Ask any avid TikTok user about the Savannah Bananas and chances are, they’ll know who you’re talking about. You don’t even have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the appeal of the Savannah Bananas. (Okay, I promise I’ll do my best to limit the Banana puns.)
I remember stumbling upon the Bananas myself when I was scrolling through my timeline. The caption read “The best thing you’ll see on a baseball field,” so of course I had to see if it was worth watching. Can confirm, it was. The pitcher looked ready to pitch the ball to the hitter with the way he brought his arm back, but instead of throwing, he started dancing to Mariah Carey’s “It’s A Wrap,” instead. It got even better when the players standing on the bases, and even the outfield, joined in on the shenanigans, revealing that it was a choreographed performance all along. I was hooked after that.
Affectionately dubbed the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, the Savannah Bananas are not to be confused with your ordinary MLB or minor league team. Striving to create the best fan experience “in the world,” the Bananas first tested out their unconventional games in Lander University back in 2018. It’s still classic baseball, but with a sprinkle of dance breaks, costume changes and yes, stilts.
Savanah Alaniz was still attending Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi when she was doing the all-too familiar job/internship search we all remember (or are still experiencing) from our college years. And yes, her name is Savanah. During Savanah’s search, she stumbled upon an internship application for the Savannah Bananas. Taking a leap of faith, she secured an interview with them and things changed for the better, both for the team and for Savanah.
One of the questions Savanah was asked during her interview was, “What’s one thing you would change for our marketing?” This was a no-brainer for Savanah who replied, “Oh I’d get you guys a TikTok, like easy peasy, that’s one thing where I think y’all could grow.” And 5 million TikTok followers later, it’s safe to say that Savanah made the right call.
Before she graduated, Savanah was first promoted to Marketing Assistant before taking on her current position as the Marketing Coordinator for the Savannah Bananas. Under her tenure, she had gained 10,000 followers on TikTok, cleverly directing Instagram followers to their up-and-coming TikTok page. Her plan for the team was a marketing strategy that catered to the content she wanted to see on TikTok: “cute boys.”
“I’m so competitive, so I like being ahead of everyone else,” says Alaniz. “Like, if we can do this trend before they do, right on... and I just want to do it better than everyone, so I think that’s one way that like, if somebody does it better than us, I’m like, ‘Ohhh how are we going to do it better next time.”
Thanks to Savanah, fans all over the world are not only gaining knowledge on baseball, they are having the most enjoyable experience while doing so. The Bananas sold out just minutes after they posted tickets online, selling out for every single one of their games, both home and away. So if you see a trend suddenly going viral on TikTok or Instagram Reels, you can certainly count on the team to go bananas with it.
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