In truth, Bucs fans have reason to cheer the new Bucs season pass card system. Every penny the Bucs save can be used (potentially) on players' salaries.

Joe doesn’t get the hysteria the Bucs’ new “season pass card” is creating among the fans. Joe thinks this is very smart, and frankly a decision that could have been put into practice some time ago.

For those not in the the loop: Rather than spending Lord knows how many thousands of dollars on printing tickets to every game for the tens of thousands of season tickets, the Bucs are issuing what they term a  “Season Pass Card.”

In short, each season ticket holder is issued a piece of plastic — not unlike a credit card or a gift  card –to be scanned for entry into each home game.

At first thought, while a wise fiscal move, the season pass card seems horrible for Joe Six-Pack who can’t even afford tickets, or your common entrepreneur.

It looks as if the Bucs absolutely cut the knees out of people who buy large amounts of season tickets only to sell them individually to fans (sometimes at a mark-up) or to fans on the sidewalks outside the CITS on game day for a nice discount below face value.

(As loyal readers of JoeBucsFan.com might remember, Joe used to be a season ticket holder and was one of the last to get a season ticket when the CITS opened. He was stuck with a terrible seat, but at least he was in. So initially Joe was content. For years Joe asked; no, begged the Bucs to upgrade his lone season ticket to anywhere in the 200 or 100 levels no matter the cost and each year the Bucs refused. Joe finally got fed up when he found — after years of begging the Bucs to upgrade — he could buy tickets to prime seats cheaper on the sidewalk than what he was paying face value for his season tickets and as a result, stopped buying season tickets.)

But this initial thought couldn’t be further from the truth, per a news release about the season pass card on Buccaneers.com.

Q. I like paper tickets instead of a card, what can I do?
A. You can log on to Buccaneers Account Manager and forward any of your tickets to your personal e-mail and then print the ticket out. Once the ticket has been forwarded to your email, your Season Pass Card is then deactivated for that game. The printed ticket works exactly like the tickets you have received in the past. If you do not have your Buccaneers Account Manager password, contact the Buccaneers Ticket Office at (813) 879-2827.

And there you have it. There’s no need to fret. One can still buy tickets off the sidewalk outside the CITS on game day.

And props to the Bucs for starting what will likely be a trend throughout the NFL. It was such a cost-saving no-brainer, Joe can’t figure out why some team didn’t start this sooner. Bryan and Joel made a good move here.