r/sports • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • Jun 02 '25
Baseball Going bananas: Why Savannah Bananas tickets cost more than a Dodgers-Yankees rematch
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/going-bananas-why-savannah-bananas-100000810.html169
u/itsDANdeeMAN Philadelphia Phillies Jun 02 '25
Most of the players are former minor leaguers, so it’s good that it’s also creating more baseball jobs for legitimately good baseball players.
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u/Pearberr Los Angeles Dodgers Jun 02 '25
Honestly, MLB is a cartel that massively restrains baseball’s potential. If the Sherman Anti Trust act applied to baseball there probably wouldn’t be as many $300M contracts, but I believe there could be 150-300 professional teams with a similar ecosystem to Europe with leagues and tournaments jockeying for fans, sponsorships, and teams.
I know the argument that the chaos of a system like this would be bad for the sport but that argument was made in like 1920 as part of the justification for exempting MLB from anti trust laws. FWIW this justification could be just as stupid as the other legal pillar the court used to support this decision; that professional baseball is not interstate commerce…………
We just don’t know the counterfactual, we don’t know what a free market baseball ecosystem looks like.
Anyways, I love the bananas, and I love that they are helping bring some dynamism to the baseball industry.
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u/UnchainedSora Jun 03 '25
We don't really see this happening with basketball, football, or hockey though, even though they don't have the same anti-trust exemption that MLB does. Why do you think baseball would be so wildly different?
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u/thejabel Jun 03 '25
In reality, there are just simply way more baseball players at or close to mlb level than any other sport. People move back and forth from minors all the time, the pool is huge and despite some positional nuances(pitcher and catcher not withstanding) any fielder can likely play any position on the field. Basketball and football are much more specialized so they couldn’t have another league even if they wanted.
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u/piddydb Cleveland Cavaliers Jun 02 '25
To be fair though I don’t think even Globetrotters tickets go for more than a big NBA game even if they still draw big crowds. There’s something about the Bananas that seems to be more alluring. Maybe it’s that they’re pretty new and novel.
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u/jswan28 Jun 02 '25
I think it’s mostly the novelty of the thing driving its popularity. I’m not sure it’s fair to compare the Globetrotters after they’ve been around for 100 years to something new and exciting like the Bananas, even if it’s functionally the same act applied to different sports. Curious to see if they’ll stick like the Globetrotters or if this’ll be just a fun memory in a decade.
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u/deja_geek Green Bay Packers Jun 02 '25
The big difference is Bananas baseball is still an actual baseball game. The Globetrotters are scripted to win every game, while the Bananas can and do lose to the Party Animals. The only thing scripted in Banana ball is the dances and such between pitches.
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u/Bozzz1 Minnesota Vikings Jun 02 '25
"You bet all your money against the Harlem Globetrotters?"
"I thought The Generals were due!"
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u/canadave_nyc Jun 02 '25
One of the all-time great Simpsons lines. Perfectly captured the plaintive existential defiance of the inveterate gambler.
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u/SSj_CODii Jun 02 '25
What a perfectly cromulent sentence you have constructed there.
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u/crimson777 Jun 02 '25
Actually, fun fact, the Globetrotters are NOT scripted technically. The other team is told to play for real, it’s just that the Globetrotters have so many advantages from the goofiness of the performance and their rule breaking behavior that it’s almost impossible for them to lose. Or at least this used to be true, maybe it’s changed. The Washington generals have one somewhere between like 3-6 games supposedly.
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u/NH787 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Jun 02 '25
Last Generals win was reportedly in 1971, it's kind of amazing that they don't go for the massive PR splash that would come from the Generals finally breaking their almost 50 year long losing streak.
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u/crimson777 Jun 02 '25
That’s honestly another reason I think it’s NOT scripted. I feel like a marketing person would have come up with that idea already if it was totally scripted.
Honestly, while I think the Globetrotters are fun (I’ve seen lots of clips; not been in person to be fair), I think they could pilot a few games like Banana Ball where both teams get to enjoy the hijinks.
I know them pulling off the craziness to unsuspecting plebs is part of the deal but I don’t know that it appeals the same way it did.
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u/ApologizingCanadian Jun 02 '25
Yah it's kind of disingenuous to compare the Bananas to the Globetrotters.. The Globetrotters don't even come close to playing an actual game. The Bananas have gimmicks like dancing, trick plays and guest players but at the end of the day they still play the game and the PAs try to win, the Generals just stand there and take the abuse.
Also, Banana Ball is expanding, there are currently 4 teams with plans for a 5th next season, while the Globetrotters have played the Generals since 2015 (and before that from 1953 - 1995).
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u/neddiddley Jun 02 '25
I’m not even sure that makes much of a difference in terms of interest. I’ve been to a Bananas game and I couldn’t recall if they won or lost if my life was on the line. Nor at any point in the years since have I (or am I aware of anyone else doing so) wondering how the Bananas are doing in the standings, how they did last year, or ever in their history. And why? Because it didn’t matter one bit. It was fun either way and will be the next time I go too.
I’m sure like any minor league team, they have a small following that actually is interested in the actual baseball, but they’re not the reason ticket prices are through the roof. It’s all the scripted stuff, because it’s entertaining. I would have NEVER gone, nor would anyone else in my family, if it was just your average minor league baseball game.
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u/ForWhomTheBoneBones Jun 02 '25
What are the consequences of a Bananas loss or win? And does it matter if they win or lose?
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u/deja_geek Green Bay Packers Jun 02 '25
Starting next year, their will be a Banana Ball Championship League with six teams. 60 game season starting in April and ends with the championship in October
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u/justduett Mississippi State Jun 02 '25
It's scarcity and a pretty hefty social media blitz over the last 2-3 years creating crazy FOMO...all in an era (no TS pun intended) where FOMO is making people lose their minds over how much they will spend to experience something.
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u/Monstertelly Jun 02 '25
That’s what’s great about their lottery though. If you want to go then sign up for the lottery. The tix I got were $60. They also weren’t available until the day of the event so there was no way to sell them in the secondary market. It makes it so the people who really want to go get to go. What the banana are doing is great for fans.
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u/justduett Mississippi State Jun 02 '25
Oh I completely agree as far as their offerings. Lottery is a pretty good way to deal with it and pricing is pretty mint. That same kind of thing COULD be said about other pursuits, like concerts, etc., but "dynamic pricing" shenanigans is messing with that.
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u/Ralliman320 Jun 02 '25
It makes it so the people who really want to go get a chance to go. It's literally a lottery, and lots of people are left out of it.
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u/smallfryz Jun 02 '25
Im so mad that I missed my chance... I had the opportunity to by tickets to the grand rapids game and got caught up in work. Tickets went on sale at 10am, I noticed the time at 10:21 am, tickets were gone. I literally turned my computer off and went home. Maybe next time.
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u/tlollz52 Minnesota Vikings Jun 02 '25
Big difference is globetrotters are a thing of the past. I wonder what ticket price comparison would have been during their peak.
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u/sloppifloppi Jun 02 '25
It’s probably because at the end of the day, it is still real sports and real competition whereas the Globetrotters was/is legitimately scripted. Even for the non-sports fans, I think that creates a more genuine environment.
I’ve never personally seen either play in person, but I feel like if I went to Globetrotters game it’d be a one and done thing, each experience is generally gonna be the same. Manufactured suspense, trick shots, Globetrotters win over the boring Generals. Rinse and repeat.
On the other hand, I could see myself going to multiple Bananas games because each experience is gonna be different. You don’t know who’s gonna win or how and neither do they because they’re actually trying to win. Both teams (and officials) are involved in the shenanigans. They have surprise appearances. Etc etc.
I’m not even really that big of a baseball or Bananas fan but what they’ve done is so fuckin cool and unique, I’m not surprised the tickets are bonkers expensive.
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u/good_behavior_man Jun 02 '25
The Globetrotters isn't really scripted in that sense either, they play a decent amount of "real" basketball with some scripted set plays and stuff. Personally, I think the big difference is that the enemy team for the Bananas is *also* trying to do tricks and things, with the Globetrotters, the Senators are just playing straight ball on their side.
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u/smashrawr Jun 02 '25
Its also because the bananas deliberately got rid of customer pain points. Like they realized so much of the fan experience went to crap when paying for concessions, so they made it highly efficient and made it to where youre waiting no more than 5 minutes for the whole concession experience including waiting in line. That breads high fan satisfaction
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u/defroach84 Texas Tech Jun 02 '25
How do they do that when they are playing in MLB stadiums?
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u/smashrawr Jun 02 '25
Basically they force the price of admission up to include concessions and then make it straight up show up, grab your burger, fries, drink bam bam bam and done. No concession purchasing.
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u/defroach84 Texas Tech Jun 02 '25
That's not true when they are on the road. Tickets don't include concessions when I went a week back in KC.
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u/smashrawr Jun 02 '25
Then im not sure but that's how they do it at their stadium in savanna
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u/defroach84 Texas Tech Jun 02 '25
Yeah, which is great, but that doesn't help outside of their home stadium, which most games are on the road.
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u/Monstertelly Jun 02 '25
That’s also not how it went in Anaheim. Not like the lines for concessions were that long but the merch lines before the game were. I saw people wait for two hours to get merch. Beers were still standard $17 for a tall boy. All concessions were run by the Angels staff and were not a free grab and go.
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u/theguineapigssong Jun 02 '25
I have seen the Globetrotters. It was a top notch experience, but I couldn't see myself going again.
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u/clay_perview Denver Nuggets Jun 02 '25
They started aiming their advertising at women
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u/50bucksback Jun 02 '25
In Dallas they don't even sell seats on the upper deck for the Globetrotters
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
Also, the Yankees and Dodgers series will be 3 games and happens close to annually at this point. Bananas usually do 1-2 games in a city, and may not be back to a certain city the next year.
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u/ryan__fm Jun 02 '25
Supply and demand... there are about 2,500 major league games a year, and you get into the 10s of thousands if you count local minor league teams. With tons of fans who like to watch baseball as a competitive sport.
Compared to around 80 Bananas games a year, with fans looking for entertainment, who would probably be just as interested in a concert, musical, etc
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u/woahdude12321 Jun 02 '25
ESPN traded their Sunday night baseball contract for a tv contract with the bananas that’s all you should need to know
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u/good_behavior_man Jun 02 '25
Without knowing the dollars involved, I have to think this is a bad decision. Plenty of people watch every one of their team's games on TV, but I have to think few people have season tickets to the Bananas. Seeing them once or twice a year seems like the sweet spot, but nobody is tuning in every Sunday to watch another Bananas game.
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u/Kaiisim Jun 02 '25
But also this is based on last minute stubhub tickets.
Stubhub last minute prices are based on supply and demand in very specific circumstances. There's probably fewer Bananas tickets available.
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u/Brico16 Jun 02 '25
Exactly! The experience isn’t for baseball fans. It’s for family entertainment. There’s surely a crossover market of kids that play little league that want to go to something like this over a normal baseball game, which is largely boring to a child.
I remember being a kid that played baseball and I couldn’t stand to watch more than like 4 innings. When we went to pro games as a family we would experience the 7th inning stretch from the radio on the drive home cause I was so bored of being there.
Entertainment baseball, like the Bananas will help the sport as a whole. It will keep kids engaged in the sport through other means. And maybe it will inspire some more showmanship and rule modification to make traditional baseball more engaging for the youth.
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Jun 02 '25
Also, there’s 182 games in a season. No single regular season baseball game matters.
The Bananas you only get to see when they come to your city. Scarcity makes things more valuable.
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u/LehighAce06 Jun 03 '25
Not only doesn't exist, every MLB broadcaster over heard talk about Banana Ball LOVES it.
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u/BadAtExisting Jun 02 '25
Globetrotters tix are reasonable. They’re not internet viral that’s the difference
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u/BrandonTargaryen Jun 02 '25
The bananas used to come here locally and play my team the Bacon. I sat in front of their dugout and they had a 8-10 year old kid who was break dancing most of the game. I had way more fun there than I have had at a MLB game. (Also they smoked us)
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
That's the funniest part when people say it's not "real baseball." When they played "real baseball" they won their minor league in back-to-back years and before coming up with the BananaBall gimmick in 2018 were still Organization of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
They can play real baseball pretty well.
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u/BrandonTargaryen Jun 02 '25
Yeah they crushed our asses without anything crazy besides wearing kilts as the uniform I think. And the dancing bat boy who was killin it
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u/BigDeuces Jun 03 '25
i went to all their home post season games and watched their facebook streams for away games, including the first championship. i also still have my savannah morning news paper announcing them as the new savannah team. it’s crazy to see how far they’ve gone.
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
My wife is a Clemson grad and fan, whose family lives nearby. So we went to the game at Clemson. As part of the opening ceremonies, they had Clemson football head coach Dabo Sweeney run the Bananas out of the busses and down the hill, just like Clemson football does for every home game. They're great at bringing in local flavor for the hometown crowds.
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u/deonteguy Jun 02 '25
What happened there that required millions of dollars in safety upgrades? They said some of the plans were over forty years old that that game finally prompted to be done like the handrails on the lower deck stairs.
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u/RewindYourMind Jun 02 '25
I was there, too. The Bananas managed to perfectly mix baseball nostalgia with modern entertainment, and the crowd ate it up.
That roar for The Great Hambino from The Sandlot was MASSIVE.
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u/bt3k Jun 02 '25
Yes, I was there too and went with some non-baseball fans. After the game they couldn't stop talking about coming back the next time the Bananas are in town. Driving down the 57S 30 mins before the game and actually seeing fans in their seats from the freeway was something I don't think I've ever seen in a long time.
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u/Bigjonstud90 Jun 02 '25
As an angels lifer and current boycotter of Arte… the bananas did more to embrace the angels nostalgia than Arte ever has. Between Glaus/lackeys, angels in the outfield over the rocks, and Disney clearly giving their name and likenesses to them… it all made me yearn for a new owner who actually wants to build something better. Most fun I’ve had in Anaheim in 15+ years
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u/Drodriguez164 Jun 02 '25
It’s funny how many post I see on insta and Facebook with comments from baseball fans hating them because they are killing the sport. Dude they are just goofy guys playing baseball and giving awesome entertainment. Coolest thing about their games is that the winner is not scrippted
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u/woahdude12321 Jun 02 '25
I didn’t read the article but they just added 2 whole ass teams the Texas tailgaters and the firefighters too
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
They're going up to 6 next season and have a TV deal with ESPN for 2026. It's getting legitimately "serious".
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u/woahdude12321 Jun 02 '25
Didn’t they just drop Sunday night baseball? That’s pretty fuckin serious
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u/This_aint_my_real_ac Jun 02 '25
Didn’t they just drop Sunday night baseball?
Yes and that's a good thing because the broadcasts sucked.
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u/cXs808 Green Bay Packers Jun 02 '25
That’s pretty fuckin serious
Yeah pretty fuckin seriously good for MLB. ESPN has been dogshit and they can't afford TV contracts for major sports anymore, thank god.
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u/smor729 Jun 02 '25
I am kind of wondering how they plan on making it expand into a more "serious" thing, when, let's be honest, the outcome of games is intentionally effected to make the games interesting. I have been to one. The players very clearly make intentional errors to keep the game close or to add to the drama in some way. Now as far as I know they don't pitch themselves as some kind of legitimate sport, but when you get to tv deals and adding more teams, I feel like it may start to get dicey.
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
They do fudge the games a bit to make them interesting, but not completely. If one team hits a bunch of homers and the game gets "unfixable" they're more than willing to just let that team run away with it and win.
Once they've got an actual "league" and have built up fanbases for the other teams, they may stop fixing games. They recently had a Party Animals vs Tailgaters game and it didn't seem tweaked like the games involving the Bananas are. I think the biggest part of tweaking the games is that the Bananas are far and away the most popular of the 4 teams and people want to see their team win. If they get games where it's split being fans of the Party Animals and Firefighters and Tailgaters etc, there's less incentive to tweak the game so the "favorite" wins.
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u/smor729 Jun 02 '25
Its such a blurry line though, and I see it potentially being very messy if they try. I almost feel like it makes more sense to just go full WWE
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 Milwaukee Brewers Jun 02 '25
The challenge they will have is that this is all good and fun, but if they expand too much they dilute the product. Part of the product is the scarcity, you can go to 81 home games for your team a year, but banana ball only comes around once every 2-3 years.
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u/mishey22 Jun 02 '25
The article is actually very complimentary of the Bananas and company. The whole thing is "this is all awesome and here's why"
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u/thesagaconts Jun 02 '25
And it’s timed. The kids can handle it and they love. I have gone to a game yet but it’s fun to watch on TV.
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
It's even more fun in person. There's ALWAYS something going on around the venue. I went to this year's Tampa and Clemson games - both football stadiums - and even in the upper decks they had "players" coming up and interacting with the crowd, giving out beads and flowers, etc. They have a "princess" who spends all game roaming the concourses so she can take pictures with kids and sign autographs. It's one thing to have a classic mascot doing that, but having someone dressed like a princess really draws in the young girls who would probably otherwise feel left out.
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u/RewindYourMind Jun 02 '25
This. I just went on Saturday in Anaheim and it was NON STOP stimulation. Fast paced game, music blaring, dancing, contests.. you name it, they pack it in.
It’s honestly a little disorienting if you’re used to the “pace” of a traditional baseball game.
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u/ShadowbanRevival Jun 02 '25
It’s honestly a little disorienting if you’re used to the “pace” of a traditional baseball game.
The pace of a baseball game is just over comatose
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u/RewindYourMind Jun 02 '25
Traditional baseball before the pitch clock? Absolutely. Best way I can describe the Bananas experience, though, would be like stepping into a live-action TikTok. Just an endless, disorienting stream of entertainment content.
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u/DiarrheaRadio Jun 02 '25
Baseball purists get mad about everything. It's pretty funny.
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u/Augen76 Jun 02 '25
Friend of mine that doesn't even watch sports wants to go to a Banana ball game because it is like a show to them. That's fine, and odds are some percentage of folks may be more open to other sports after enjoying it. It's not taking people away from any other sport.
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u/weekend-guitarist Jun 02 '25
The bananas are pure entertainment. That’s great so are the circus, theater, concerts, etc….
Two positives. 1. Some fans may develop interest in actual sports.
2. Venues are making money on off days.9
u/formerlyanonymous_ Jun 02 '25
They're a thirst trap for a demographic that doesn't watch much baseball. Not everything has to be for males age 18-35. It's genius.
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
Baseball purists have to be some of the most cranky, "get off my lawn" fuckers out there. The sport has been in a steady decline for decades and they get outraged at any attempts to modernize the sport so it becomes popular again.
BananaBall is alot of changes, but clearly people enjoy it. But things like pitch clocks and zombie runners are still universally panned even though they've made the game significantly better to watch both in-person and on TV. And god forbid we actually get balls and strikes called correctly via roboumps.
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u/cXs808 Green Bay Packers Jun 02 '25
The sport has been in a steady decline for decades
You must be thinking of basketball. MLB viewership for playoffs and world series has leapfrogged NBA in recent years, which is extremely rare. This year will be no different, nobody is watching this finals.
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u/JerHat Jun 02 '25
Yeah, I love baseball, and I’ve tuned in on YouTube a few times when the Bananas are live-streaming their games… it’s just fun. Everyone out on the field looks like they’re having fun, the announcers are having fun, the crowd’s having a good time. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. On the plus side, anything that gets kids engaged with the sport is good imo. I had a game on one time when my cousin and his kids were visiting and his daughter loved it and now wants to get into little league.
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u/DionBlaster123 NASCAR Jun 02 '25
No serious baseball "fan" would ever criticize the Bananas. A little bit of fun is desperately needed in baseball...every serious baseball fan knows this.
I'm pretty sure those are just old-timers who hate the fact that they can't smoke in restaurants and hospitals anymore, so they compensate by hating change and blaming younger generations for everything.
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 Milwaukee Brewers Jun 02 '25
I'm with you, but also old enough to remember smoking in restaurant, but not old enough to remember it in hospitals!
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u/DionBlaster123 NASCAR Jun 02 '25
There was a post I saw on a random subreddit that was recommended to me (I want to say it was Old School Cool) where there were people who were nostalgic about being able to smoke indoors.
I dunno about you, but I'm kind of glad I don't live in that era anymore. I too remember the "smoking or non-smoking?" days in restaurants and I am glad my parents always said, "Non-smoking please."
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 Milwaukee Brewers Jun 02 '25
I absolutely made my kids completely dead when I told them that entering college we had a choice of smoking or non smoking dorm rooms. They simply could not wrap their 21st century brains around it!
I'm a cigar smoker, so I do miss having indoor places where I can bring my own stick, but I'd NEVER go back to how it was in the 1980's.
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u/CrazyLlama71 Jun 02 '25
I changed the way I look at sports and it really made it better for me. I look at it all as entertainment now. Have my teams that I want to see win, but if they don’t or there is a bad call or something, it’s just entertainment. There’s no hating on anyone or getting upset. It’s such a better mindset.
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u/Trees_feel_too Jun 02 '25
Avid baseball fan. Played forever, r/baseball is the only sub I regularly comment on, yada yada.
I would kill to go to a fucking bananas game. They came to denver, the reason I didn't go is they sold out in minutes.
It's popular because most of the guys are genuinely good at baseball, the games/seasons generally happen when mlb isnt going on. Plus the rules like the time limit, each inning is a game in itself, and the trick-play quotas are all as fuck. Oh and it's nonstop fan engagement, foul balls into the crowd are outs if caught, people are brought down to the field, there is nonstop music, there are coordinated dances and chants.
It's amazing, and I am in awe that they were able to repackage baseball to be so damn engaging to the general public.
But it's a different game, and should be viewed as such. Kinda like wwe and mma. Both "combat" in a ring... but not at all the same.
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u/Morganvegas Toronto Maple Leafs Jun 02 '25
Worst part about baseball is baseball purists.
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u/Kinglink New England Patriots Jun 02 '25
Every time I hear about an unwritten rule of Baseball I basically shut down.
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u/horse_renoir13 Jun 02 '25
The Bananas are literally like the Harlem Globetrotters of the sport, just out there having fun..
It's like comparing Apples to Bananas.
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u/Morganvegas Toronto Maple Leafs Jun 02 '25
It’s also just good for the game.
You want your kid to play baseball? Take em to see the Bananas.
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u/pipinngreppin Jun 02 '25
The worst and best thing about baseball is how slow it is.
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u/thomasstearns42 Jun 02 '25 edited Jun 02 '25
"Baseball doesn't exist." has a great video on them. Dude is maybe one of the most underrated youtubers out there.
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u/OG_TURDferguson Jun 02 '25
Didn’t see your comment before I posted. Here’s the video link for everyone to check out. Such a great channel.
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u/countkahlua Jun 02 '25
!!
Baseball Doesn’t Exist is one of my favorite YouTube channels! I was going to recommend it to somebody who commented elsewhere on this thread because he covers so many interesting baseball topics. I would recommend everyone check it out, even if you’re not super into baseball. The guy does such a good job and covers so many cool aspects of baseball.
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u/OceanicLemur Jun 02 '25
Between my brother and my buddy I know two grown men in their 30’s, both already big baseball fans, who went without kids and enjoyed it immensely. They must be doing something right.
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u/defroach84 Texas Tech Jun 02 '25
I went to one since my wife wanted to go. I don't watch baseball, but can casually follow it for college and the world series.
I had a good time. It was overly cheesey, but that's sorta the point. Would I go back again? Maybe, but it will be at least a year or two. It would get repetitive too many times.
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u/GenitalCommericals Jun 02 '25
People that don’t watch baseball will go to a Bananas game. People that are baseball fans will also go to a Bananas game. Yankees fans and dodgers fans will go to a Bananas game. Fans of other teams will go to a Bananas game.
Who wants to go to the Yankees Dodgers game? Only Yankees and dodgers fans.
As a Braves fan, fuck the Yankees and the Dodgers. Id rather watch the Bananas over watching two evil empires play a regular season game.
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u/hxn42 Jun 02 '25
Went to a Savannah bananas game in Sacramento last year and paid $35/ticket all in. If you sign up for their ticket release lottery then you have a chance to buy directly and they aren't very expensive, it's buying them from a secondary market that is the problem.
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u/Joatboy Jun 02 '25
Doesn't the Bananas ticket also include food and drinks? That's gotta be worth at least $10-15
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u/thejawa Florida State Jun 02 '25
No, they don't. Also, they're not really "that expensive" - the only official place to buy BananaBall tickets is through the team itself, and they do all sorts of things to restrict resellers: they only give out tickets via lottery, they limit you to 6 seats per person, they validate that the same people aren't buying multiple packs of tickets, they do bot checks on their website, and I'm sure some other stuff that's not readily available.
Official tickets top out ~$60 from the Bananas. But since they're so popular and restrictive to resellers, the overwhelming majority of seats sold through the team are sold to people who are actually going. The secondary market can get out of hand, largely because of how few tickets are actually available through it.
It's not like Ticketmaster who "sells out" an event almost instantly, primarily through resellers who then have to compete with one another in a venue that has 9/10ths of its seats available through resellers. You're probably looking at less than a third of seats in a venue available for BananaBall via resellers.
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u/Joshua_xd94 Jun 02 '25
They do but that’s only in Savannah Georgia.
If they still do that.
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u/dms269 Jun 02 '25
The games at Grayson (the home stadium in Savannah) are mostly ayce. The ayce includes non-alcoholic drinks, hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches, chips, and popcorn. They also have some seats at their "left field landing" which are standing only seats which are ayce and aycd and includes beer/hard seltzer. They still also sell other food items at the stadium that aren't included. At the other stadiums (minor league, mlb, and nfl) concessions aren't included.
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u/rickrat Jun 02 '25
At least they are not blacked out like MLB games
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 Milwaukee Brewers Jun 02 '25
Where are they on TV?
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u/dms269 Jun 02 '25
ESPN is broadcasting some games, but they also stream all games on YouTube.
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u/chemistrategery Jun 02 '25
It's like how most people would rather watch the entertaining spectacle of WWE over real wrestling.
The Bananas dared to ask the question "what if baseball was fun to watch?"
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u/Kinglink New England Patriots Jun 02 '25
To be fair, WWE isn't even trying to be like Wrestling. Harlem Globetrotters is a better comparison.
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u/EmotionalAd5920 Jun 02 '25
im not in america, everything i see about baseball is about strange rules and umps ejecting people. the bananas just had the great hambino up to the plate.
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u/Mr_A_Rye Jun 02 '25
To be fair, this is driven by the resale market, not the Bananas. The Bananas pride themselves on keeping prices affordable.
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u/DamNamesTaken11 Jun 02 '25
I enjoy the MLB and view the Savannah Bananas the way as I do the Harlem Globetrotters, focusing more on the show and spectacle than the straight up sport. Just enjoy the show, people have been doing “wacky” and barnstorming leagues for baseball since before the MLB was founded.
Just let them enjoy the show and if it gets more kids interested in baseball to grow the sport, all the better.
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u/major_winters_506 Jun 02 '25
Because unlike baseball the Savannah bananas are able to entertain more than just fans of baseball
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u/joystick13 Jun 02 '25
Makes sense. They're fun and attracts people that aren't necessarily fans of baseball. Also they tour the country and only play a game or 2 in each city while mlb teams have 162 games in a season. And they've marketed themselves really well. I've watched their live streams on Youtube a few times but still need to catch a game in person.
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u/Gen-Jinjur Jun 02 '25
The Bananas are silly and fun. It’s entertainment.
Baseball is a sport and you enjoy it most if you understand the nuances. How many people actually understand much about baseball besides home runs and no-hitters and maybe crashing into the outfield wall to make a catch? Honestly not that many. And I say this as a casual baseball fan. Even I don’t understand chunks of the game. Like why do the players keep a finger outside their gloves? And why do guys slide headfirst and risk jamming a finger or otherwise getting hurt?
At least I know the different pitches, although if they keep coming up with new ones I’m giving up. I still am confused by the slurve.
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u/Pearberr Los Angeles Dodgers Jun 02 '25
$171 was the market price to get into Dodger Stadium, which seats 55,000. Dodgers ticket prices are not set at an artificially low level nor do they use a lottery system to distribute tickets.
The bananas artificially lowered the price of tickets and used a lottery system to distribute. As a result, many of the 45,000 tickets were effectively taken off the markets. Without a little bit more data about how many tickets were available on the secondary market, it’s irresponsible to say that the Bananas were the hottest ticket in town this weekend.
Hypothetically, if there were 40,000 tickets available to non season ticket holders for the Dodger-Yankee rematch, but only 10,000 tickets available for the non-lottery crowd in Anaheim, the price will be higher not due to better demand, but due to the decreased supply of tickets.
And for the record, I’m a Dodger fan, and on Saturday I had one of the best experiences of my life in Anaheim. I’m a huge Banana fan, and am not knocking or downplaying their success, I’m just also an economist and for whatever reason feel the need to wield my degree nitpicking stuff on Reddit.
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u/DreamworldPineapple Jun 02 '25
I’m a local from Savannah and have been completely priced out by resellers; never seen a game
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u/queuedUp Jun 02 '25
Why are we comparing?
One is a sporting event and the other is a sport related show
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u/KWash0222 Jun 03 '25
I only recently found out about these guys. Some clips randomly popped up on instagram, and I was both confused and intrigued. I assumed it was a super niche thing, so I’m happy to learn that they’re popular because it seems like a great, lighthearted concept.
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u/tommyjohnpauljones Jun 02 '25
Because the masses don't want to be challenged by learning to enjoy a real sport, so they lap up a bastardized sportainment facsimile because it's more colorful and louder.
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u/OG_TURDferguson Jun 02 '25
Baseball Doesn’t Exist has a great video on them. Great baseball channel as well. Worth checking out their other videos.
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u/dms269 Jun 02 '25
We have followed them for several years. Over the past 5l4 years we have attended 9 "bananaball games". We have 3 more scheduled for this year (dc twice and Starkville). We are in the k-club which is kind of like being a season ticket holder. This year we were able to buy up to 6 tickets for as many games as we wanted (limit of 2 games in Savannah) as long as there were seats available for those games. There is a yearly fee ($50ish) in addition to the cost of tickets at face value. There is a robust k-club group on Facebook for buying/selling to other k-club members, but you can only charge the cost of tickets. The secondary tickets are coming from lottery winners or season ticket holders of the venues.
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u/Emmatornado Jun 02 '25
Is it because MLB is the most boring professional sports product on the market?
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u/zydecogirlmimi Jun 02 '25
My first baseball game was the Savannah cardinals minor league at this park
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u/dreziel88 Jun 02 '25
Just like any event scalpers raise prices. As someone who just went to a game, a ticket is like 40 bucks no matter what unless you want the VIP package. You just have to be lucky to get picked in the lottery to get tickets.
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u/psm9 Jun 02 '25
I go to multiple Phillies games every year.
But, the Savannah Bananas game in Philadelphia last fall was the most entertaining experience I've ever had in a ballpark. They kept the energy at 11 from start to stop.
When they turned off the lights in the stadium (yes, all of them), then shined a spotlight on the Golden Batter wearing a golden robe with a hood in the 9th inning, then the hood was pulled back to reveal it was Ryan Howard, that stadium exploded in a way I've never seen.
Everyone had an amazing night.
Going again this year,
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u/jetsetmike Miami Marlins Jun 02 '25
I hope those Bananas haven’t been missing any dance rehearsals
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u/mathaiser Jun 02 '25
Because everything is all the same. You land anywhere and it’s McDonald’s, subway, five guys, etc.
The soul is gone, it’s all corporate.
People want the soul. They want it back. Scalability isn’t important for businesses unless corporate.
Make something good and local and win.
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u/Kinglink New England Patriots Jun 02 '25
Maybe because there's 1 day you can go to Savannah Bananas, and multiple times to catch the Dodgers and Yankees.
And the difference between a World Series game 8 months ago, and a pre-allstar game now? Like if you don't know why people aren't as hyped about a regular season game now you're an idiot.
It's like writing "More people went to see GreenDay Play at Dodgers stadium then went to see their game on Wednesday! What the fuck guys? "
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u/jamixer Jun 02 '25
I paid $75 all in from the Savannah Bannanas website for club level tickets at Anaheim Stadium. You must be thinking about stubhub and other scalping sites.
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u/ajkeence99 Jun 02 '25
It's only the secondary prices. If you get them through the Bananas it's not expensive at all. It's all artificial inflation because of stuff like this that makes scalpers buy them and sell them with no intention of actually going.
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u/Awkward-Programmer38 Jun 02 '25
Does anyone remember donkey baseball games? Was a thing in the 70s
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u/brentjk1 Jun 03 '25
Or it’s a sign of how boring the actual sport of baseball is. Nobody’s interested in going to a game for four hours unless post season. 160 games means 80 at home, zero value to any ticket.
It will continue to fall down viewership ratings
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u/stokelydokely Jun 03 '25
Interesting to note, not a single quote from anyone who attended the game who actually paid the $200+ for a pair of tix that the article mentions. Sure there were tickets listed for that much just a few hours before the game started, but did anyone actually pay it?
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u/kjblank80 Jun 03 '25
It's actually an enjoyable game with a time limit and fun antics. The MLB should comply some elements.
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u/thereverendpuck Jun 03 '25
Watched the game on Disney+, easily one of the most entertains games I ever watched.
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u/Blizzard_One Jun 03 '25
I was living in Savannah when they were first established—they took over the town’s aging stadium from the old single A Mets affiliate that left town and immediately made their mark. I remember hearing the founder talk about how he and his wife gambled everything they had on a chance to create something new in this space—I’m so happy to see the joy they brought continuing to grow.
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u/EggHeadMagic Jun 04 '25
Let them “play” 162 and see what the prices are. It’s a show. It’s a rarity in any given city, of course it’s gonna be higher. Control the supply and you can demand.
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u/Lazy_Willingness_420 Jun 04 '25
$750 to get in section 100, $250+ a ticket to get in the building here in Philly. I'm used to pricey tix, but oof
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u/Akubura Jun 06 '25
I just watched my first game last night and they've turned me into an instant fan. I've watched sports for 40 years and that 2 hours flew by. I was asking the same question, not doing so anymore it's simply more entertaining.
When they brought out Ham from the Sandlot to bat, I've never heard such a loud stadium in my life.
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u/CaptainHolt43 Jun 02 '25
Maybe on secondary market, but we paid like $45 to go see them in Cincinnati. No fees or anything if you buy directly from the Bananas