Name: Tri-City Chili Peppers

Why you know them: The Colonial Heights amateur baseball team took the sports world by storm in 2025 "cosmic baseball." Its unique glow-in-the-dark version of the game was made possible thanks to powerful black lights designed by Federated Lighting of Virginia and installed below the stadium’s regular lamps by J.W. Electric.

What’s happening now

Things will get bigger and brighter in the 2026 season.

The amateur team, which was made up of college players, has been replaced by two professional cosmic teams, the Cosmic Chili Peppers and the Glowmojis. They'll take the game to 30 cities across the country, as well as a hometown stop at Shepherd Stadium at the end of May.

“We knew for cosmic baseball we needed to find players who not only were good at baseball but also love the entertainment aspect and could really get out there with the crowd, do some different things in terms of entertainment,” Chili Peppers Vice President Rob Perez said. “And we're also looking for players who are social media influencers, those who are big in the baseball sphere on social media and could continue to help us grow the classic baseball brand.”

If it sounds like the Savannah Bananas, that’s no accident. The team is looking to amp up the entertainment factor with confetti cannons, laser light shows, and other innovations that take advantage of the new portable, battery-powered black lights that will be installed at each stadium.

“It's always a fun time to figure out how creative [you can] be with the game of baseball in terms of entertainment and technology,” Perez said.

Like the Bananas, the Peppers have also implemented a ticket lottery. Fans requested more than 20,000 cosmic tickets in 2024, and the team sold more than 110,000 in 2025, according to Perez.

To further help facilitate the experience, seats will be first-come, first-served (except for full-season ticket members), four-game plan holders can choose which games they attend, and 175 new seats have been added at the top of the grandstands. A new website is also in the works to further delineate the collegiate and cosmic baseball teams.

“We're really excited about that opportunity to grow cosmic baseball into a variety of stadiums across the country,” Perez said, “and we're committed to continue to grow the cosmic experience through baseball and taking it as far as we can.”