Another year, another attendance record for the Savannah Bananas (summer collegiate; Coastal Plain League), as the club has managed to outdo itself in 2017.
The Bananas’ inaugural 2016 season proved to be one of the more intriguing stories in baseball last year. Greeted by strong support at Grayson Stadium, the Bananas set a new single-season attendance record for the Coastal Plain League by drawing 91,004 fans through the gates, beating the record of 77,171 that was set by the Peninsula Pilots in 2014.
This year has proven to be another strong year for the Bananas, ultimately allowing the club to surpass its own single-season attendance record during Wednesday’s doubleheader. This is much to the delight of the Bananas and their owner, Jesse Cole, particularly with additional games remaining on their home slate. More from The Savannah Morning News:
The Bananas have three home games scheduled before the CPL playoffs begin next week, and two of them (today and Saturday) are sold out. Tickets are still available Sunday’s make-up game against Gastonia.
“I don’t think we could have ever expected to sell out every single game in a season,” Cole said. “That just doesn’t happen, but it shows you Savannah wants to have fun.”
The fun part of it was Cole’s focus for this season.
“I said we have a responsibility to put on a better experience for our fans, a better atmosphere, and we’re going to work our butts off to sell as many tickets as we can,” he said. “It’s more about atmosphere. I think it’s the best atmosphere in the country. It’s amazing the crowds I’ve seen here.”
Fueling the club’s success is the fact that it has sold out every single home game this season. Through 22 home games, the Bananas have drawn a total of 91,629 fans, and have a per-game average of 4,171.