Savannah Bananas Coming To Kinnick Stadium

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

Being this event is held at Kinnick and isn’t about Hawkeye baseball, I posted it in football forum. This is the first I have heard of this ‘Banana Ball’. Definitely something the kids would enjoy. From article:

The University of Iowa, in partnership with the Iowa City Area Sports Commission, will welcome the professional exhibition baseball team Savannah Bananas on July 3-4, 2026, at Kinnick Stadium. Both games will start at 7 p.m. (CT).

The Savannah Bananas have their own version of baseball called Banana Ball, which includes on-field antics like choreographed dances, crazy rules, trick plays, fun props and constant crowd interaction to keep fans engaged.

Savannah Bananas Coming to Kinnick Stadium

hawkeyesports.com

 

[99topdawg]

My daughters absolute love this. They watch it whenever it's on, either on TV or online. My wife put in our names to try to win tickets. Most of the players are former D1 and/or minor league players. Watching some of the things they do really shows you how athletic and talented they are and how big of a gap there is between them and players at other levels. I played with a guy at a juco that went on to play at UNI and was a 2-time all Missouri Valley Conference outfielder (back when it was a top baseball conference in the north and Wichita St. and Creighton were national powers). He could do some pretty amazing things, but these guys take it to a whole other level. Really amazing and fun to watch.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Being this event is held at Kinnick and isn’t about Hawkeye baseball, I posted it in football forum. This is the first I have heard of this ‘Bunny Ball’. Definitely something the kids would enjoy. From article:

The University of Iowa, in partnership with the Iowa City Area Sports Commission, will welcome the professional exhibition baseball team Savannah Bananas on July 3-4, 2026, at Kinnick Stadium. Both games will start at 7 p.m. (CT).

The Savannah Bananas have their own version of baseball called Banana Ball, which includes on-field antics like choreographed dances, crazy rules, trick plays, fun props and constant crowd interaction to keep fans engaged.

Savannah Bananas Coming to Kinnick Stadium

hawkeyesports.com

"Bunny Ball"?

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

"Bunny Ball"?

That’s what I said too when I first saw it. I like the rule if a fan catches a foul ball it’s considered an out.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

That’s what I said too when I first saw it. I like the rule if a fan catches a foul ball it’s considered an out.

I think you mean "Banana Ball". It is entertaining. They're the 21st century version of the Harlem Globetrotters for baseball. They sell out everywhere they go.

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

I think you mean "Banana Ball". It is entertaining. They're the 21st century version of the Harlem Globetrotters for baseball. They sell out everywhere they go.

lol. Fixed it. Shows you how much I know about it.

 

[dagdaj]

I think Banana Ball can be summed up by one rule.
The rule that if a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out.

Because the entirety of it's existence relies on the fans. Baseball can exist without fans. But the ONLY way you can be paid to play it is if you have fans.

Give the fans the ability to actually "play" the game too? Sublime.

Also, I like the bit that if a batter steps out of the batter's box it's an immediate called strike. But the fan involvement thing? That's just sublime.

 

[HuckFinn]

Being this event is held at Kinnick and isn’t about Hawkeye baseball, I posted it in football forum. This is the first I have heard of this ‘Banana Ball’. Definitely something the kids would enjoy. From article:

The University of Iowa, in partnership with the Iowa City Area Sports Commission, will welcome the professional exhibition baseball team Savannah Bananas on July 3-4, 2026, at Kinnick Stadium. Both games will start at 7 p.m. (CT).

The Savannah Bananas have their own version of baseball called Banana Ball, which includes on-field antics like choreographed dances, crazy rules, trick plays, fun props and constant crowd interaction to keep fans engaged.

Savannah Bananas Coming to Kinnick Stadium

hawkeyesports.com

Harlem GlobeTrotters

 

[thedukeofearl]

Harlem GlobeTrotters

I saw the Globe Trotters at Vets in DM a while ago

It was around 1959

They had Wilt Chamberlain on the team before his pro career

 

[kicker22]

The story behind the team is really phenomenal. Basically a reinvent the game to save a franchise story.

https://www.bitofbusiness.com/post/the-rise-of-the-savannah-bananas-millions-in-debt-to-baseball-empire.