From the Tatooine to Sahlen Field; Jabba the Hutt has returned to Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — For the first time in five years Jabba the Hutt has returned from Tatooine to visit Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo.

As the Buffalo Bisons prepare for another Star Wars night at the ballpark, they are bringing back a fan favorite after five years in storage.

“I don’t know if anyone is more excited than me,” Bisons GM Anthony Sprague said. “It’s been about a year working on this to try and get him back and it was five years ago that we debuted him, and that was a huge event.”

Every year the Bisons team up with The North Ridge, a local Star Wars fan group, for one of their biggest promotional events of the year. Thousands of fans fill Sahlen Field for the game, followed by an epic battle on the field and fireworks.

“I’m so excited that we’ve gotten him back,” Bobby Whalen Jr. from The North Ridge said. “It’s been a long road to get here.”

The Jabba the Hutt puppet is 16-feet long and has been in storage for several years, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year the Bisons had the space and staff to get Jabba the Hutt back on display, which plenty of fans are excited about.

“When you get in that concourse and you hear him and your like whoa, it bellows through the concourse," Sprague said.

Although it's usually one of the biggest crowds of the season, select tickets are still available for Saturday's game.

"It’s really fun, we have a blast, we get to come out and enjoy the thing we love and share it with people who love it as well, so it’s a great time,” Whalen Jr. added.

“It’s fun to see it all come together,” Sprague said. “It’s fun to see all different eras of people. Like my son likes to come, you’ve got dads who watched the original movies, and now all of the new stuff is out, so it’s fun to see everybody come together for an event that we can put on.”

Some of the proceeds from the game will be donated to Compass House, a local charity that helps fight youth homelessness. First pitch between the Bisons and the Saint Paul Saints is at 6:05 p.m.