Tampa Bay and George M. Steinbrenner Field to Host Stop on Banana Ball World Tour

The Savannah Bananas are bringing their “World Famous Baseball Circus” to 33 cities and 20 states in 2023, including a first-ever visit to George M. Steinbrenner Field on April 29, 2023.

Affectionately referred to as ‘The Greatest Show in Sports” by ESPN with an atmosphere that would make most MLB teams jealous (Sports Illustrated), the Bananas have reimagined the baseball experience and pushing the limit with this tour after selling out every night of the seven-city 2022 Banana Ball World Tour.

“We could not be more excited to partner with the Savannah Bananas and Steinbrenner Field to bring one of the hottest properties in all of sports and entertainment to our community,” said Rob Higgins, Executive Director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. “Jesse Cole and the Savannah Bananas organization have built a family-friendly spectacle that people from all over the world go to experience. We can’t wait for Team Tampa Bay to greet the Bananas with the same energy that they are going to show on the field. Let’s go Bananas in the Bay!”

Over 700 cities and 28 countries were nominated by thousands of fans for the 2023 tour. The team has now narrowed it down to the final 32 cities for the tour in addition to their games in Savannah.

“The response has been absolutely Bananas for this world tour,” said Owner Jesse Cole. Everywhere we go we hear from fans begging us to come to their city. We are so grateful for their support and because of their passion for the Bananas and Banana Ball we knew we had to extend the tour dramatically in 2023. Now we are bringing the show to almost four times the amount of cities as we did in 2022 to make sure we able to connect with as many Bananas fans as possible.”

The Bananas will play at 10 Triple-A, 6 Double-A, and 6 Single-A stadiums throughout the tour. In addition to George M. Steinbrenner Field (Yankees), there will be three other Spring Training ballparks as well: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches (Nationals and Astros), Scottsdale Stadium (Giants) and the Peoria Sports Complex (Padres and Mariners). The largest ballpark will be Sutter Health Stadium in Sacramento, which can hold over 14,000 Bananiacs.

“The New York Yankees are always focused on bringing world-class events to Steinbrenner Field and having the opportunity to host the Savannah Bananas in April will be great for Tampa,” said Tony Bruno, Senior Vice President & CFO of Yankee Global Enterprises. “Banana Ball is a fun and innovative approach to America’s pastime, and we can’t wait for our local and visiting fans to witness the phenomenon that has the world talking about the Savannah Bananas.”

In addition to the cast of characters, dancers, performers, mascots, and musicians, the Bananas are bringing their own twist of baseball all around the country. Banana Ball is a fast-paced, action-packed style of baseball with rules that include no bunting, a two-hour time limit, fans catching foul balls for outs, batters stealing first base, and a one-on-one tiebreaker showdown at the end of the game if it’s tied. You can watch previous Banana Ball games on ESPN+ and the Bananas YouTube page.

The 2022 World Tour was turned into a 5-part documentary, Bananaland, that can be seen on ESPN+. The Tour was also covered by HBO Real Sports, the Today Show, FOX Sports, The New York Times, LA Times, CBS Sunday Morning and more.

The Bananas will face off against their rival, the Party Animals, as well as other professional baseball teams. The Bananas and Party Animals rosters will be filled by independent professional players who have been scouted, tried out, and signed contracts for the 2023 Banana Ball World Tour. Led by Bananas captains Bill LeRoy and Kyle Luigs, there will be plenty of familiar faces on both teams' rosters. In addition to the everyday guys, the Bananas will have surprise player guests at many stops of the tour. In 2022, former Major League stars Jake Peavy, Jonathan Papelbon, Jonny Gomes, Josh Reddick, Bill Lee and Johnny Bench all joined the team during the tour.

When the Savannah Bananas are not on the road, they play their home games in front of a sold out, 4,000 person crowd at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia. Bananas games at Grayson Stadium have been sold out for six straight years. The priority list for tickets has reached 80,000 in Savannah alone.

The team has been known as TikTok’s favorite team with over 3.5 million followers, millions more than every MLB team. The Bananas have been featured across the globe for everything from playing a game in kilts, using a Dancing First Base Coach, the Banana Nanas Dance Team, the first ever baseball player to wear stilts, a Banana Pep Band, breakdancing players, and a whole lot more.

For the complete schedule and opportunity for tickets, visit www.thesavannahbananas.com/tickets and join the Ticket Pre-sale List or to get information on outings for a group, organization, or business.