AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Banana Ball is the most fun you’ll have watching sports

One of the built-in downsides of sport is that someone, by definition, has to lose. That means one set of fans is guaranteed to go home disappointed. By contrast, when you leave a symphony or a play, no one ever leaves feeling heartbroken or devastated.

But what if you could watch a game where you’re happy no matter which team wins.

Impossible, right?

Wrong.

Welcome to Banana Ball, a fast-paced and highly-entertaining form of baseball that will be the most fun you will ever have watching competitive sports.

Their mantra is to give fans the most joy and fun as they possibly can. That even if their team loses the game, they leave the stadium having had a ton of fun.

There are six teams in the league which plays a 60 game season.

Some of the many unique aspects of Banana Ball include:

· Players on stilts and umpires who dance

· Five pitchers on the mound at once, but only one has the ball

· Back flip catches and other trick plays

· Players hang out with the fans for hours before and after the game

· Spontaneous, choreographed in-game dancing by the players

· First base coach has a BBQ and will give hot dogs to players and fans.

· If hitters step out of the batter’s box, they are given a strike

· If a fan catches a foul ball, it counts as an out

· Fans can call for an official review of a play

· Games never go longer than two hours

To prevent blowouts, wins are determined by points, not runs. For example, if one team scores six runs in an inning and the other, say one, the score only goes up by one point.

You really have to see it to believe it. Nothing written here will do justice to the Banana Ball experience. There are all kinds of Banana ball clips, games and interviews on YouTube, free to watch.

Treat yourself and check it out. I bet you might just get hooked.

Banana Ball is amazing. You’ll feel like a kid again, enjoying sport for the pure fun of it.

And they have really unique rules if things go to extra innings. In the first extra inning, the defensive team only has one pitcher, one catcher and one fielder. If it goes to a second extra inning, the defending team loses the fielder, leaving only the pitcher and catcher. And if it goes to a third extra inning, it starts with the bases loaded.

Don’t presume that all the wild and wacky fun means the calibre of ball is bad or that the game is scripted like wrestling or a Harlem Globetrotters game – it’s not. Yes, the players goof around, dance and do trick plays, but the ball is real. The rosters are made of pro and collegiate players who play the game hard – they just play it with a ton of fun.

So just how popular is this Banana Ball, you ask? Are sports fans buying what Banana Ball is selling?

Heading into the 2026 season, they have a whopping 4 million fans on a waiting list to see a game live (and some of those games are played in football stadiums that seat over 100,000 fans).

They are broadcast on several national TV networks (ESPN, Disney+, TNT, TruTV, HBO and the CW), and every game is streamed for free on YouTube.

In an obscene money-drenched world of billionaire owners and millionaire players, where baseball is a business with a singular laser focus on profits, Banana Ball has become a hugely popular phenomenon precisely because it flips that business model on its head. It puts fans before profits. Everything they do is to create a joyful, fun experience for fans.

The end result is that Banana Ball is a wonderfully unique and delight-filled sporting experience that you have to see to believe.