Banana Ball is coming to McLane Stadium — and Waco, Texas has never seen anything like it. The self-described "Greatest Show in Sports" will turn Baylor's 12-year-old football fortress into a baseball playground on May 7–8, 2027, when the Texas Tailgaters take on the Party Animals in the first baseball game ever played at McLane Stadium. The dates were unveiled Thursday night as Banana Ball announced its 2027 World Tour stops — and Baylor fans are already buzzing.
A First for McLane Stadium
Since it opened in 2014, McLane Stadium has hosted Big 12 football Saturdays, concerts and even Topgolf Live — but never baseball. Baylor vice president and athletics director Doug McNamee called hosting the stadium's first baseball game "going to be fun," adding that bringing Banana Ball's fan-first experience to McLane is a deliberate move to create memorable moments beyond football for Baylor and Central Texas.
The venue knows how to pack a house for a spectacle: last August, The Boys from Oklahoma concert tour drew nearly 36,000 fans to McLane. And the announcement lands as part of Baylor Athletics' self-declared "Fan First Era."
What Is Banana Ball? Baseball, Reimagined
Created by the world-famous Savannah Bananas, Banana Ball is baseball rebuilt for maximum entertainment — a format running on 11 unique rules engineered to keep the crowd on its feet from first pitch to final out:
- Two-hour time limit — no new inning starts late, so the energy never dies
- Every inning is a point — the team that wins the inning takes the point, setting up constant walk-off drama
- No walks — ball four triggers a sprint, with fielders scrambling to tag the runner
- No bunting, no stepping out of the batter's box — swing away, keep it moving
- Batters can steal first on any pitch, including passed balls
- Fans catch foul balls for outs — catch it clean in the stands and the batter is out
- Tiebreaker showdown — one pitcher, one fielder, one batter, winner takes all
The result feels less like a ballgame and more like a live variety show with a scoreboard — which is why the tour has exploded from a Savannah ballpark to NFL stadiums drawing crowds past 100,000.
The Fan-First Frenzy: Dancing Players, Banana Nanas and More
Between pitches, anything can happen: choreographed dance routines, pitchers throwing from stilts, outfielders backflipping into catches, walk-up performances from the stands. The entertainment cast is legendary: the Banana Nanas, a senior-citizen dance team, steal scenes every night; the Man-Nanas, a dad-bod cheer squad, bring the house down; and a dancing umpire officiates with moves no MLB crew could match.
The Tailgaters arrive as champions — they just hoisted the first-ever Banana Bowl trophy at Nationals Park.
How to Get Tickets to Banana Ball at McLane
Tickets are sold exclusively through a Ticket Lottery List at BananaBall.com — open now, closing October 31, 2026, at 10:59 p.m. CT, with a random drawing deciding who gets to buy. Standard tickets start at $35, Meet and Greet at $125, no hidden fees — all bananas. Baylor warns tickets sold outside the official lottery are likely fraudulent.
Can't make Waco? Banana Ball games air across ESPN platforms (including the first-ever Banana Ball game on ABC), TruTV, HBO Max, The CW and the Roku Channel.
The takeaway: baseball was never supposed to look like this — and that's the point. Join the lottery before Halloween, or you'll be watching the highlights like everyone else.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Life of Riley (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Baylor University — Banana Ball Is Coming to Baylor's McLane Stadium May 7-8 · Savannah Morning News — Banana Ball 2027 City Selection Show live updates · ArchySport — What Is Banana Ball? Inside the Wild Rules of the Savannah Bananas · Knox News — Banana Ball is making a ripe return to Knoxville