option on YouTube. With nearly 2.5 million subscribers, this is still the primary live-distribution method for all games of the main team along with content from its three competitors: the Party Animals, the Bananas' original and longtime opponents at 325,000 subscribers; the Firefighters, who debuted last year, with 31,000 subscribers; and the Texas Tailgaters, Banana Ball's newest team, at a little over 18,000 subscribers. The Visitors, a Banana Ball development squad that played two games this summer, don't have a dedicated channel.

It seems we're hitting a new record high [for viewership] every game, says Rubenstein. Hitting about a quarter of a million views per game, in the world of YouTube, is incredible.

In a secondary control room, a crew remotely produces a game between the Party Animals and the Texas Tailgaters at CHS Field in St. Paul, MN, Aug. 1-2.

At the very beginning, all the club's resources were dedicated to its own channels and finding ways to deliver content to Bananas fans however possible. Through the work of Savannah Bananas Head of Technology Systems Matt Webster, the transmission and distribution workflow has become a bit more sophisticated.

Until this year, Webster says, the scale for the Bananas was very purpose-built by going only to YouTube. We've now implemented a Zixi ZEN Master-based solution to help a lot of our streaming. We've had to do a combination of Ku- and C-band satellite, but we've mostly distributed via SRT to deliver IP to a majority of our partners.

An onsite van, commonly called the Banana Van, sends feeds to the facility in Savannah.

The uptick in complexity is a direct result of heightened interest in the team's style of baseball. After only five games on ESPN's family of networks, the agreement expanded significantly with a total of 12 games: seven on ESPN2, three on ESPN, and two exclusively on ESPN+ and Disney+. Over-the-air broadcasters are also getting in on the action, with The CW airing the Bananas' game at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on July 27. True to the Bananas' digital-centric roots, the club streamed its July 6 contest at Boston's Fenway Park on Roku.

More recently, after the conclusion of this year's run with ESPN, TNT Sports has opted into broadcasting the tail end of the 2025 Banana Ball World Tour from Aug. 16 to Sept. 27 in multiple MLB stadiums: the Chicago White Sox's Rate Field, Pittsburgh Pirates' PNC Park, San Diego Padres' Petco Park, New York Yankees' Yankee Stadium, Seattle Mariners' T-Mobile Park, and Houston Astros' Daikin Park. The Banana Ball Tour Championship Oct. 2-11 at the team's home venue, Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, will also be broadcast by TNT Sports.

REMI-Powered: Savannah-Based Control Room, Banana Van Drive Each Broadcast The immense growth of Banana Ball has necessitated a handful of changes in both production and operations. A simple plan of attack was once used to livestream games, but, with bigger crowds, a larger viewership, and Cole's inherent bent toward innovation, a larger investment was needed to solidify the organization's broadcast infrastructure both at the stadium and at its headquarters in Savannah.

Connectivity inside the Banana Van

At the heart of the effort is an onsite production van, commonly known as the Banana Van, which rolls up to the host venue. The vehicle houses the cameras, connectivity, and other essential equipment for producin

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/08/26/banana-ballin-fan-first-enterta...
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