Inside The Savannah Bananas: $80M+ In Ticket Sales, $50M+ In Merch, And A $1B Valuation Debate
Ticket sales look like an MLB franchise, but expenses resemble a touring circus. Today's newsletter takes you inside the Savannah Bananas surprising P&L.
The Savannah Bananas just released a business update (and the numbers are wild).
We’re talking 2.2 million tickets sold, over $50 million in merchandise sales, and 12.7 million new social media followers. But that’s not all. Despite the Savannah Bananas being a private business and therefore not required to release public disclosures, the team gave us an inside look at everything from player salaries to employee headcount.
So for today’s newsletter, we’re going to dive deep into the numbers. In addition to a summary of the key items — ticket sales, merchandise transactions, player salaries, production and travel expenses — we’ll walk through a high-level valuation model for the team by comparing their annual numbers to some of MLB’s most popular teams.
This is a must-read for sports business fans, as 1) the numbers will shock you, and 2) it’s a unique opportunity to look inside the books for one of the fastest-growing organizations in all of sports.
The Bananas sold 2.2 million tickets in 2025 (across 113 games)
The Bananas played 113 games last year across college, minor league, MLB, and NFL stadiums. At 2.2 million tickets sold, the Bananas would have ranked 20th in MLB ticket sales, ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Twins, and 2x more than the Miami Marlins (1.1M).
The Bananas have standardized ticket prices: $35 for minor league stadiums, $40 for MLB stadiums. There are also VIP ticket packages that sell for more than $100, but even if we multiply the cheapest ticket ($35) by the total number of tickets sold (2.2 million), that’s $77 million in ticket sales. The real number is likely even higher.
The Bananas also have a 91% ticket redemption rate. That is similar to what an A-list artist might see for an indoor concert, but it’s significantly higher than the average ticket redemption rate across professional sports, especially predominantly outdoor leagues like the NFL, MLB, and MLS.
Merchandise became a $50 million business in 2025
The Bananas say 787,000 fans purchased merchandise in 2025, totaling 1.96 million total items. That means the average person is purchasing ~2.5 items at checkout, with 80% of total sales taking place in person — 621,000 at live shows versus 166,000 online.
If we multiply the total number of items purchased (1.96 million) by a blended average transaction price of $30, that’s $58.8 million in merchandise revenue. For context, the Atlanta Braves reported $47.7 million in retail/licensing revenue in 2024, meaning the Bananas are likely generating more merchandise revenue than most MLB teams.
To meet this demand, the Bananas recently invested in a 100,000-square-foot warehouse, increasing order fulfillment capacity by 47% during the holiday season.