The Savannah Bananas are moving to clamp down on inflated ticket prices and rising fraud reports with a new verified secondary marketplace that will allow fans to resell tickets at face value — and only face value.
Founder Jesse Cole unveiled the initiative Monday on Instagram, calling it a fan-first solution to a problem that has grown alongside the team’s explosive popularity. With Banana Ball games regularly selling out, unauthorized resellers have flooded social platforms and secondary ticket sites with marked-up — and sometimes fake — tickets.
Cole said he has seen fans arrive at games with fraudulent tickets “hundreds of times,” only to be turned away at the gate.
“It kills me every single time,” he said, warning that tickets purchased through Facebook Marketplace or other unofficial resale platforms are “extremely risky” and cannot be guaranteed for entry.
The Bananas currently sell primary tickets exclusively through a lottery on their website, limiting fans to five tickets per game. The new marketplace is designed to extend that controlled ecosystem by matching fans who can no longer attend with buyers who missed out in the lottery — without introducing the price spikes common on sites like StubHub, SeatGeek, and Ticketmaster.
“Our verified secondary market lets fans help fans get real Banana Ball tickets at the price we sell them for with zero risk on either side,” Cole said.
According to Cole, the upcoming marketplace will operate with strict guardrails:
- All tickets must be sold at face value — between $35 and $60 — with no markups permitted.
- Only verified fans who purchased tickets directly from the team can list them.
- Fans can list or buy up to five tickets per game, matching the existing lottery limits.
- The team will cover all fees and taxes, eliminating the extra charges typically added by major resale sites.
- Every ticket sold will be guaranteed authentic, providing buyers with confidence they can’t get elsewhere.
The Bananas anticipate launching the verified resale system before the 2025 season begins in February. Until then, Cole urged fans to avoid buying tickets on social media or third-party sites, stressing that only the club’s official channels can guarantee legitimate access.
“This only works because of Banana Ball Nation,” Cole said. “Let’s all be Fans First and let’s win this together.”
