You may have seen the recent announcement flash across the jumbotron at Autzen Stadium that Banana Ball will be coming to play at Autzen Stadium in June of 2026. Yes, a baseball team will be playing in a football stadium, not the other way around. But what is a Banana Ball? How is it different from baseball? Why are they playing in a baseball stadium? 

The Savannah Bananas have been playing their version of baseball, called “Banana Ball,” for seven years. Jesse and Emily Cole took over the team in 2015, initially as a college summer baseball team. Making no money and seeking change, the Savannah Bananas were born. 

The Savannah Bananas are just like the Harlem Globetrotters; they are a traveling exhibition team who play another traveling exhibition team. The Globetrotters play the Washington Generals, and the Savannah Bananas play the Party Animals, the Firefighters, the Texas Tailgaters, the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns. All of these teams travel and play each other, but the two biggest are the Bananas and the Party Animals. 

Starting in 2018, the first game being played in 2020, with each season, the Bananas have gotten more and more fans. From playing at universities, then in Minor League ballparks to Major League ballparks, the Bananas have grown so much in popularity that they are now playing in football stadiums. 

The Bananas bring in a decent amount of money each year. They are projected to be making $100 million this season and are loosely valued at $500 million. They still rake in a lot less cash than their MLB counterparts, but for an exhibition team based on trends, their popularity is undeniable.

What makes the Savannah Bananas different from other baseball teams is that they play by a new set of rules. While the basics are still the same (three strikes you’re out, three outs an inning), Jesse Cole has made some very interesting changes to the game through nine new rules:

1. Every inning counts
   1. If you score more runs than the other team in an inning, you get a point. The first team to win five innings, or get five points, wins the game.
2. Two-hour time limit
3. One-on-one shakedown
   1. No more extra innings. All position players will leave the field, it will just be a batter and a pitcher. The batter must score, or the pitcher must strike him out. Wherever the batter hits the ball, the pitcher must run after it and get the batter out before he scores. If the pitcher gets the batter out, now the team that the pitcher is on will go hit, and the hitting team will pitch. This keeps going until one team scores. 
4. Walks are now sprints
   1. If the batter draws a walk, he may sprint to as many bases as possible. During this time, the catcher must throw the ball to every position player. Once that happens, the ball becomes live, and if the batter is in between bases he can get tagged out.
5. No bunting — bunting sucks
6. No mound visits
7. Batter can steal first
8. A fan-caught foul ball is an out
9. The batter can’t step out of the box

The Bananas focus on a fun and sporadic new form of baseball –– one that promotes crazy antics rather than staunch traditionalism. There are countless videos across YouTube, Instagram, X and TikTok showing their antics, including: backflips that players are doing when making plays, the TikTok dances the entire team does before the pitch, a player wearing stilts for the whole game and moments in the game where the lights go off but players are wearing glow in the dark uniforms and using glow in the dark bases, bats and baseballs. The goal is to make the game as interesting, fun and memorable as possible. 

The Bananas and the Party Animals play in the biggest venues. The Bananas started playing beyond MLB and MiLB (Minor League Baseball) stadiums last season when they played where the Clemson Tigers played, Memorial Stadium, the Tennessee Titans stadium, Nissan Stadium and the Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium. For the 2026 season, they have announced they are playing in nine football stadiums, two NFL and seven college football, one of which is Autzen.

Finally, in order to appeal to the local fans, the Bananas bring out local legends to either pitch an inning, play an inning or take an at-bat. They also bring out internet celebrities, like Mr. Beast, who heads the most popular channel on YouTube, was just brought out at a game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and gave away $50,000 to one randomly selected fan who had to compete against another randomly selected fan. The Bananas have also brought out Austin Schultz, a former professional baseball player turned TikTok sketch artist. 

That begs the question of who could show up at Autzen Stadium. For athletes, those who show up are always retired, but there are plenty of names that could be thrown around, including: Eugene native, ex-Toronto Blue Jay and member of three NBA teams over a 14-year career, Danny Ainge; two-time World Series winner, Jacoby Ellsbury; and member of the 2002 Oakland A’s “Moneyball” team, Scott Hatteberg, to name a few. 

The only way to truly know who will be coming to town will be by going to the games. The Bananas will be occupying Autzen from June 26 through June 28.