Many viewers were left less than impressed when watching the Savannah Bananas open the 2026 ESPY Awards with a three-minute performance.
The viral barnstorming baseball team got the awards underway in New York by performing their first original song ‘The Show Starts Now’.
While the Savannah Bananas have become a viral sensation at times since they were founded in 2016, fans expressed their dismay at watching their performance as the ESPY Awards began at Lincoln Center in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Fans criticize ESPYS after Savannah Bananas performance
Watching on, Outkick founder Clay Travis took to social media platform X to write: “What is the audience for a fake baseball team doing bad musical dance song ensemble pieces? Legit, I’m asking. Are there lots of sports fans clamoring for fake sports teams to do bad Broadway musicals? This seems like an audience of zero.”
Travis certainly wasn’t alone in proving little short of dumbfounded.
One fan wrote: “Sad, the ESPYS used to be a somewhat Serious Sports Award show worth watching.”
Another added: “They’ve fully morphed into Broadway.”
This viewer said: “Utterly tragic. Why would you do this?”
“It just gets worse and worse,” read another comment.
“This was a bizarre choice for the ESPYS,” claimed another onlooker.
“This is awful,” was another response.
For many, it was another indication that the ESPY Awards have gone from appointment viewing to little more than a relic of the past. It should be said, however, that some viewers also expressed their support for the performance.
The Savannah Bananas certainly have their followers, but to say their performance was poorly met in certain sections of the internet would clearly be an understatement.
Derek Klena, a Broadway star, joined the group back in December 2025 as their Entertainment Player and Pitcher.
Klena sang the song while his teammates put on a choreographed dance performance including backflips and someone on stilts before DJ Khaled appeared to introduce the rest of the opening ceremony.
This year’s awards were hosted by Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernandez and while they usually take place in Los Angeles, they moved to New York.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson was unsurprisingly among the biggest winners on the night after NBA Finals success, winning the Best NBA Player, Best Championship Performance and Best Athlete in Men’s Sports awards.
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