The Savannah Bananas will bring their brand of hold-on-to-your-hat baseball with a side of silliness to Wisconsin this week for three sold-out games at Franklin Field. The popular collegiate summer baseball team gained viral fame due to their creative take on the game and fan engagement exhibits, and will play one game nightly during their visit.
The Bananas offices are an amusing spectacle of costumed 20-somethings clad in extravagant garb: from their merchandiser wearing a Mandalorian helmet and finance person in bearded kilt to the director of marketing donning an enormous dinosaur head! Like Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, every member of their staff seems as excited about what they do as those waiting on their waitlist for tickets – an enthusiastic response that has drawn over 600,000 supporters so far!
From its founding, The Bananas’ philosophy has been to elevate sporting events beyond simply sporting events and create an experience for their community. Their first season was an enormous success; and after that they started touring internationally as “Banana Ball World Tour.” Additionally they still play their home games at Savannah Grayson Stadium.
As they travel, The Bananas bring their unique brand of baseball with them and create an environment that would rival that of most Major League teams (Sports Illustrated noted that its “baseball experience” could inspire Major Leaguers to reimagine their stadiums and games). Over time, The Bananas have come to be known as a Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad of Professional Baseball; its members range from breakdancing first base coaches, world’s shortest announcers, line dancing senior women known collectively as The Banana Nanas!
After experiencing competitive baseball in one of the country’s independent professional leagues, Bananas players appear genuinely satisfied to be part of this team. Each player the Guardian spoke with seemed not only content but thrilled about his or her place within it.
Bananas stand out as an impressive team due to their ability to attract new fans. TikTok users already follow them, giving them access to new fans. While other organizations could attempt to emulate some of their tactics and get some exposure through them, their charisma makes the Bananas truly stand out and connect with their target demographic.
The team has introduced rules intended to make the game more exciting for fans. When ball four is called, for example, the batter doesn’t simply advance to first; fielders must chase him down and throw him out; possibly turning a walk into an inside-the-park home run! In addition, each team scoring the most runs per inning will receive a banana as an incentive prize! Not only has Major League Baseball introduced numerous fan-friendly changes this year.