Upgrades Are A Comin’
May 21st, 2015
A local pol stated upgrades will soon be finalized. Finally!
Joe wrote yesterday how Tampa is a finalist to land the Super Bowl in either 2019 or 2020, despite competing against three stadiums that either are brand new or have undergone major renovations recently.
Outside of a new set of upper deck seats replaced with a non-fading red paint, and new concessions areas, little to nothing has been upgraded in the Den of Depression since it opened some 17 years ago.
And, yes, fans are irked that the Bucs still use analog standard definition video replay boards when stadiums deemed unfit for NFL teams — clubs about to uproot and move to Los Angeles — already have HD scoreboards.
Joe thought, and still thinks, that unless the stadium is upgraded, Tampa Bay has zero chance of landing a Super Bowl. But hold up! Hillsborough County commissioner Ken Hagan said upgrades, which were written into the voter-approved referendum to fund the stadium, are acomin,’ so he told Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.
“Absolutely,” Hagan said. “For the past several months, (they) have been at the negotiating table going back and forth. January 2017 is not that far away. That window is narrowing. We’re hopeful to have an agreement and a plan here in weeks.”
It’s about damned time! (The 2017 referenced by Hagen is the NCAA Football National Championship scheduled for Tampa.)
Look, Joe is not saying the Den of Depression is a bad place to watch a game, but in a time and age in the 21st Century when a stadium has to have bells and whistles to get poeple off the couch, the Den of Depression is bringing up the caboose.
Shoot, just in the state of Florida, the Den of Depression is in third place and soon will be behind Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, which is upgrading end zone seats so fans can sit in air conditioning and do shots, very similar to the “Bud Zone” in Jacksonville. That’s got its own air conditioned sports bar above an end zone where fans, no matter where their seats are, can eat and drink and watch the game in comfort.
Why it has taken this long for local movers and shakers to get the ball rolling on this project, Joe has no earthly idea. But it is finally coming.
May 21st, 2015 at 9:12 am
They need to add the open-air canopy like Miami is currently doing.
May 21st, 2015 at 9:17 am
better video screens and some form of shade for the 3rd level would be a great next step. i don’t see us doing any of these gimmicky premium seating things like Jax and Miami because the stadium’s seating capacity is already so low relative to other superbowl candidates
May 21st, 2015 at 9:18 am
Hopefully not just a new TV that no one watches anyway. I would like them to add shading to the east and west sides
May 21st, 2015 at 9:21 am
You don’t think the team and the city would bid for SB’s without out including the upgrades in the bids.. C’mon. But again who cares. I don’t go inside the stadium except to grab food a beer and to take a tinkle. I can careless about anything else. Just inflates ticket prices..
May 21st, 2015 at 9:24 am
SHADE FOR FANS PLEASE!!! Taking my 5 year old daughter to a game in September is potentially deadly. Literally!!!
May 21st, 2015 at 9:25 am
Upgrade the record !
May 21st, 2015 at 9:30 am
I’m onboard with shades for fans. It is getting ridiculous
May 21st, 2015 at 9:35 am
shade would be nice for the first half of the season….but the warm sun sure is nice at the end of the season…especially in the post season 🙂
how many people complaning about shade actually go to games on a regular basis….we’ve made it since 1976 without….SMH
May 21st, 2015 at 9:44 am
Is your TV at home 17 years old? The replay boards need replaced, and please choose a shape more suitable to football.
As for shade, we just need one of these fake clouds like Qatar plans to use for the World Cup.
http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2011/clipbosdfard-1.jpg
May 21st, 2015 at 9:47 am
Is that a hovering drone…cool…the down draft from the drones fans could be directed against the visiting teams field goal attempts and punts…of course a new JUMBO sized HD video screen is a MUST
May 21st, 2015 at 9:50 am
Just no ridiculous swimming pool like they have in Jacksonville.
May 21st, 2015 at 10:03 am
We’re so overdue!
May 21st, 2015 at 10:16 am
D@$!, The Magic of America’s QB. Set foot in town and things immediately take action. Upgrades are a must because of Jamies those nationally syndicated cameras are soon to follow. It’s the WINSton affect.
May 21st, 2015 at 10:37 am
I’m all in on open-air canopy and 4 HD screens like Miami installing in SunLife Stadium. Crazy hot in September and October at RJS.
May 21st, 2015 at 10:44 am
Nothing ridiculous about scantily-clad hot babes at a football game, sir.
May 21st, 2015 at 10:45 am
Indeed!
May 21st, 2015 at 10:48 am
Upgrades are definitely needed. Hopefully the powers that be can think outside the box and do more than the current standard, which is upgrade the video boards and install some sort of party deck.
Many people complain about the early season games with the heat. It’ never stopped me from going but maybe it’s a big enough factor that shaded areas should be part of the plan as many have suggested. A retractable overhang could be added to the top deck. They could make it look like a pirate ship sail, to go along with the theme and it would give the stadium a different look.
May 21st, 2015 at 11:05 am
Retractable roof.
May 21st, 2015 at 11:11 am
Football is an outdoor sport. We live in Florida. Deal with it and stop whining.
@Nate, if you think taking your 5yo is potentially deadly then don’t do it A hole.
Please please please all of you stay at home and leave me with my elbow room.
May 21st, 2015 at 11:12 am
And, yes, fans are irked that the Bucs still use analog standard definition video replay boards when stadiums deemed unfit for NFL teams — clubs about to uproot and move to Los Angeles — already have HD scoreboards.
Maybe we can use their discards!
May 21st, 2015 at 11:13 am
Why dont they build a giant dome over West Tampa?
May 21st, 2015 at 11:13 am
FUK the stadium. Upgrade the left side of 2-14 then we can talk. In the meantime please let Warren Sapp handle the in game experience. Yes! Yes! Yes!
May 21st, 2015 at 11:23 am
Degrade back to playing the Disney pirates song before shooting stuff out of the cannons
May 21st, 2015 at 11:37 am
Instead of hard seats, put couches in?
May 21st, 2015 at 11:43 am
When is JOE going to upgrade this god-forsaken website/server?
Love the content but, it’s 2015 dudes!
I have the best computer available and the fastest internet speed there is. Major lag problems almost every time I log on.
Also, a modern design/layout would be appreciated.
Go Sucs!
May 21st, 2015 at 11:44 am
The fans don’t come because the team sucks. Add in the heat index and no one wants to go to a game and fry like a potato to watch their team suck.
May 21st, 2015 at 11:50 am
Make the stadium cooler!!!!!!!
May 21st, 2015 at 12:10 pm
Defiantly worth putting Shade, anyone who’s gone to an early season game knows that they rather be watching at home than burn in the heat
May 21st, 2015 at 12:11 pm
The Saturday night home games in September that occurred in the 70s solved the heat issues. I guess the league would never approve a request like that now?
May 21st, 2015 at 12:13 pm
87 have you bought tickets yet ?…or just jerseys
IMO….even with a winning team the days of sold out packed stadiums are over but for SB contenders/defenders….despite what folks cry about what they need to go experience live games.
Too hot
Too expensive
My child couldn’t get an autograph
had to walk too far
car got towed trying to skimp on parking fee
on and on…..
HD BIG screen home entertainment rigs complete with remote controls to switch between games, AC @ home is the future
going to a game is expensive and a full day commitment of time and emotion
May 21st, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Zero plans on a design/layout change. None. Joe’s not going to fix what is not broken. Simplicity is the key to websites which is terribly overlooked by tech geeks who always want to monkey with things just because they can.
Simplicity is why Drudge works. It’s why Craig’s List works. It’s why Florio’s site works.
May 21st, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Can’t wait to see eveyone bitch about where the money comes from.
May 21st, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Why it has taken this long for local movers and shakers to get the ball rolling on this project, Joe has no earthly idea.
Uh maybe because the elected officials wished to protect Joe taxpayer.
Sports stadia in this nation are the biggest ripoff going. It’s welfare for the people who need it least! Billionaire owners and millionaire players! They could easily afford to build their own stadiums but they get away with legal blackmail and monopolies. Why should the Glazers get the parking and concession revenue from USF games?
Why should Tampans or St Pete taxpayers have to SUBSIDIZE welfare queens like Stu slime Sternberg…a former Goldman Sachs banker…remember who crashed our economy and build that leech at new stadium? Why? Because he’ll blackmail us into taking the team elsewhere. Since MLB is a monopoly it’s legal extortion and has nothing to do with free enterprise.
I can deliver dozens of studies that show stadia do NOT add to the area’s economy. Holy Cross University did a study here in Florida in Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa. NONE fo the teams nor their stadium effected overall economies. If they did that would be reflected in increased economic activity which is what counts but the sales tax receipts were flat.
It’s a horrible scam!!!
May 21st, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Upgrades, mandatory upgrades, were written into the referendum for the voter-approved funding. That’s like saying the state won’t fix roads in order to save money even though there is a revenue flow from tolls and taxes.
May 21st, 2015 at 12:30 pm
I am with you StPeteBucsFan……I feel the same way about all the failed social programs
May 21st, 2015 at 1:07 pm
Personally, the old fashioned score board sits fine with me. But if its what must be done to please the corperate big wigs, then so be it. Kind of like how I have zero issue with the Trop, besides its location, I think its a comfortable place to watch a baseball game, but national media says otherwise. Plus local business wont have their brand associated with the punchline of bspn.
May 21st, 2015 at 1:26 pm
“Joe Says:
May 21st, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Also, a modern design/layout would be appreciated.
Zero plans on a design/layout change. ”
Not a complaint, but, I do get a ton of load errors on this site (especially the last month or so), that I don’t get anywhere else. I assume it’s just a volume thing. Which is a good problem to have, meaning you continue to bring additional eyes to the site.
May 21st, 2015 at 2:27 pm
I’ve seen the architect’s renderings that the Bucs used to put the work out for bid. It includes things like new Jumbotron screens, upgrades to club level food areas, and an LED banner that will run around the whole stadium on the 3rd deck.
May 21st, 2015 at 2:27 pm
The video screens aren’t a necessity but it sure would be nice to see replays better. Other stadiums show the broadcast with the commentary that would help in understanding some of the calls that while sitting in the stands are hard to figure out. And please some type of shade or misters, there were games last year that people were going down around us and getting carried out and it wasn’t the usual alcohol related types.
May 21st, 2015 at 4:00 pm
They could put a sail type canopy over the colloseum in ancient Rome for God’s sake, yet they can’t figure out how to put one up for Ray Jay? It IS a Pirate’s home right? Come on Tampa/Bucs, make it happen!
May 21st, 2015 at 6:58 pm
@Joe
Upgrades, mandatory upgrades, were written into the referendum for the voter-approved funding. That’s like saying the state won’t fix roads in order to save money even though there is a revenue flow from tolls and taxes.
And supposedly the Glazers were supposed to contribute to the cost of this stadium!!! When they didn’t that’s when Chris Thomas started calling it the CITS..Community Investment Tax Stadium instead of RayJay.
And no it’s not comparable to roads at all. Roads and infrastructure benefit all of our society and have a multiplier effect that increases economic activity.
Stadia are bad investments that benefit wealthy owners and players and a subset of society that are sports fans.
May 21st, 2015 at 7:19 pm
shade is definitley a must
May 21st, 2015 at 8:14 pm
It’s a shame it takes a super bowl bid to get them to make changes. That’s a game that very few Bucs fans will even be at. I thought they had promised new HD screens before the 2015 season. They said something about that two years ago. The current screens don’t even show the whole players. It’s really embarrassing.
May 21st, 2015 at 8:36 pm
@gt40bear
anythings possible with 100,000 slaves
May 21st, 2015 at 8:49 pm
I don’t know why you all are beotcing about RayJay. Can’t you see how financially challenged the poor Glazer boys are? I mean where are they supposed to get the money if WE the taxpayers won’t supply it? You surely don’t expect them to dig into their own obscene profits do you?
May 22nd, 2015 at 7:03 pm
But we have a pirate ship!