The Savannah Bananas are coming to Knoxville, TN. The viral sports sensation will play two games in the Scruffy City this month, with the first taking place in Covenant Health Park on May 21 and the second happening on May 23 in historic Neyland Stadium.
The event is expected to draw massive crowds, especially for the game in the home of the Tennessee Volunteers’ football team. The Bananas just played a game at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, which sold out at more than 102,000 tickets on Sunday.
Tennessee Athletics Chief Communications Officer Jason Baum shared some new photos of Shields-Watkins Field being transformed into a baseball field on Monday afternoon. Home plate will be set up in the northwest corner of the field, with centerfield essentially taking place by the student section’s area for home football games.
coming soon … @TheSavBananas pic.twitter.com/YpqFraVVjS
— Jason Baum (@JasonBaumPR) May 4, 2026
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This is the second major non-football event to take place in Neyland Stadium this month, following Luke Combs’ My Kinda Saturday Night concert tour this past Saturday. It’s not the first baseball game to take place in the stadium, though.
According to Noah Taylor on X, the first intercollegiate sport played on Shields-Watkins Field was a baseball game between Tennessee and Cincinnati on March 19, 1921. According to UT Sports, Tennessee took a 7-6 loss in that game.
Former Tennessee baseball player Liam Spence is listed on the Firefighters’ team roster and is one of the highlight players in the league. Unfortunately for Vol fans, though, Spece’s Firefighters won’t be playing in either of the games in Knoxville this month. Both of the May events will feature the Savannah Bananas and the Texas Tailgaters.
Both games are sold out. The game from Covenent Health Park on May 21 can be seen on YouTube, while the game from Neyland Stadium will be broadcast on the ESPN App, Disney+, and YouTube.
Here’s a look at what unfolded this past Sunday in College Station, TX, giving fans a glimpse of what they might be able to expect inside Neyland Stadium in just a few short weeks.
