The Savannah Bananas narrowly missed setting a Banana Ball attendance record at Neyland Stadium — or did they?
The Bananas announced that a sold-out crowd of 101,000 packed the Tennessee Vols’ iconic football stadium for the Bananas’ fun-filled game against the Texas Tailgaters. Many of the fans were clad in banana yellow rather than UT orange.
Of course, 101,000 is a round number that pops on social media. It’s not an official head count. And it’s undoubtedly an estimation based on Neyland Stadium’s capacity of 101,915 for Vols football games.
The Savannah Bananas recognized an attendance of 102,000 for their May 2 game at Kyle Field in College Station, home to Texas A&M football. That stadium has a capacity of 102,733.
During the 2025 football season, Tennessee averaged the sixth-highest attendance per home game in the nation at 101,915. Texas A&M ranked third with an average of 106,159.
The official attendance may never be known. But fans flocked to Neyland Stadium to see the wacky style of Banana Ball and the stunning sight of a baseball diamond with odd dimensions crammed inside Tennessee’s iconic football stadium. It has been almost a century since an organized baseball game had been played at the Neyland Stadium site.
The Bananas played Game 1 at Covenant Health Park, home of the Knoxville Smokies, on May 21. Game 2 at Neyland Stadium capped a successful two-game swing in Knoxville as part of their 45-state, 75-stadium, 190-game tour.
This will be among the biggest stadiums the Bananas will play in this season. Most of their schedule includes stops at major league ballparks, minor league ballparks and a few NFL stadiums. On June 13, they’ll play at the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, which has a capacity of 85,458.
Neyland Stadium will remain at or near the top of the largest venues to host the Bananas.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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