Savannah Bananas debut first original song on the ESPYs stage

The Savannah Bananas debuted their first original song on the ESPYs stage, with ABC News’ Hanna Battah covering the moment in Good Morning America’s Pop News. The team posted that it was “kicking off the ESPYS with our first-ever original song,” adding a new piece of entertainment to a franchise built around spectacle as much as sport.

The appearance fits the club’s larger commercial model. ABC News has previously described Banana Ball as a fan-first, entertainment-heavy version of baseball, and founder Jesse Cole said in 2023 that he wants fans to leave saying, “That was the most fun I’ve ever had at a baseball game.” The Bananas have used that promise to turn baseball into a product that travels beyond the ballpark and into mainstream television moments.

Music has become part of that expansion. The Bananas teamed with Broadway songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul on an original single called “Show Starts Now,” and Billboard said Derek Klena performed the team’s first original single as part of the rollout. Billboard also placed the Bananas in the 2026 ESPYs performance lineup alongside Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah and De La Soul, a pairing that made the Bananas’ appearance part of a broader entertainment package rather than a one-off novelty.

ABC News posted the Battah segment at 5:12 p.m. UTC on July 16, 2026, the same day it also aired a separate video about the Bananas packing Kyle Field with a record-breaking Banana Ball show. The team’s expansion from baseball to original music and awards-show staging underscores how quickly its brand has moved from a niche sporting experiment to a national entertainment property. The ESPYs performance also drew backlash online, keeping the Bananas squarely in the center of the conversation they have built around their own showmanship.