The Banana Ball Open will take over ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort from April 15 to 18, 2027.
Format. Four games plus a fan experience, with all six Banana Ball teams involved and four squads competing head-to-head.
Tickets. Starting at $35. The ticket lottery list is open through October 31 at BananaBall.com.
Announcement. The event was revealed during the “Banana Ball Selection Show” on ESPN2, which laid out the full 2027 schedule.
The six teams in the Banana Ball Championship League are the Savannah Bananas, Loco Beach Coconuts, Firefighters, Party Animals, Indianapolis Clowns and Texas Tailgaters.
Four Times the Size of the First Visit
This is the second Banana Ball run at Walt Disney World. The complex hosted two games earlier this year to packed crowds.
The 2027 edition is four games across four days with the whole league present.
That shifts the event from a tour stop into a destination. A two-game weekend draws people already in the area. A four-day event with every team on site gives fans a reason to plan a trip around it.
Having All Six Teams Matters
Banana Ball tours, with teams spread across markets to cover as much ground as possible.
Bringing all six to one complex means the league pauses that model and converges on Central Florida for four days. That is a real scheduling commitment, and it is what justifies calling the event an Open rather than a series.
Good Timing for a Park Trip
Mid-April falls after most spring break crowds have cleared and before Florida summer heat arrives, making it one of the stronger windows on the Disney World calendar.
The four-day span also fits a long weekend rather than requiring a full week off.
What $35 Does and Does Not Cover
Tickets starting at $35 are well below the cost of a single-day Disney park ticket.
One clarification for planners: ESPN Wide World of Sports is located on Disney property but is not a theme park. Event admission is separate from park tickets.
That separation can be useful. It makes this a low-cost non-park day in the middle of a more expensive trip.
The October 31 Deadline
The lottery list closes October 31, roughly six months before the event.
Banana Ball uses a lottery because demand routinely exceeds the number of available seats. Signing up is free and carries no obligation, so anyone considering a spring 2027 trip can join now and decide later.
Documentary Headed to Disney+ and Hulu
A music-driven Banana Ball documentary arrives on Disney+ and Hulu in fall 2027, covering the ten-year path from Savannah, Georgia to the operation now billed as “The Greatest Show in Sports.” A teaser trailer is out now.
David Beilinson directs. Producers include Connor Schell’s Words + Pictures and Ampersand, run by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
The film carries 11 original songs from Pasek and Paul, the EGOT-winning songwriting duo, with additional songwriters including Ashley Gorley, Cal Shapiro, Ben Johnson, Adam Yaron, Jake Sinclair, Brandon Bomer, Jarius Jones and Jesse Cole.
Eleven original songs places the film closer to a musical than a conventional sports documentary, which suits a league built on the idea that baseball should be entertainment first.
Disney Is the Distributor, Not Just the Host
The collaboration list explains why these events keep happening.
- “Banana Bowl: Presented Ad-Free by Liberty Mutual Insurance” streamed on Disney+ and Disney YouTube
- Savannah Bananas games streaming across ESPN and Disney+
- Player Jackson Olson appeared on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”
- Savannah Bananas Day at Disneyland Resort
- A Banana Ball game at ESPN Wide World of Sports
- A summer event at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, near ESPN headquarters
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, Disney YouTube, Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Banana Ball content runs through nearly every Disney distribution channel, which makes the live events the in-person piece of a media partnership rather than a one-off venue rental. That bodes well for the event recurring.
Planning Note
ESPN Wide World of Sports hosts other events worth checking, including ESPN8: The Ocho, now in its second year. Guests building a spring 2027 trip should review the complex calendar alongside park schedules.
Sources: Chip and Company reporting, the Banana Ball Selection Show on ESPN2, and BananaBall.com.
