“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
(Matthew 13:44)
I was completely caught off-guard by the Savannah Bananas. More accurately, I didn’t understand the
frenzy around their tickets.
It all started around 6 months ago when my wife casually
asked me to enter the “Savannah Bananas Ticket Lottery”. I had no idea what she was talking about, but
dutifully complied. I clicked on the website
link and inputted my contact information.
Done.
I ignored the marketing jargon at first:
“These aren’t your typical tickets”
“It’s the most fun you’ll ever have at a baseball game”
“You name it, we have it.
Just be mentally prepared.”
From what I could ascertain, the Savannah Bananas were like
the Harlem Globetrotters, except for baseball.
Which is fine, but they didn’t look overly enticing to me.
However, the inputting of my information set off a 6-month
e-mail marketing firework show about how wrong I was:
“You will only have one opportunity to buy tickets to the
game of a lifetime- don’t miss out!”
“Confirm your contact information and double-check your
log-in to make sure you can get into the website when ticket sales go live!!” (received
4 months prior to the actual lottery)
“Make sure your credit card information is preloaded so
you don’t blow the chance of a lifetime!” (received 2 months before the lottery-
I guess I need to make sure the card I put in there isn’t expired by then…)
Things got more intense as lottery day approached. “Reconfirm your log-in info!” “You’ll receive an e-mail 5 days from now
that you will need to click on to keep in the lottery!” It seemed like these e-mails kept showing up requiring
me to do
(and re-do) more work for the right to buy these tickets. Though annoying, on a certain level I was
amazed at their potent marketing acumen that turned an apathetic ticket buyer
into a pup willing to do whatever they asked.
The day approached and I was told I needed to be ready to
buy them at exactly 12:30 PM on the day of my youngest son’s preschool picnic
lunch. Of course, I succumbed and checked
the time frequently during the event; I’d be ready to click on their website link
at exactly the right time. When the time came, the link was slow to respond
making me second-guess my log-in credentials (I know I should have reconfirmed them
for the 5th time like recommended- dumb!!). But it finally went through and my credit
card information was true as well. Four
Savannah Banana upper deck tickets were now mine! The website congratulated me and culminated
their storyline with the fact that I was now one of the luckiest 150,000 people
in the Charlotte-Metro area.
Hooray? Whew!
Besides the cathartic value of getting this experience off of
my chest, it made me think of what else is worth the effort that it took to
secure these Savannah Banana tickets.
From a residential property
management perspective, great rental tenants is the first thing that came
to mind. This is the #1 goal of being a
successful landlord. Great tenants pay
on time, take care of the property, and make working with them a pleasure (I’m
picturing a few of them right now!). And
they are a gift that keeps on giving.
Once they are secured, the benefits accrue for a year and usually much
longer!
So when we see great rental applications come through (high
credit scores, low debt, glowing landlord references, etc.), the next step is to
make sure they don’t get away. Calling
them, texting them, e-mailing, following-up, having after-hour conversations if
necessary. We need them. The biggest difference between a good and bad
property manager is tenant quality.
We’ll find out if the Savannah Bananas experience was worth
the fuss of securing these tickets when we attend the game on June 6th. But smart landlords know that securing great
rental tenants is always worth it!
Happy Landlording!
And the postscript courtesy Axios Charlotte:
Savannah
Bananas tickets sold out in Charlotte in roughly five hours when they went on
sale last week, a team spokesperson tells Axios.
Why it matters: Tickets sold
for up to $65 originally, but resale prices start at $113 on StubHub, at $171
on Vivid Seats and $156 on SeatGeek.
Catch up quick: Ticket access was
based on the Banana Ball Ticket Lottery, which closed last fall. If you were
selected, you were assigned a time to have a chance to purchase tickets.
- Before
tickets went on sale, the Bananas added a second night to their World Tour
stop at Bank of America Stadium to respond to "overwhelming
demand," according to organizers.
My thought bubble: Even with the added
night and assigned ticket purchase time, I still wasn't able to grab tickets. 😔
(Axios Charlotte By Laura Barrero · Apr 16, 2025)
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