So the Savannah Bananas are running a youth tourney in Cleveland. 4 game guarantee using ridiculous bananaball rules. The players get a clinic with the players and 4 tickets to see the Bananas play a game in Progressive Field.......all for the bargain price of $655.......per player, not per team! Oh, and if you don't stay in one of their preferred hotels you add $100/player. What coach in his right mind would take a team to this?
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Yikes -- that's bananas...
And you can't get the "Info Packet" unless you submit all your info....
Yeah, no thanks! What a joke
I saw them locally last year. I feel no need to see them again. If I had little kids I might be inclined to go about every three years. Several games are on tv. The fascination wears off quickly.
I looked into taking my kids, but tickets were way too expensive. I agree, the novelty wears off pretty quick.
Way too pricey even in Des Moines. That's nuts.
It will be sold out. Blame the Bananas all you want but they aren't the problem. People will pay that and they know it so they offer it.
@coach2709 posted:It will be sold out. Blame the Bananas all you want but they aren't the problem. People will pay that and they know it so they offer it.
Not necessarily blaming the Bananas.....just saying $655/kid (plus lodging fee) is ridiculous for 10u-14u baseball. I ran a 15u-16u tourney for 2 years.....with all games on college fields. No gate fees and $500/team. It's obviously all about money for some of these tourney directors
@Buckeye 2015 posted:Not necessarily blaming the Bananas.....just saying $655/kid (plus lodging fee) is ridiculous for 10u-14u baseball. I ran a 15u-16u tourney for 2 years.....with all games on college fields. No gate fees and $500/team. It's obviously all about money for some of these tourney directors
Youth baseball tournaments are big business. The question asked around the conference table is, “What will the market bear? How much are they willing to pay?”
Keep in mind this is more than a baseball tournament. A Bananas ticket is a tough get. When they came to town 8,000 tickets sold out in a half hour. I only went because someone in the Sea Dogs office got me in.
I like the bananas concept, it is basically trying to adapt the Harlem globe trotters concept to baseball.
That youth tournament is way overpriced though
@RJM posted:Youth baseball tournaments are big business. The question asked around the conference table is, “What will the market bear? How much are they willing to pay?”
Keep in mind this is more than a baseball tournament. A Bananas ticket is a tough get. When they came to town 8,000 tickets sold out in a half hour. I only went because someone in the Sea Dogs office got me in.
Each player gets up to 4 tickets to the game. Even if the tickets are valued at $50 each that's still $450 per player to play in a goofy tournament lol
Well if the "street value" of the tix are more than $50 each, then maybe you can recoup more
it is what the market will bear. It is really that simple, this forum has a ton of cheap skates when it comes to youth baseball. They aren't wrong either mind you other than the market is what it is. A dollar to one person isn't the same as 10 to the next person.
I took my son at 14 to Omaha as guest player, spent a couple grand between flights, hotels tourny fees etc. Was it a waste of money in a baseball perspective? sure it was, did I care? No!! We had a blast played 6 games and got see all 3 games of the Vandy / Virginia champ series. Made lifetime memories and plan to go back together one of these years now that he is an adult for long weekend, he needs to develop enough time off from work to make it fit.
Point being it is a business regardless of if it is PG or PBR or Dynamic or the stupid bananas, the market will bear what it bears. Not everyone has the same objectives, just let them enjoy themselves. If you are looking to be financially prudent fine but others are looking for fun or experiences or both...there are lots of ways to skin a cat.
I have much much less issues with this than some PG or PBR events. At least with this event, it's clearly for the fun experience - and a way to get to see a Savannah Banana game (tickets are hard to get). They are not promising college scholarships, or you have to do this event to achieve your dreams of getting into the MLB, or joining these events are the only way to get ranked/graded, or there are MLB/college scouts in attendance (but are probably just volunteer coaches who gets paid to attend).
My point is that even with taking out the cost of the tickets it's still $5000+ per team to play in a 10u-14u tourney. If you want to take your family to see the Bananas that's fine, but I can't imagine being a 10-14u coach and trying to convince the parents that spending that kind of money for this tourney. I ran a 15U/16U tourney for 2 seasons. We were very good (multiple D1 guys w/ 2 still playing in the minors) played in really good tourneys, held our own tourney as a fundraiser and each kid played $450 for the entire season both years! I'd have gotten laughed out of the room if I told them we were playing in a tourney that cost $650/kid lol
It’s more like 7K+ per team. As a coach I wouldn’t even mention this tournament. I wouldn’t want to try to convince a full team of parents to spend $655 each plus the rest of the family expenses. Go see the Bananas on your own.
In 2006 I ran a 13u team for $500 per player. I chipped in an extra $1,000 myself over the season. The NPV of $500 is $765 for a season.
There affordability and there’s sensibility. I don’t see $655 per player plus family expenses as sensible to see the Bananas.
It’s the family expenses that get costly. I spent $1,700 for my son to play six tournaments up and down the east coast on a heavily subsidized 17u team. I spend $2,000+ to travel and watch him play in East Cobb and Fort Myers over twelve days.
