Grab your yellow cap and some gum, because the Backyard Sports team, which was a staple of kids’ computer games in the ’90s and early 2000s, is returning in upcoming video games, movies and TV shows.
Playground Productions, a children’s and family entertainment company founded by former schoolteacher Lindsay Barnett, plans to revive the iconic franchise “in the coming months,” according to a statement Tuesday. The production company also released a trailer announcing the game’s return, and several characters from the original series make appearances.
Stephanie Morgan, partying in her signature pink bubble, Achmed Khan in his oversized headphones, and redheaded sprinter Pete Wheeler appear first. Slugger Kiesha Phillips is shown hanging out in the kids’ treehouse, and a dramatic gust of wind blowing leaves onto the baseball field signals the appearance of Pablo Sanchez, Backyard’s GOAT of baseball, who stares at Morgan in anticipation of his pitch.
The re-release will mark the first installment in the Backyard Sports franchise since a mobile app version was released in 2015. Since 1997, when the original Backyard Baseball was available exclusively as a computer game, 38 games have been released across multiple sports (including football, basketball, hockey and soccer) and gaming consoles.
“We are incredibly excited to reintroduce Backyard Sports to a new generation of gamers,” said Chris Waters, Chief Product Officer at Playground Productions. “We are taking great care to preserve the look and feel that made the original games so special while updating them with modern features and gameplay that today’s audiences expect. I can’t wait for fans to see what we are building on Playground.”
Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and current Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are among the millions of Backyard Sports fans, and the brothers spoke about their love of the games during an episode of their “New Heights” podcast in February. Jason said he had been “secretly looking to see if anyone had the rights to Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball” because he wanted to buy them to revitalize the franchise.
“It was the best game ever,” he said. “It was so much fun. It was so electric.”
While the Kelce brothers aren’t involved in this iteration of the Backyard Sports saga, it looks like Sanchez and his teammates will be back in action soon.
(Photo: Courtesy of Playground Productions)
