Savannah Bananas to visit 3 football, 18 MLB stadiums in '25 - ESPN

The Savannah Bananas, the unconventional independent baseball team that has become a nationwide phenomenon, will take its unique brand of «Banana Ball» to 18 Major League Baseball stadiums and three football stadiums in 2025, it was announced Thursday.

Owner Jesse Cole said sellouts are expected at each of those venues.

«We played in front of 1 million fans this past year,» Cole told ESPN. «We're playing in front of 2 million fans next year. Maybe that sounds boastful, but our waitlist is at 3 million right now.»

The Bananas will be joined by the Party Animals, the Firefighters and a new team, the Texas Tailgaters, during a 39-game tour that runs from March to September.

The football stadiums that will host tour stops are Memorial Stadium (Clemson), Nissan Stadium (Tennessee Titans) and Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers).

The Bananas will also play two games each in the home ballparks of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

The visits were announced Thursday night during the organization's annual «world tour city draft» on YouTube, after which fans were able to enter a ticket lottery through the team's website.

Banana Ball made its way to six MLB stadiums this year — Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, Cleveland and Washington — and drew massive crowds at each venue, with tens of thousands of fans showing up hours early to take part in pregame festivities. Prominent former major leaguers such as Ryan Howard, Roger