Savannah Bananas chooses Calrec to expand broadcast ambit...

Committed to its fans first guiding principle, the genre-defying Savannah Bananas baseball team has placed Calrec at the heart of its growing broadcast story. Adopting an agile, distributed ecosystem built to scale, BTV has installed three 36-fader Argo M consoles, three Type R systems, and True Control 2.0, delivering an infrastructure that can keep pace with the Banana Ball phenomenon, which now commands its own Championship League.

Spread across two main control rooms at BTVs remote facility in Savannah, and with flypacks positioned out in the field, Calrec's flexible audio network sits at the core of a significant expansion of BTVs REMI capabilities. Designed to extend capacity and accommodate future growth, it makes BTVs workflows much more fluid.

Savannah Bananas' Head of Technology Matt Webster says, We've seen lots of expansion for the 2026 World Tour season, and part of re-building our facilities from 2025 to 2026 was to expand capabilities and increase overall efficiency. The Calrec consoles are all being used to support REMI broadcasts; we have Argo consoles in our main control rooms and we deploy the Type R frame in the field in our mobile units and flypacks.

This gives us a combination of analogue, embedded SDI, MADI and Dante, and all the audio is given a first pass mix and level set before it is embedded in our video transmission system back to Savannah. We ensure lip sync is correct on-site, so when it comes back into the control rooms, we just focus on mixing the broadcast as if we are doing it at our home stadium.

We also have remote control of the consoles via the Calrec Assist GUI for changing things on the fly. The most challenging part of any audio console is how you have to interact with it if you are not standing directly in front of it, but nothing beats having access to a web page; it means we can access any console from inside the stadium to make changes, and I can also work remotely to support all our shows from home and fix issues that arise quickly. It is a game-changer for sure.

Access to Calrec's True Control 2.0 protocol, which provides even greater levels of remote control and unparalleled flexibility to scale up when required, gives scope for BTV to further develop its workflows. Webster says he plans to introduce it more as the season progresses, and it's clear to see why this season's introduction of the Banana Ball Championship League boasts even more teams and an even busier broadcast schedule covering games across 75 stadiums and 45 states.

It demands an audio workflow as dynamic as the Savannah Bananas' antics on the field. We want the technology to outpace production, says Webster. It's all about scale and simplicity, and Calrec allowed us to achieve this in our second generation of REMI workflows. With broadcast consoles like the Argo and Type R, our workflow has dramatically improved. The Calrec equipment allows us to truly make sure we have the best audio sweetened and observed.

It brings us a level of consistency that we have been looking for; it just works, and it is simple enough for any audio operator to just jump in and start driving. We have many local audio mixers in the Savannah area that have an entertainment and film focus rather than a broadcast one, but the Calrec consoles have been extremely easy for them not only to make the transition, but to excel.

It means all our production staff are able to move from room-to-room and from site-to-site and not have any compromises or workflow limitations.

Webster says that BTVs focus is on creating an environment that is always positive and fun, above being a competitive sport. In many ways, Banana Ball is designed for casual sports enthusiasts and people who like a good entertainment performance first. But it also caters to diehard sports fans that want a legitimate competition to get behind, and follow through a season to the end.

The Savannah Bananas' focus on providing the best of both is a natural fit, says Calrec's Regional Sales Manager Rob Lewis.

Everything about the Savannah Bananas approach is hybrid, he says. Its mix of non-stop entertainment with traditional live game coverage has captured the hearts of casual and hardcore baseball fans alike. Its reach is growing fast. Every broadcast is available free on YouTube, while an exclusive ESPN and Disney+ deal means all 25 televised games are available to stream, with Banana Ball making its ABC debut on June 28, broadcast live from Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

It makes perfect sense that its audio workflows should embrace that same philosophy with a hybrid approach to full remote and distributed workflows, and Calrec's ecosystem is perfectly aligned to knock it out of the park.

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