On Friday, I watched 65,000 fans pack Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. for the Savannah Bananas. My old Wired 96.5/WRDW colleague Mark “Shark” Ediss invited me to attend the game. Mark has worked with the Bananas since 2016 and in a full-time touring role DJ since 2023. What I saw was part circus, part radio festival, and part New England sports fans reunion. I couldn’t help but sit there and think about how radio should be taking notes.
They Made It Local, Not Just a Tour Stop
The Bananas could have run the same show anywhere. Instead, it felt like they built the night around New England. Patriots legend Willie McGinest got a hero’s welcome. The Patriots cheerleaders performed multiple times including a fully incorporated routine with the Man-Nanas aka the Savannah Bananas “Dad Bod Cheer Squad.” Every local touch told the crowd this show belonged to them, not just to the Bananas.
Radio does this well when we try. Even a well-produced syndicated morning show can still nod to the market it’s airing in. Local references turn passive listeners into invested ones. The Bananas proved that scale and specificity can coexist. A stadium show can still feel like the hometown team took the field.
They Never Let a Second Go to Waste
There was zero downtime, and I mean zero. From 2pm-10pm it was non-stop action. Between innings, actually even during innings, something was always happening. A large, personality-driven cast filled every gap with a bit, a dance, or a moment.
Compare that to a format clock with awkward pauses of dead air or repetitive liners. Listeners tune out the second they sense a lull. The Bananas treated every gap as an opportunity. Radio should treat every break the same way. Fill it with personality, not filler.
They Built in Real Emotional Stakes
The “Bananas Foster” salute honored a local foster family, and the stadium felt it. Moments for military members, first responders, and teachers followed. None of it felt like a sponsor read. It felt like genuine community recognition.
Then came the surprise: Keith Urban took the field mid-show. Both teams filmed their own TikTok backup dances while he performed. Nobody saw it coming, and that unpredictability made the whole crowd lean in.
Radio can build that same anticipation. A surprise guest, an unannounced giveaway, or a spontaneous on-air moment creates buzz that scheduled content can’t match. Predictability is comfortable, but surprise is what people talk about the next morning.
They Showed Up for Fans All Day Long
The game started at 7 p.m., but the fan zone opened at 2 p.m. Players signed autographs and posed for photos for hours before first pitch. A marching band led both teams through the pregame crowd for high fives. After the final out, cast members were back outside signing more autographs.
For an event with 65,000 people, it felt intimate the entire time. Fans didn’t just watch the Bananas; they interacted with them, again and again. That’s the touch-point strategy radio should study closely.
Listeners want more than a voice on the air. They want appearances, social interaction, and real access to the people behind the mic. Stations that show up at every possible touch point, not just during a scheduled remote, build the kind of loyalty the Bananas earned in one night.
The Takeaway for Radio
The Savannah Bananas didn’t reinvent baseball. They reinvented the experience around it. Local relevance, constant energy, genuine emotion, and true accessibility turned a game into a movement. Oh, and there was some baseball, too.
Radio has all the same tools. We have local knowledge, live personalities, and direct access to our communities. Friday night at Gillette Stadium showed how far those tools can go when a team actually uses all of them.
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