The Savannah Bananas are moving into the biggest stage Chicago has to offer, announcing two games at Soldier Field on July 10 and 11, 2027, as the barnstorming baseball spectacle makes its third straight summer appearance in the city. This time, the Bananas will face off against the Party Animals, who will serve as the home squad for the Chicago dates.
The booking marks a significant jump in scale for the touring act, according to NBC Chicago, which first reported the Soldier Field dates. The team played at Rate Field in 2025 before moving to Wrigley Field in 2026, and now lands at the 61,500-seat home of the Chicago Bears, built in 1924 as a memorial to U.S. soldiers. Per the outlet's report, Soldier Field underwent a renovation costing 632 million dollars.
A Rapid Climb Through Chicago's Biggest Ballparks
Last summer's series at Wrigley Field drew more than 120,000 fans across three sold-out games and featured guest appearances from Chicago Cubs legends Kerry Wood and David Ross, according to The Urban Herald. That turnout gave the organization a clear local benchmark heading into the Soldier Field move, building on the momentum from the team's first Chicago stop at Guaranteed Rate Field, which Hoodline covered in its piece on the Bananas' initial Chicago booking.
During the 2026 tour, the Banana Ball Championship League's six teams played 60 regular-season games each across 75 venues in 45 states. The league's route also included major football and MLB venues.
Going International for the First Time in 2027
On Thursday, Banana Ball creator Jesse Cole announced that the 2027 tour schedule will expand outside the United States for the first time, with series planned in Monterrey and Tijuana, Mexico, as well as Toronto and Winnipeg, Canada, as reported by Baseball America. The announcement was broadcast live from Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia, tying Chicago's dates into a season that will visit nearly every state while also crossing international borders for the first time, per NBC Chicago's reporting.
The 2027 schedule also includes a stop at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida from April 15 through 18, where all six league teams will gather for a four-team Banana Ball Open tournament. The multi-day event will bring all six league teams together at one site.
How to Get Tickets for the Soldier Field Games
Ticket lotteries for the Chicago dates will open after Thursday's showcase, NBC Chicago reports. Fans First Entertainment, the company behind the Bananas, caps standard ticket prices between 35 and 60 dollars with no added taxes or fees, and runs a verified, fee-free Fans First Ticket Marketplace strictly limited to face value to block scalpers, according to TicketNews. Access typically runs through an annual random lottery drawing open to the public, the outlet notes, a system Hoodline detailed in its earlier coverage of the Cleveland ticket reopening.
A League Built on Showmanship and Viral Reach
Part of what's fueling ticket demand is the team's outsized digital footprint. As of 2026, the Savannah Bananas have amassed more than 11 million TikTok followers, giving the team a larger social media audience than any single franchise in the MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL, according to The CW Network. That reach is built on choreographed dances and on-field antics that have become the Bananas' calling card.
On the field, Banana Ball runs on 11 modified rules designed to eliminate dead time, including a two-hour time limit, point-based scoring per inning, sprint walks, a total ban on bunting, and fan-caught foul balls counted as outs, per SeatGeek. Jesse Cole began developing that rulebook with exhibition games back in 2018. The league's roster also carries historical weight through the Indianapolis Clowns, a modern revival of the Negro Leagues franchise launched with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and coached by former MLB star Ryan Howard, according to WFYI. The original Clowns were known for bringing theatrical showmanship to the sport.
The Bananas were founded in 2016 by Jesse Cole as a collegiate summer team in Savannah, Georgia, winning three Petitt Cup championships in the Coastal Plain League before leaving collegiate amateur play after 2022 and playing Banana Ball at home and on the road, per Wikipedia. Since then, the team has sold out Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, according to Hoodline's prior coverage. Chicago's 2027 dates now bring the spectacle to Soldier Field.
