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'Filled to the brim': Family frustrated over seating at Savannah Bananas game

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — While most people are raving about their experience seeing the Savannah Bananas at Sahlen Field, one family is sending a warning out to others.

"They need to control that third-party ticket sale, make sure everyone knows they need to buy them through the Savannah Bananas themselves," said Ken Sciarrino.

A sold-out crowd of more than 16,000 fans invaded Sahlen Field on Friday for the first of three Savannah Banana games this weekend in the City of Buffalo.

Sold-out crowd welcomes Savannah Bananas to Sahlen Field

Tickets to the Savannah Bananas games sold out weeks ago, but Sciarrino was able to pay a little extra on StubHub and get some for himself and his family.

"I'm a father that's willing to do anything for my kids to make sure they're gonna have a fun time," said Sciarrino.

He says the tickets worked just fine to get them in, but there weren't many seats available together, even though they arrived at Sahlen Field about an hour early.

Seats at Sahlen Field were full of Bananas fans Friday night
Seats at Sahlen Field were full of Bananas fans Friday night

Sitting together was important to Sciarrino because his 10-year-old son is epileptic and needed to be able to sit to enjoy the game.

"It was filled to the brim and then I found out through one of the ushers, an usher or a security guard, they had oversold," said Sciarrino.

Sciarrino posted a video on Facebook Friday night, expressing his frustration about his experience. Saturday afternoon, the Savannah Bananas responded.

Savannah Bananas comment on Ken Sciarrino's Facebook post
The Savannah Bananas commented on Sciarrino's post Saturday afternoon

The Savannah Bananas team sent the following statement to 7 News:

"We have reached out directly to the family to clear up the confusion from the game last night and to offer them tickets to our upcoming games in Buffalo. We are always disappointed to learn that a fan who attended one of our games didn’t have a positive experience. Unfortunately, because these tickets were purchased through StubHub and received a few hours before the game, important information about ADA accessibility, including the location of the ADA entrance and early ADA admittance times are not received as it is when purchased through our ticket lottery. Despite this miscommunication, our team began the process of finding appropriate seating when notified of the request during the game. However, the family decided to unfortunately leave. Tickets purchased through our lottery system are only $35 and include vital information for all fans attending our games and we highly discourage anyone from buying tickets through unaffiliated sites to avoid situations like this. Our ultimate goal is to ensure all our fans have a positive experience at our games."
-Savannah Bananas

The Savannah Bananas say they highly discourage anyone from buying tickets through any other site to avoid situations like this.