Banana Ball has grown from one team to six, with no signs of stopping. The league, founded by Jessie Cole about a decade ago, has grown far beyond the small home stadium where it began: Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia.
The six teams — the Savannah Bananas, the Texas Tailgaters, the Indianapolis Clowns, the Firefighters, the Party Animals and the Loco Beach Coconuts — will hit 23 Major League Baseball stadiums and 10 football stadiums as part of their barnstorming business model. They also have games scheduled for Canada and Mexico in 2027, The Associated Press reported.
The league announced the schedule on Oct. 15 in a showstopping event.
In all, Banana Ball will be played in 79 stadiums in 74 cities in 2027, and is expected to draw an estimated 4.3 million fans, the AP said.
The game is not like normal baseball. It is “fast-paced,” with games limited to two hours, and is billed as “fans-first,” where a fan catch is an out.
“Banana Ball is packed with 11 unique rules designed to keep the action non-stop and the crowd on their feet from the first pitch to the last out. From the no-walks rule to the point-per-inning system, every aspect of Banana Ball is designed with one goal in mind: entertain the fans. It’s baseball reimagined, and once you watch it, you can’t go back,” the league said.
The fast-paced game is also evolving.
When Banana Ball takes the field at Notre Dame Stadium on June 26, there will be two diamonds in opposite corners, with the teams switching every inning, allowing all fans to see the show up close, the AP reported.
If you want to see any of the games, Ticketmaster and StubHub aren’t the place to go. Instead, you have to enter a lottery and hope to get access to buy tickets. " Joining the list doesn’t guarantee the opportunity to buy tickets. A random drawing will take place before the event for the chance to purchase available tickets," the league says. The lottery is open until Oct. 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The team has also partnered with Disney, which streamed the inaugural Banana Bowl championship game from Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 10. Disney has produced a film documenting the team’s growth from its early struggles in 2016 to 2020, when the rules of Banana Ball were set, to the phenomenon it has become, set to air next year.
Banana Ball will be played at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World once again, this time as part of the Banana Ball Open, a four-game series featuring all six teams, with four competing in a bracket-style event, Disney said in a news release.