Savannah Bananas bring fan event to Eugene Dairy Queen

Hundreds of fans packed the sidewalk outside the Dairy Queen at 1602 Coburg Road on Friday evening, waiting for Savannah Bananas players to sign autographs and pose for photos. The in-store appearance ran from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and gave Eugene families a close-up look at a team that has turned baseball into a traveling spectacle.

The stop mattered because the Bananas were already set to bring Banana Ball to Autzen Stadium on June 27 and 28, with the ticket lottery for those games having opened Oct. 9 and closed Oct. 31, 2025. KVAL has said Banana Ball was created by the Savannah Bananas in 2016 to make baseball more entertaining and accessible, and the team’s draw has grown far beyond a typical sports crowd. On April 26, the Savannah Bananas and the Party Animals drew 81,000 spectators at Clemson University’s Memorial Stadium, a scale that helps explain why a Dairy Queen on Coburg Road could become a destination in its own right.

Dairy Queen tied the Eugene appearance to a national partnership announced Feb. 19, 2026, with the American Dairy Queen Corporation saying the collaboration would include a new Savannah Bananas-inspired shake, national TV spots, social content, fan promotions, in-game trigger deals and in-restaurant appearances throughout the 2026 Banana Ball season. The menu item linked to the promotion, the Savannah Bananas Banana Split Shake, blends fresh banana, strawberry topping, soft serve, chocolate cone coating and whipped topping, and is sold only at participating locations. DQ also rolled out a March 25 app promotion called the Double Flip BOGO 99-cent offer.

At the Coburg Road shop, the event carried a local fundraising piece as well. The Eugene, Cascades & Coast tourism calendar said the appearance included games, raffles, giveaways, prizes, photos and autographs to support Children’s Miracle Network, with Children’s Miracle Network Champions among those expected to be part of the experience. That turned the stop into more than a branded promotion, drawing fans into a neighborhood business while channeling the crowd toward a charity-linked event.

For Eugene businesses, the scene was a visible reminder that the Bananas do not just fill stadiums. They can also fill a Dairy Queen parking area, pull in families already planning for Autzen, and create a burst of foot traffic on Coburg Road that is hard to miss.