The Savannah Bananas are taking their baseball hijinks to the gridiron in 2025.
Group proprietor Jesse Cole mentioned his barnstorming squad, which has packed stadiums across the nation with its rollicking, freewheeling model of the nationwide pastime referred to as Banana Ball, will play at Clemson’s 81,000-seat Memorial Stadium on April 26.
The Bananas additionally will host a pair of video games at NFL services, Cole mentioned. They may play at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, the 69,000-seat house of the Tennessee Titans, on Could 10, adopted by 75,000-seat Financial institution of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., house of the Carolina Panthers, on June 7.
“These shall be among the largest crowds in baseball historical past to see Banana Ball,” Cole instructed the Related Press.
Since a full-sized baseball discipline doesn’t match within the tighter confines of a soccer stadium, particularly on the house of the Clemson Tigers, the Bananas plan to put in netting no less than 50 toes excessive to make it a bit more durable to hit one out within the shortest portion of the outfield.
Cole — ever the promoter — famous the barrier in all three soccer stadiums shall be considerably taller than Fenway Park’s 37-foot-high Inexperienced Monster. And, after all, the Bananas plan to make use of the bizarre dimensions to full comedic benefit.
“In Banana Ball, we prefer to make issues a bit of completely different,” mentioned Cole, who is understood for the yellow tuxedos he wears to video games. “We’re going to have enjoyable with it.”
The Bananas, who began as summer-league crew for faculty gamers, have change into a touring sensation with their carnival-style model of the sport, which incorporates choreographed dance routines, gamers on stilts and strange guidelines akin to outs counting when a fan catches a foul ball within the stands.
They even have an exhibit on the Baseball Corridor of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Cole mentioned the Bananas and their affiliated groups, the Get together Animals and Firefighters, have drawn greater than 1 million followers this yr. The purpose for subsequent yr is 2 million.
“We’re not simply constructing a crew, we’re constructing a sport,” Cole mentioned, “It’s all about creating the quickest, most entertaining sport for the followers.”
He takes umbrage with those that name the Bananas nothing greater than the Harlem Globetrotters with bats and gloves, stating that the winner isn’t predetermined.
“We now have individuals say, ‘Hey, these guys can actually play,’” he mentioned. “The Bananas really misplaced their tour in 2023. They misplaced extra video games than they gained towards the Get together Animals. That’s not going to occur to the Globetrotters.”
Cole mentioned Clemson plans to put in a baseball diamond, full with a mud infield, on the grass discipline at Dying Valley. The stadiums in Nashville and Charlotte, which have synthetic turf surfaces, will paint within the basepaths and different options to make them look extra like ballparks.
The Bananas additionally will headline 18 weekends at major-league stadiums in 2025, together with the Chicago White Sox’s Assured Price Area on Aug. 15-16 and stops at Yankee Stadium in New York, Camden Yards in Baltimore and Truist Park in Atlanta. They may play two video games every at these parks.
Throughout their 2024 marketing campaign, the Bananas performed earlier than sellout crowds at big-league ballparks in Houston, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland, with one other packed home anticipated subsequent week for a sport on the Miami Marlins stadium.
The Bananas additionally will maintain 30 video games of their house base of Savannah, the quirky metropolis on Georgia’s coast the place they have been based in 2016. They play at 5,000-seat Grayson Stadium, which opened in 1926.
“It’s our house,” Cole mentioned. “We now have 200-plus individuals who journey across the nation with us, however we all the time come again to Savannah. It’s the smallest stadium we play at by far, however it’s the place it began for us.”
The Bananas could have a brand new opponent subsequent season, as a crew referred to as the Texas Tailgaters will be part of the Get together Animals and Firefighters. Cole is now planning to begin his personal circuit, the Banana Ball Championship League, with two extra squads coming aboard in 2026.
One can solely think about what the prize shall be for the title-winning crew.
A trophy formed like a banana, maybe?
“In between the soccer stadiums and MLB stadiums and a pair of million followers, we’re dreaming as huge as we are able to,” Cole mentioned. “We would as nicely begin a league whereas we’re at it.”
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