Front Rows May Be Tarped
June 25th, 2020
Radical seating changes proposed
At least for the 2020 season, if you have seats located in the first eight rows of the lower bowl of the Den of Depression for Bucs games, you may not any longer (perhaps only for this season).
In an effort to try to build up extra cash flow to make up for the coming projected drop in revenue this season, the NFL has told teams they can tarp off the first eight rows of stadium seats and sell the tarp for corporate signage sponsorships.
The location is significant because the sponsorships would be in the sight lines of TV viewers. Think ads behind home plate in baseball.
In other words, it’s like a Rays game in reverse. At the Fruitdome, the Rays have the upper deck tarped. At the Den of Depression, in theory, the first handful of rows may be tarped.
Of course the Bucs have not announced any such plans but why wouldn’t a team do this given the opportunity? Ben Fischer of Sports Business Daily broke the news late Wednesday.
NFL teams have been told they’ll be able to sell camera-visible signage to local sponsors for the first time during the ’20 season, sources said, a step one sales executive said would “significantly” defray pandemic-related revenue losses.
Under a plan shared with team presidents on Tuesday, the first six to eight rows of seating in every stadium — including on-field suites — will be off limits to fans this season. That move is officially to protect players, coaches and team staff from coronavirus exposure, but it would also free up that space to become lucrative sponsorship assets.
Sources said those seats will be covered by tarps that could include sponsor logos, similar to how EPL teams repurposed empty seating sections for ads during its return to play last week. The plan will be presented to owners at a meeting tomorrow. An NFL spokesman did not reply to a request for comment.
The catch here, per Fisher, would be if the local sponsor would conflict with a national NFL sponsor. For example, Coke wouldn’t be able to buy signage because of the conflict it has with Pepsi, a national NFL sponsor.
Currently, the NFL only allows a handful of sponsors to be seen within 40 feet of the playing surface. Bose, Gatorade and Microsoft are some of the few and they are all within team bench areas.
Fisher adds that teams have been “clamoring” with the league to loosen up the sponsor regulations to help defray the amount of kickbacks teams are expected to funnel back to local sponsors in the event stadiums are reconfigured with social distancing guidelines, or worse, empty stadiums.
For Bucs fans that own tickets in the first eight rows of the Den of Depression, you may want to give your Bucs ticket rep a call this morning to find out where you are now sitting, if you will be sitting in the stadium at all.
June 25th, 2020 at 12:33 am
Best believe I WILL be calling my rep first thing in the AM! This is upsetting… but then again they’ll probably not have anyone in the stands.
June 25th, 2020 at 12:56 am
That sucks, I am in row A!
June 25th, 2020 at 1:40 am
That call should’ve been made a long time ago, but I get your meaning as well Joe.
June 25th, 2020 at 5:14 am
This makes no sense. These are one of the highest value seats in the stadium and I would guess the vast majority belonging to season ticket holders. I call BS on player safety. I’m sure there will be attorneys involved if this is how the NFL decides to play this out.
June 25th, 2020 at 5:21 am
This reminds me of when they switched to the new stadium. My family had 8 seats since ‘76 on the 43-47 yard line 11 rows up and when we got our new seats they were on the 35 yard line 35 rows up. They sold a huge chuck of the premium seats to new corporate clients. Those people in the first 8 rows will never get their seats back. They can do it, it’s all in the fine print.
June 25th, 2020 at 7:19 am
Looking forward to seeing the JBF logo……
June 25th, 2020 at 7:28 am
Whatever it takes so we can have football this year, I’m all for it.
June 25th, 2020 at 7:34 am
They need to remove everything that is non-essential for this to have any chance to work!!!!!!!!! Next, they will consider having just a cardboard cut out of ole stale biscuit on the sidelines!!!!!!!!! It would actually help, as ole stale biscuit, would not be bumbling and getting in the way!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 25th, 2020 at 7:43 am
Yah. Thats me too
(Although i dont think they will have fans in stands This year)
Why not let them get advertising on jerseys like soccer does?
June 25th, 2020 at 7:46 am
By the way ….whatever happened to “hehateme”
June 25th, 2020 at 8:20 am
I have 4 seats since ‘76 also. We got moved too. Tickets that long should be moved on a priority based on ticket #
June 25th, 2020 at 8:41 am
I wonder how bad the sickness will be after the election.
June 25th, 2020 at 8:55 am
Let’s just make sure KOVID doesn’t make the whole season go away…
June 25th, 2020 at 9:00 am
Seat on Row X…so not impacted. Still, I think this is all wildly overblown…and living life in fear is no way to live life. After the election, all of this craziness will go away pretty quickly, I think. EVERYTHING these days is about the election. Amazing how the sickness stats and fear mongering seem to align by the political affililiatation of different states.
Sickness does not appear to be a big deal in terms of mortality. Horrible for families that are impacted, but no different, really, than a bad flu.
June 25th, 2020 at 9:53 am
Look for permanent changes like this after Covid.
June 25th, 2020 at 11:02 am
You’re delusional if you think there will be fans in the stands this season. At this point here’s to hoping that there is an actual season.
June 25th, 2020 at 11:05 am
TampaTown Says:
June 25th, 2020 at 8:41 am
I wonder how bad the sickness will be after the election.
Easy answer guy. It will be much worse if the US keeps its same trajectory.
June 25th, 2020 at 11:14 am
Row 9 is now the premium bomb…
My seats were in row CC, section 114.
June 25th, 2020 at 11:51 am
Which makes absolutley zeron sense being that those are rhe hottest seats in the house
June 25th, 2020 at 12:15 pm
As long as they play, I’m for it.
June 25th, 2020 at 3:21 pm
It is ridiculous that the NFL owners are even considering having fans in the stands this fall. Putting even 20,000 fans in RayJay on a Sunday risks exposing those fans to the virus. Masks? It is hot in Florida in September; those masks will come off before the end of the first quarter, and people will congregate in the air conditioning to get away from the heat.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for 12 years; I treasure game days but let’s be sensible. Play this season on TV only.
June 25th, 2020 at 4:05 pm
“I wonder how bad the sickness will be after the election.”
That kind of post makes me think you don’t really care you already “feel” your answer. And it surely must be correct in light of some “alternate facts”.
Meanwhile you get to choose. Scientists? Epidemiologists? Doctors?
Or the man and his acolytes who told us this was a Democratic hoax, that it would disappear one day overnight..a miracle. That this restart is without danger and you don’t need no stinkin’ masks.
It’s YOUR choice who to believe. Perhaps…doubtful…you might have a clue that I prefer science and doctors and experts.
As Roger Waters and Pink Floyd once pointed out however some folks have different ideas.
We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
June 25th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
Ha! Joe doesn’t have nearly that kind of bread.
June 25th, 2020 at 6:37 pm
St pete,
If the number of infected individuals was not 2mil…..but say 20mil….death rate unchanged…..what if any impact would that have on your opinion?
June 25th, 2020 at 8:12 pm
St. Pete… what’s the problem? Ten cases, five cases, one case….all gone. RIP.
June 26th, 2020 at 11:00 am
Ugh please no advertising on Jerseys, that looks Cheap and atrocious.