Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer eye-RAH! Kaufman suggests Bucs officials may be concerned that continued success of the Rays could dilute the local football market.

Could Bucs management be a little jealous of the Rays’ success? Well, eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune suggests, Yes.

Appearing on Chris Russo’s Mad Dog Unleashed satellite radio show this afternoon (heard on both Sirius and XM) Kaufman, who covers the NFL and the Bucs for the Tribune, was speaking with Russo about the Rays and the World Series. He then came out with a mini-bombshell when he said on the surface, the Glazers are happy about the Rays; underneath they are concerned about what is projected to be long-term success by the young Rays.

“The Bucs aren’t used to sharing the market,” Kaufman said.

The national TV ratings from Sunday, when the Rays beat the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS on TBS and the Bucs played the Seahawks on NBC, were lopsided in favor of the Rays.

Game 7 of the ALCS set a cable TV record for a baseball game. The Bucs TV ratings were the lowest for an NFL prime time game in years. Kaufman said Bucs officials took notice of this and were not dismissive of the results.

Kaufman also related a funny story about the Bucs game Sunday night. When he and his fellow brethren in the fourth estate were trying to interview players to get postgame comments for their stories, few if any of the Bucs were available or wanted to talk.’

“They were all glued to the tube watching the ninth inning,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman also noted that many Bucs players have jumped on the Rays bandwagon now that the Rays are in the World Series and several were scrambling for tickets to tonight’s Game 1 at Tropicana Field.