
The Savannah Bananas turned baseball inside out. Founded in 2016 in Savannah, Georgia, the team started as a collegiate summer club in the Coastal Plain League before creating Banana Ball, a modified version of the sport built around showmanship, fan participation, and faster games. Players perform dance routines, comedic sketches, and choreographed bits between and during innings, blending competitive baseball with live entertainment in a way nobody else in the sport has attempted at this scale.
The Bananas won three Petitt Cup championships in the Coastal Plain League (2016, 2021, and 2022) before folding their collegiate team after the 2022 season to go all-in on Banana Ball as a barnstorming exhibition team. Their touring opponent, the Party Animals, debuted in 2020, creating a competitive rivalry that plays out across the country. Unlike the Harlem Globetrotters model that inspired the format, Banana Ball games are unscripted and genuinely competitive. The team's home ballpark is Grayson Stadium in Savannah, but their Banana Ball World Tour has taken them to MLB stadiums like Fenway Park, Nationals Park, Minute Maid Park, Citizens Bank Park, and Progressive Field, plus NFL venues like Raymond James Stadium.
What started as a creative experiment at a minor league park has become one of the biggest live entertainment stories in American sports. The Bananas have drawn crowds of 65,000 at Raymond James Stadium, 81,000 at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, and 102,000 at Kyle Field. Their 2023 World Tour drew over 500,000 total fans across more than 80 games. Coverage from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, and 60 Minutes has turned the franchise into a national conversation about what baseball can be when you build it around the fan experience first.
| Event | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Savannah Bananas event 10/10/2026 | Washington, DC, USA | Nationals Park - Complex |
| Savannah Bananas event 10/30/2026 | Savannah, GA, USA | Historic Grayson Stadium |