Skalla & Traczuk Return Home to Newhouse

SYRACUSE, N.Y- Biko Skalla and Ivan Traczuk made a pit stop Wednesday evening to talk with current Newhouse students before the Savannah Bananas game on Thursday in Syracuse as part of their “2023 World Tour.” It was the first time since graduating in 2018 that either of them were on campus, as the duo spoke about their rise to finding their niche with the Bananas organization. 

“Rather than telling people that I graduated from Syracuse University, I tell them that I graduated from Newhouse because that’s how much pride I have in this place. I got emotional when I was walking the halls and remembering my struggles during my time here. From staying here till 3 a.m. for a news package edit or making a podcast for the first time and having no idea what I was doing,” Traczuk said. 

The two hit it off in the fall of 2017 even though Skalla was a Broadcast & Digital Journalism major and Traczuk was in Television, Radio & Film as a graduate student. They were a package deal in their first jobs out of college at MLB Network as broadcast associates, producing content around the clock. 

Ivan Traczuk (left) and Biko Skalla (right) before the event. Photo by Theo Stewart II

Even though Skalla and Traczuk were baseball enthusiasts, they felt unfulfilled and aspired to have more creativity in the sports media landscape. Traczuk decided to leave MLB Network and strived to connect his love of sports and comedy by moving out to Hollywood. Shortly after earning an Emmy for his role as an Associate Producer at MLB Network, Skalla took a position with the Savannah Bananas as a “Broadcast Entertainer” in 2020.

“My dream was always to get in an MLB Broadcast booth, but I know that I’d never have the same amount of fun that I have now with the Bananas. We really embrace that we are an entertainment company above anything else related to the baseball played on the field,” Skalla said.      

If you’ve never heard of the Savannah Bananas, they’re not your typical baseball team. Owner Jesse Cole set out to create “The Greatest Show in Sports,” after purchasing the franchise back in 2016. Formerly the Bananas were a member of the Coastal Plains League, a wooden bat league for collegiate players across the country to take part in during the summer. That was until Cole had an idea to break away from the mold and play by their own set of rules called “Banana Ball” that would speed up the game and put the fans first. 

Owner Jesse Cole decided instead of staying in Savannah they could bring excitement and entertainment to a wider audience by traveling to cities across the country. Following the first-ever “Banana Ball World Tour” in 2022, Cole expanded the tour to 33 different cities for 87 total games. The tour wraps up in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday, September 16th, following their game at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse. 

As the Bananas continued to gain traction on social media, Skalla invited Traczuk down to Savannah to see what all the hype was about in “Bananaland.” After being skeptical at first, Traczuk visited his college buddy and accepted an offer at the beginning of 2022 to become the Banana’s Director of Creative Content. 

“It was honestly terrifying moving to Savannah and back to the East Coast. I thought at the time that I was giving up my dream of working in Los Angeles. But if something is scaring you, it’s worth doing,” Traczuk said. 

Ivan Traczuk explaining the creative process for social content with the Savannah Bananas to Sports Media Director Olivia Stomski. Photo by Theo Stewart II

In the first three months that Traczuk was with the organization, their TikTok following went from 845,000 to 3 million followers. The Banana’s creative team started to do “over-the-top meetings,” brainstorming what crazy ideas they could come up with next. Fans across the country craved content of the player’s choreographed dances by putting their own twist on the most current social media trends. 

Skalla and Traczuk learned the importance of listening to the fans to hear what they wanted to see the players do. Thinking outside of the box has always come naturally to the Newhouse products, but the opportunity to be authentically themselves is something that they don’t take for granted. 

“My first ever media credential was for a Syracuse Mets game towards the end of summer boot camp. Instead of doing a game recap like my other classmates, I gravitated towards doing my assignment on the mascot. I’ve always wanted to do the story that wasn’t going to be on the 6 p.m. SportsCenter, but instead show the viewer why this mattered,” Trackzuk said. 

“I think my job is probably 98 percent similar to other professional broadcasters. I just have more emphasis on making the fans feel a part of the action from home. My style is unique because I took everything that I learned here at Newhouse, while also having my personality shine through with my excitement or by saying funny phrases,” Skalla said. 

Make sure to follow the Savannah Bananas on social media to see what tricks they have up their sleeve during their game in Syracuse. Also, be on the lookout for other alumni guest speakers throughout the academic year by following the Newhouse Sports Media Center on social media.