Savannah Bananas play Texas Tailgaters before record crowd
Updated
Updated · Texas A&M The Battalion · May 3
Savannah Bananas play Texas Tailgaters before record crowd
11 articles · Updated · Texas A&M The Battalion · May 3
At Texas A&M's Kyle Field, a sold-out 102,000 watched the Tailgaters beat the Bananas 4-3 on a temporary baseball diamond built inside the football stadium.
The Banana Ball show mixed unscripted competitive play with celebrity cameos, music, dancing and side acts, as owner Jesse Cole said the turnout was the largest crowd in team history.
The event highlighted Banana Ball's rapid growth from a single team into a six-team league, with Cole saying newer squad the Texas Tailgaters have already built more than one million fans.
Is 'Banana Ball' a fleeting novelty, or will its success permanently change how professional sports leagues engage with their fans?
Can the Bananas' fan-first business model sustain its explosive growth, or will economic pressures force it to become more traditional?