Who Owns the Savannah Bananas? Jesse and Emily Cole, Fans First Entertainment and the $500M Estimate

Jesse and Emily Cole own the Savannah Bananas. The team’s official history names both of them as its owners, while City of Savannah records identify Fans First Entertainment, LLC as the company that owns the team. That company now fields the six professional teams in the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL). As for the number that often appears beside their names, Forbes estimated the broader, then-four-team Banana Ball organization at about $500 million in September 2025. That was a media valuation estimate—not a sale price, a disclosed standalone value for the Savannah Bananas team, or Jesse Cole’s personal net worth. The distinctions matter because “the Bananas” can refer to one team, a famous brand, or an entire touring sports-entertainment business.

The short answer: Jesse and Emily Cole own the Savannah Bananas

The clearest first-party answer comes from the Savannah Bananas’ official history. It calls Jesse and Emily Cole “our owners” and describes the financial risk they took together before the first season in 2016. Jesse is far more visible on game day—usually in a bright yellow tuxedo and top hat—but visibility is not the same thing as sole ownership.

There is also a company layer. A 2025 City of Savannah agenda record calls Fans First Entertainment, LLC the owner of the Savannah Bananas. The team’s own website says Fans First Entertainment is the organization that fields the current BBCL teams. Forbes further reported in 2025 that Jesse and Emily owned the enterprise through Fans First Entertainment.

Label	What it means	What the public sources say
Jesse and Emily Cole	The people behind the business	The official team history identifies both as owners
Fans First Entertainment	The company behind the team and wider operation	City records identify the LLC as owner of the Savannah Bananas
Savannah Bananas	The original and best-known team	One of six professional teams in the 2026 BBCL structure
Banana Ball Championship League	The multi-team competition and touring operation	The official organization lists six teams in 2026

Private companies do not have to publish the kind of ownership filings and quarterly financial statements that public companies do. The reviewed sources do not provide a Jesse-versus-Emily ownership percentage. The accurate answer is therefore the one the team itself gives: Jesse and Emily are the owners, and Fans First Entertainment is the company through which the operation is organized.

What Fans First Entertainment owns and operates

The company behind the Savannah Bananas

Fans First Entertainment is more than a slogan attached to the team. The Savannah Bananas’ terms state that Fans First Entertainment provides the site’s services and owns its content, while the city’s stadium records identify the LLC as team owner. These sources establish the company-to-team relationship without pretending that a complete corporate organization chart is public.

That distinction becomes important when an article says “the Savannah Bananas are worth $500 million.” The phrase can make it sound as though someone appraised only the players wearing Bananas uniforms. The reported business is broader: it produces touring events, develops multiple teams, sells merchandise, creates media content and manages a recognizable set of brands.

The Savannah Bananas are now one of six BBCL teams

The official team history says Fans First Entertainment fields six independent professional teams in the BBCL: the Savannah Bananas, Party Animals, Firefighters, Texas Tailgaters, Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns. Fans can browse all Banana Ball teams to see the current lineup and avoid a common mistake—assuming every Banana Ball event features the Savannah Bananas.

“Independent” here describes teams playing outside Major League Baseball and its affiliated system. It should not be read as proof that each team is an independently owned franchise. The organization’s public pages connect all six teams to Fans First Entertainment and the BBCL; they do not publish separate franchise cap tables.

How Jesse and Emily Cole built the team

The ownership story is easier to understand as a series of business pivots rather than as an overnight viral success.

Date	What happened	Why it matters
October 2015	The organization arrived in Savannah to launch a college summer team	Minor League Baseball had left the city, creating both an opening and a difficult sales challenge
January 2016	The team overdrew its bank account; the Coles sold their home to keep going	The official history frames the risk as shared by Jesse and Emily
February 25, 2016	The Savannah Bananas name was announced	National attention and merchandise demand helped change the launch trajectory
2016-2022	The Bananas played seven Coastal Plain League seasons and won three Petitt Cups	The team built a real baseball record before going all-in on its own format
2022	The Bananas announced they would leave the CPL and play Banana Ball year-round	The business shifted from a summer-collegiate team to a touring sports-entertainment model
2026	The official organization describes a six-team BBCL	The product is now a league-scale operation rather than one team’s exhibition schedule

Contemporary reporting supports the official origin story. In December 2016, WJCL reported that Jesse and Emily sold their Charlotte home, tapped retirement accounts and moved to Savannah after funds ran low. That same year, the Coastal Plain League recognized them jointly as executives of the year. The record makes Emily’s position clear: she was not added to the story after the Bananas became popular; she was an owner and operator during the uncertain first season.

The current Savannah Bananas team page is the better place to check fixtures. The ownership lesson from the timeline is more durable: the Coles built a conventional team, changed the product, and then expanded the format into a multi-team enterprise.

Is Banana Ball really worth $500 million?

It was worth roughly $500 million according to a Forbes estimate published on September 21, 2025. That sentence needs every qualifier. Forbes described a four-team Banana Ball organization at the time: the Savannah Bananas and three rival teams—the Party Animals, Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters—owned and operated within the same enterprise.

Forbes said the organization had few clean comparables because it operated partly like a sports property and partly like a touring entertainment show. Its analysis used revenue multiples from sales of MLB and minor-league franchises to reach an estimate “in the neighborhood” of $500 million. In other words, an outside publication applied a comparison method; Fans First Entertainment did not announce a completed $500 million sale.

Term	What it means	What is public here
Valuation estimate	An informed view of what a business may be worth	Forbes estimated about $500 million in September 2025
Revenue	Gross money generated before expenses	Forbes estimated more than $100 million for the four-team organization in 2025
Profit	What remains after relevant costs	Forbes reported the organization would be profitable, but public audited margins were not provided
Sale price	The agreed price in an actual transaction	No $500 million sale was reported
Personal net worth	An individual’s assets minus liabilities	Not established by the company estimate

The timing also matters. Fans First Entertainment’s official page describes six teams in 2026, while the Forbes analysis covered a four-team 2025 operation. Adding two teams may change the business, but it does not justify automatically increasing—or even carrying forward—the old figure. Without a new credible estimate, financing or transaction, the current value remains unknown.

Why Forbes reached that estimate

Touring scale and hard-to-get tickets

Forbes reported that more than 2.2 million people had bought tickets in 2025 with nine games still remaining. The four teams were scheduled across 115 dates and 40 cities, including 17 MLB parks and three NFL stadiums. That is a much larger commercial footprint than a small summer team playing only at its home park.

Demand is visible at individual stops, too. Axios reported that approximately 74,000 tickets for each of two 2025 nights at Bank of America Stadium sold out in about five hours. Strong demand can support pricing power, merchandise sales and venue expansion. It still does not prove a particular valuation by itself. For the latest tour rather than a frozen 2025 snapshot, use the current Banana Ball schedule.

More than one revenue engine

A Banana Ball event generates more than ticket sales. The organization also has merchandise, content, media distribution and brand value spread across multiple teams. Forbes estimated that the four-team operation would produce more than $100 million in 2025 revenue. A separate Forbes report quoted the organization’s finance executive saying ticket revenue could support operations while merchandise was managed as its own revenue stream.

Media reach adds another layer. ESPN announced a 25-game exclusive package for 2026 across its distribution, with all included games streaming on the ESPN App and Disney+ and selected games appearing on ESPN networks and ABC. No public dollar value was attached to that announcement, so it is evidence of wider distribution—not permission to invent media-rights revenue.

A business without a neat comparison

Traditional team valuations often lean on league membership, local media rights, stadium economics, sponsorship and comparable franchise sales. Banana Ball combines live touring, sports competition, performance, social content, merchandise and intellectual property. That mix creates growth opportunities, but it also makes comparison difficult. Forbes explicitly acknowledged that problem before applying baseball-franchise revenue multiples.

Forbes also reported that the Coles owned the enterprise through Fans First Entertainment and discussed their decision not to take outside capital. That degree of control can support long-term brand choices, but readers should keep the attribution attached: private ownership records and financing terms are not fully disclosed in the sources reviewed here.

What the $500 million figure does not tell us

• It is not Jesse or Emily Cole’s personal net worth. Company value and personal assets are different calculations, even when an owner holds a large stake.
• It is not $500 million in cash. A business estimate can reflect future earning power, brand value and operating assets while also accounting for obligations.
• It is not a completed sale price. There was no disclosed $500 million transaction behind the Forbes number.
• It is not a standalone appraisal of the Savannah Bananas roster. Forbes described the broader four-team organization.
• It is not annual profit. Revenue is gross income; expenses must be deducted to determine profit.
• It is not a verified 2026 BBCL valuation. The current six-team structure is not identical to the business Forbes evaluated in 2025.

This is why “Jesse Cole is worth $500 million” is not a responsible shortcut. To calculate a personal net worth, an analyst would need the value of the individual’s ownership interest plus other assets, then subtract liabilities. To calculate an owner’s equity value from an enterprise-level estimate, the analyst would also need reliable debt, cash and ownership data. Those inputs are not publicly available in the reviewed sources.

Does Fans First Entertainment own Grayson Stadium?

No—the City of Savannah owns Historic Grayson Stadium. Fans First Entertainment leases and operates it under an agreement with the city. This is another place where “owner” can cause confusion: owning the baseball team does not mean owning the ballpark real estate.

City records say the 2020 lease carried an option for five additional years, which Fans First Entertainment exercised through September 2030. A 2025 amendment included further company investment in stadium improvements and a planned locker and training facility, along with responsibility for operating costs. The city remained responsible for specified larger capital repairs. Investment and operational control therefore coexist with city ownership.

Fans planning a visit should use the site’s Banana Ball venues directory and the official event information for current logistics. The league tours many stadiums, and ownership, parking, bag and entry rules can differ at every stop.

Bottom line for fans

The direct ownership answer is Jesse and Emily Cole, operating through Fans First Entertainment. The Savannah Bananas are the original team, while Fans First Entertainment now fields a six-team BBCL. The widely repeated $500 million number is a Forbes estimate from September 2025 for the broader, then-four-team organization—not an official current price for the team or league.

To follow what the organization is doing now, browse the six Banana Ball teams, visit the Savannah Bananas page, or check the live schedule. Those tools answer changing team and event questions; this ownership map explains who sits behind them.

Frequently asked questions

Is Jesse Cole the sole owner of the Savannah Bananas?

No public source reviewed here supports calling Jesse the sole owner. The official Savannah Bananas history identifies both Jesse and Emily Cole as owners, and Forbes reported that the couple owned the enterprise through Fans First Entertainment.

Does MLB own the Savannah Bananas?

No. City records identify Fans First Entertainment as team owner. The Bananas left the Coastal Plain League after the 2022 season and now play in the independent Banana Ball Championship League, not Major League Baseball.

Who owns the other Banana Ball teams?

The Savannah Bananas’ official history says Fans First Entertainment fields all six professional BBCL teams. Jesse Cole’s official biography likewise describes him as owner of the league, including the Savannah Bananas, Party Animals, Firefighters, Texas Tailgaters, Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns.

How much is the Banana Ball league worth today?

No verified current 2026 value has been publicly established. The strongest widely cited figure is Forbes’s approximately $500 million estimate from September 2025, and that analysis described a four-team organization before the current six-team structure.

Are the Savannah Bananas worth more than $500 million now?

That is possible, but it is not knowable from expansion headlines alone. A new transaction, funding event or credible updated valuation would be needed to make a defensible current claim.