The Savannah Bananas are heading to the gridiron in 2025, including Clemson's Death Valley
A view of Memorial Stadium is seen, Oct. 30, 2021, in Clemson, S.C. Credit: AP/Hakim Wright Sr.
The Savannah Bananas are taking their baseball hijinks to the gridiron in 2025.
Team owner Jesse Cole said his barnstorming squad, which has packed stadiums around the country with its rollicking, freewheeling version of the national pastime known as Banana Ball, will play at Clemson's 81,000-seat Memorial Stadium on April 26.
The Bananas also will host a pair of games at NFL facilities, Cole said. They will play at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, the 69,000-seat home of the Tennessee Titans, on May 10, followed by 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, home of the Carolina Panthers, on June 7.
“These will be some of the biggest crowds in baseball history to see Banana Ball,” Cole told The Associated Press.
Since a full-sized baseball field does not fit in the tighter confines of a football stadium, especially at the home of the Clemson Tigers, the Bananas plan to install netting at least 50 feet high to make it a bit tougher to hit one out in the shortest portion of the outfield.
Cole — ever the promoter — noted the barrier in all three football stadiums will be significantly taller than Fenway Park's 37-foot-high Green Monster. And, of course, the Bananas plan to use the unusual dimensions to full comedic advantage.
“In Banana Ball, we like to make things a little different,” said Cole, who is known for the yellow tuxedos he wears to games. “We're going to have fun with it.”
Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole emcees a pregame parade and performance for the fans before the gates open, June 7, 2022, in Savannah, Ga. Credit: AP/Stephen B. Morton
The Bananas, who started as summer league team for college players, have become a touring sensation with their carnival-style version of the game, which includes choreographed dance routines, players on stilts and unusual rules such as outs counting when a fan catches a foul ball in the stands.
They even got their own exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Cole said the Bananas and their affiliated teams, the Party Animals and Firefighters, have drawn more than 1 million fans this year. The goal for next year is 2 million.
“We're not just building a team, we’re building a sport," Cole said, “It's all about creating the fastest, most entertaining sport for the fans.”
FILE- The Savannah Bananas line up along the first base line to perform a kick-line dance before a Coastal Plain League baseball game against the Florence Flamingos, June 7, 2022, in Savannah, Ga. Credit: AP/Stephen B. Morton
He takes umbrage with those who call the Bananas nothing more than the Harlem Globetrotters with bats and gloves, pointing out that the winner is never predetermined.
“We have people say, ‘Hey, these guys can really play,’" he said. “The Bananas actually lost their tour in 2023. They lost more games than they won against the Party Animals. That's not going to happen to the Globetrotters.”
Cole said Clemson plans to install a baseball diamond, complete with a dirt infield, on the grass field at Death Valley. The stadiums in Nashville and Charlotte, which have artificial turf surfaces, will paint in the basepaths and other features to make them look more like ballparks.
The Bananas also will headline 18 weekends at major league stadiums in 2025, including their first trips ever to Yankee Stadium in New York, Camden Yards in Baltimore and Truist Park in Atlanta.
During its 2024 campaign, the Bananas played before sellout crowds at big league ballparks in Houston, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland, with another packed house expected next week for a game at the Miami Marlins stadium.
The Bananas also will hold 30 games in their home base of Savannah, the quirky city on Georgia's coast where they were founded in 2016. They play at 5,000-seat Grayson Stadium, which opened in 1926.
“It's our home," Cole said. “We have 200-plus people who travel around the country with us, but we always come back to Savannah. It's the smallest stadium we play at by far, but it's where it all started for us.”
The Bananas will have a new opponent next season, as a team known as the Texas Tailgaters will join the Party Animals and Firefighters. Cole is now planning to start his own circuit, the Banana Ball Championship League, with two more squads coming aboard in 2026.
One can only imagine what the prize will be for the title-winning team.
A trophy shaped like a banana, perhaps?
“In between the football stadiums and MLB stadiums and 2 million fans, we're dreaming as big as we can," Cole said. "We might as well start a league while we're at it.”
