Okay, so the other day I was scrolling through some videos, you know how it goes, and I landed on a bunch of clips of the Savannah Bananas. Pretty wild stuff, right? Baseball circus acts, basically. Looked like a blast. And it got me thinking, these guys are basically performers as much as athletes. How much dough do they actually pull in for doing this?
My first thought was, okay, it’s not Major League Baseball money, obviously. But they sell out stadiums, travel all over, got tons of merch. It can’t be peanuts like some regular minor league teams where guys are sharing apartments and eating ramen noodles every night. Or can it? I honestly had no clue.
Digging for Dollars
So, I did what anyone does. Fired up the computer and started searching. Typed in the obvious stuff: “Savannah Bananas player salary”, “how much do Savannah Bananas make”, “Savannah Bananas contracts”. You know the drill.
Well, let me tell you, it wasn’t straightforward. Lots of articles about how fun they are, the owner Jesse Cole and his yellow tuxedo, the rules of Banana Ball. But actual salary figures? Tough to find. It’s like they keep that part pretty close to the chest.
I found some forum discussions, people asking the same question. Lots of guessing going on.
- Some folks guessed maybe $40,000 – $60,000 a year.
- Others thought it might be more like $75,000 or even higher because they’re basically full-time entertainers touring constantly.
- Someone mentioned they get housing and travel covered, which is a big perk, sure, but doesn’t tell you the base pay.
Putting Pieces Together
I kept digging. Found a few older articles that mentioned players used to be on shorter contracts, maybe just for the summer season back when they played in the Coastal Plain League. But now? They’re a full-on touring exhibition team. That changes things.
I read somewhere that the organization treats them as full-time employees, year-round. That sounds more stable than hopping from team to team. They get benefits too, apparently. That points towards something more like a regular job salary, not just game checks.
The big takeaway? Nobody outside the organization seems to know for sure. There are no public salary databases like for the big leagues. The Bananas are a private company, and they don’t have to share that info.
So, based on all the bits and pieces I could scrape together from random articles and fan guesses, it seems like they probably make a decent living wage. Enough to live on, travel, and focus on being a Banana full-time. Probably not getting rich like MLB stars, but likely better than your average independent league player. Maybe somewhere in that $50k – $75k range plus benefits and covered travel? That’s just my best guess after poking around.
It was an interesting little rabbit hole to go down. Kind of makes sense they keep it private, adds to the whole unique mystique of the team, I guess. Still, you can’t help but be curious!
