Who are the Texas Tailgaters?
Banana Ball announced the Texas Tailgaters on October 3, 2024 as the fourth team in what became the Banana Ball Championship League. They were a new idea for the organization: a semi-regional team that is run out of Savannah like the others but headlines its own games in Texas and Oklahoma, with uniforms built around the colors of the Texas state flag. The 2025 debut season included a three-city Texas swing through Frisco, San Antonio and Round Rock plus dates in minor-league and MLB parks across the country.
The gimmick is the tailgate. The team's official description promises "home runs to honky-tonks": line dancing, parking-lot grilling and a house country band travel with the club, and manager Joe Mikulik — a Weimar, Texas native and longtime minor-league manager — works the dugout in western chaps, a straw cowboy hat and a handlebar mustache with his bootcut uniform. Mikulik joined Banana Ball in 2025 and is back for his second season in 2026.
Texas Tailgaters style of play
The Tailgaters are the league's trick-play team. Through mid-August 2026 they led the BBCL with 637 successful trick plays — behind-the-back flips, between-the-legs catches, the showy stuff that counts as the league's second tiebreaker — to go with a +21 point differential and first place in the standings at 27-22, per Savannah Bananas On SI. That is a roster that can win games on both sides of the Banana Ball rulebook.
The 2026 Texas Tailgaters roster, published by Banana Ball, mixes former pro infielders and pitchers with entertainers and a softball crossover in Megan Wiggins, one of several former Division I softball players now playing Banana Ball full time. Names on the official roster include Zach Watson, Jorden Hussein, Jonathan Hughes, Taj Porter and Jonathan Luders; the live roster with 2026 stats is in the table above and on the Texas Tailgaters roster page.
Texas Tailgaters 2026 season
The defining moment of the Tailgaters' 2026 season came early. The first Banana Ball Open, played April 16–19, 2026, brought the top four teams together in a preseason tournament with a real prize: the winner earns an automatic berth in the October playoffs. Texas won it, beating the Savannah Bananas in the final, and the league's own announcement confirmed the Tailgaters had "clinched a playoff berth." Every other team has to finish in the top four by winning percentage; the Tailgaters are already in.
They have kept winning since. The Tailgaters led the regular-season table for most of the summer, including a series win in Midland, Texas, while the Bananas chased them by half a game. The 2026 Texas home slate headlines 12 games, including Kyle Field in College Station on May 2, Nelson Wolff Stadium in San Antonio on June 26–27 against the Loco Beach Coconuts, Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City on August 21–22, Constellation Field in Sugar Land on August 28–29, and a three-game closing weekend at Globe Life Field in Arlington on September 25–27.
The playoffs follow in October. The league has not announced the bracket or dates before the Banana Bowl, which is Saturday, October 10, 2026 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., streaming on Disney+ and the Banana Ball YouTube channel. Follow the seeding on the Banana Ball standings and the playoff picture.
How to watch and get Texas Tailgaters tickets
Every Texas Tailgaters game streams free on the Texas Tailgaters YouTube channel, and select games air on ESPN platforms. Our where to watch the Texas Tailgaters page lists the platform for each upcoming game.
Tickets are sold only through Banana Ball's ticket lottery. You join the lottery list for a specific city at bananaball.com/tickets, a random drawing picks the buyers, and winners receive a purchase email from FansFirst Tickets roughly two months before the game. One entry is all you need — entering early or multiple times does not improve your odds. For most 2026 cities the lists closed in late 2025, so check the official site for any late additions and see our Banana Ball tickets guide for the details. This is a fan site; we do not sell tickets.