Sports & Economy
Blue Wahoos Stadium will be going Bananas. Pensacola’s bayfront ballpark was selected as one of 75 cities on the Savannah Bananas’ Banana Ball World Tour 2027, with games set for May 21-22, 2027.
The Blue Wahoos learned of the selection Thursday during the Banana Ball City Selection Show, broadcast at 5 p.m. on ESPN2 and the Banana Ball YouTube channel. The bid was a joint effort with Pensacola Sports and Innisfree Hotels. More than 200 cities and 10 foreign countries submitted requests this year.
Who’s playing: The Loco Beach Coconuts will face the Indianapolis Clowns. Both are among the six teams in the Banana Ball Championship League, which also includes the original Savannah Bananas and the Party Animals.
How to get tickets
- Tickets are available only through the Ticket Lottery List at BananaBall.com
- Registration is open through Oct. 31
- Prices are $35, $45 and $65, depending on seating and stadium size, with no hidden fees
- The Blue Wahoos will have no tickets through their own outlets
- StubHub, Ticketmaster and other third-party sites are not valid
An Economic Engine
“They do so much research to show how many people from around an area come from out of town into these games and impact the hotels, the restaurants and so forth. So, I think it’s a really nice economic engine for our community as well.”
That’s Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer, who called the selection “very exciting for the community.”
Jason Libbert, the new president and CEO of Pensacola Sports, said the event is a chance to showcase the city to a national audience. Libbert was on the Pensacola Pelicans staff 25 years ago when professional baseball returned to the community. He said the partnership with the Blue Wahoos and Innisfree Hotels will welcome traveling fans while introducing “countless more viewers” to Pensacola through TV and online coverage.
A Full-Circle Moment
The Mobile connection: The Savannah Bananas first played out of town on March 26-27, 2021, at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, for the inaugural “Banana Ball One City World Tour.” Two days after those sold-out games, Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole and his entire staff came to Pensacola for a workshop with the Blue Wahoos staff at the SCI Building on Garden Street.
Studer said he asked Cole to hold the seminar. The two first met when the Bananas played in the Coastal Plain League, a summer collegiate wood-bat circuit. Studer’s early public praise of Cole’s family-friendly approach even made it into the Savannah Morning News.
“It’s a full circle moment for us.”
That’s Jonathan Griffith, president of the Blue Wahoos. He said both organizations took something away from the 2021 cross-training. “At that time, [the Bananas] were not sure how much further they were going to be able to go,” Griffith said, “and we were just getting started with our brand.”
The rise since: The Bananas have gone on to play Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Last year, the tour stopped at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans and Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State, which was converted into a baseball diamond for two days.
Studer said he understands Cole remembered Pensacola from that 2021 visit and wanted to come back.
