Bucs Relocation Chatter Rises From The Dead
August 31st, 2012
The prospect of a Bucs opening-day television blackout has Mike Florio so fired up he’s again taken to his national stage to talk about the Bucs relocating. That’s right, leaving the Tampa Bay market.
Florio, an NBC Sports personality and the curator of ProFootballTalk.com, says Team Glazer has exhausted every means necessary to drive attendance and must seriously consider relocation.
The failure to sell enough tickets at the stadium comes despite a string of efforts to sell all non-premium seats, from taking full advantage of the new league rule that allows teams to cut their “manifest” to 85 percent, to uncharacteristically spending million on free agents like Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks, and Eric Wright, to hiring a new coach, to cutting the prices on parking and concessions for the home opener, to honoring Ronde Barber.
By the way, it’s the first freaking game of the year. And Cam Newton is coming to town. Division rival. The team that once claimed Chris Simms’ spleen.
It was supposed to be a slam dunk for Week One. And still the team is 9,000 tickets short.
Look, we like Tampa. The city did a great job hosting the Super Bowl. But regardless of the reason — local economy, apathy, whatever — if fans continue to fail to show up for the games, at some point the team needs to be moved to a place where the fans have the money, the time, and the inclination to attend games.
Joe must say that even though the 9,000 ticket figure was confirmed by the Bucs this afternoon, it still lacks very important perspective. For all anyone knows, the Bucs typically will sell 5,000 to 10,000 tickets in the six days leading up to the blackout deadline for opening day. And what ticket sales are typical in the final 72 hours before opening-day kickoff — after the blackout deadline — is unknown. That could bring thousands more sales.
Last year, the Bucs drew 51,000 and change for opening day against the Lions coming off a 10-6 season. There’s no reason to think that this season’s opening day attendance won’t show a significant increase of 10 to 20 percent.
As of now, the Bucs are an organization on the rise operating in a poor Florida economy. They’re not going anywhere.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Even though it would make my life as a fan so much easier if they would move to LA, I hope it never happens. The Bucs belong in Tampa. I do think if this continues for a few more years, then it has to at minimum become a possibility. I know that they have a great stadium deal, but at some point the Glazers are going to want to sell some tickets.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Florio is liberal piece of crap. The Bucs need to start winning to prove a turnaround and fans will start to show up. You have to prove it first and game 1 after 4-12 isn’t the time to pull the plug. Florio can lick a big one. Jackass!
August 31st, 2012 at 6:05 pm
cAN’T HAPPEN. Florio would know that if he did research instead of thinking about his kids ball game tonight.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:06 pm
You sure have a mouth like a liberal, BigMacAttack, lol.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Very astute perspective…. I like it, Joe!
Ps. As an avid follower for a few years now, I’m enjoying seeing Joe Bucs Fan be the first to offer some different insights regarding the organization. Keep it up! (Oh, and maybe bring back the beautiful Jenna Laine this season)
August 31st, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Before the Glazer’s condemn the fans let’s put together a couple of winning seasons.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:23 pm
Love it Joe! Right on! I read that article today and was shocked. Hopefully it will inspire people to get up and buy some tickets. I’ll be there. But I do think this game will be televised. We might not have a lot of hardcore Bucs fans in this market, but the ones we do have are some of the best in the league. Go Bucs!
August 31st, 2012 at 6:24 pm
who condemned the fans?
August 31st, 2012 at 6:28 pm
Like any business the glazers have to make a profit. It’s a lot easier for people to condemn them on the decisions they make or have made but those people doing the criticising don’t have the millions invested in a business.As for the sellouts I think it’s a cop out to say that tickets will only sell when they win, as true fans will support a team through good and bad times. There are nrl teams out they’re with losing records who’s till sell out their tickets asthe fans support the team no matter winos lose. Just my thoughts….
August 31st, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Condemn – to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; to judge or pronounce to be unfit for use or service.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Fans will show up when they start winning? Tell that to the Rays.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:38 pm
^^^ Lmao BigMacAttack
August 31st, 2012 at 6:39 pm
The Rays play football? LOL
August 31st, 2012 at 6:40 pm
@BigMacAttack – Sorry buddy, the team having to win to have support is a poor excuse. Detroit was terrible for years, with a worse Economy.
As much as I hate to say it, it is sure looking like the entire Tampa bay area is not a major league market, for football or baseball.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:45 pm
It’s rising from the dead because Florio brought it up with no actual basis for doing so.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:47 pm
@ Joe or anyone else that knows. Someone posted on PFT that they can’t leave Tampa for another 13yrs. Is that correct?
August 31st, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Bought season tix for the 1st time last year after the promising 10-6 season of 2010, only to be kicked in the jimmy with the 10 game suck fest last year. Yet this year I gave the Glazers credit for trying to improve the team and bought tix again. I think the Glazers realize that people are not going to come flooding back to watch this team until they show CONTINUED improvement. This team will not get better until they can start DRAFTING/NOT SIGNING Pro Bowl caliber players like the Steelers,Patriots,Packers,Giants and Saints. Win on a regular basis and the fans will return. Nobody wants to be associated with a looser. Fan since 76 GO BUCS!
August 31st, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Thanks for the insight Pete. I believe my vocabulary is somewhat lacking to become a liberal, and I have a serious gun fetish.
The Rays are just killing me. I have hated baseball for years but the Rays have converted me, and now the pitching is phenomenal and the hitting is just AHHHHH! They get on a roll and they fall off a cliff. It is killing me. I really need some real football bad. At least College started last night.
August 31st, 2012 at 6:50 pm
i thought tiquan would make it but not according to rotoworld and…
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/content/receiver-tiquan-underwood-be-released-bucs-other-wrs-might-be-spared
August 31st, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Total BS with some of these releases. Underwood was friggin awesome…what gives?
August 31st, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Boycott PFT.
(at this point I must sound like a broken record)
Every article they post about the BUCS is negative. Im not going to get into it again – you guys know.
Their opinion pieces are always garbage.
August 31st, 2012 at 7:14 pm
As a liberal, I’m not sure what kind of mouth I’m supposed to have, and I have to say I’m unclear on what Florio’s politics (actual or assumed) have to do with his opinion. As a Bucs fan (and season ticket holder, 1998-2009, even while living in Michigan part of that time), I think he’s way off base. First, it’s premature with a week to go before the blackout deadline to assume the Bucs won’t make the necessary quota, and second, everyone knows these things run in cycles. The team drew before and they’ll draw again (hopefully sooner rather than later).
August 31st, 2012 at 7:14 pm
the Buccaneers are not going anywhere and most of us are smart enough to know that.
But yeah, “fan” support around here depends too much on bandwagoneers.
Oh well……blah, blah, blah.
August 31st, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Bucs shouldn’t go anywhere, but it’s not just the economy in Florida, it’s a bunch of bandwagon fans, retirees and transplants with little to no interest in Buccaneer, Dolphin, or Jaguar football. Worst attendance by an entire state hands down.
August 31st, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Ludicrous, No matter where they move them, they won’t sell tickets if they aren’t competitive in games.
Last I checked we sold out plenty of tickets when we were winning.
August 31st, 2012 at 8:11 pm
You guys are getting crazy! Apple did you even bother to watch the Redskins game? The Redskins are a top 10 team in attendence and there was what? 25,000 fans in that stadium! I don’t care what the declared number was; I’m talking about butts in the seats. This is a league wide problem and it will take time to fix. All these teams just haven’t come out of the closet with actual stadium capacity numbers. There are 10 other teams and two of them are taking perminant games outside the U.S. so get a grip. The Bucs are only one of a dozen teams struggling to sell out games.
August 31st, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Apple, you missed the point. The Bucs have to earn their fans back. Your market comment is off because they sold out for years. As Joe says its the economy, but it is also bad play and bad decisions. They have to earn it all over.
August 31st, 2012 at 9:10 pm
These guys are pulling a ton of profit. They aren’t going anywhere.
One problem is the fans know what a good football team looks like, and we haven’t seen it.
Home record has been abysmal since 08.
The Dungy/Gruden years were a damn good run.
August 31st, 2012 at 9:14 pm
The problem is not the owners – it’s the NFL’s self-inflicted blackout stupidity that takes 3+hrs of free come-see-the-next-game advertising off the air that’s killing attendance. Paid advertising is never going to be able to make up for the free advertising teams lose when the NFL yanks the local team off the air because not enough people bought tickets 3 days in advance.
August 31st, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Yeah, the blackout policy is so awful, the NFL is near bankruptcy.
August 31st, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Show me a city with good weather in the winter who doesn’t have problems selling tickets in the new economy. Furthermore, Do you have any idea how hard it is to get people to spend money in the obomaconomy? I love my team but we are not that very good and our leadership after dad got sick has a history of bad choices. Leave? Hello they can’t. How about quit bitching and hire a new vp of ticket sales? How about team up with a credit card company and hire promo girls and get a table outside SAMs clubs. Duh. I hate this topic.
August 31st, 2012 at 10:04 pm
It’s a process that starts with winning. People love football and they will find money to see a top notch team. As much as it pains me, 2010 was a fluke, very entertaining but more of an anomaly. It appears that the Glazers are making better choices now. If the wins come, so will more fans. Losing is not fun to the average fan and most won’t spend good money to be let down. Idiots like me are just gluttons for punishment and enjoy pain.
August 31st, 2012 at 10:46 pm
I think that Bucs fans will start packing the stadium again went they start seeing a consistent effort from this team. The Bucs aren’t going anywhere. Can’t wait till next weekend! My wife and I are driving down from north Georgia to be at the game and support our Bucs!
September 1st, 2012 at 6:45 am
Tampa Bay had a long history of wins & sell-outs before the Glazer “boys” took over the organization. And the problem with ticket sales can be placed right on those “boys” shoulders, who refused to spend any money after Malcolm Glazer had his strokes, and who have made some of the dumbest moves in the history of football beginning in 08′. Tampa Bay had a long history of wins & sell-outs before Malcolms “boys” took over the organization.
September 1st, 2012 at 9:41 am
We suck as a sports town PERIOD! I am ashamed to say Im a BUCS fan sometimes.
September 1st, 2012 at 10:38 am
Florio is a dirt bag. Im sick of all the tampabay fan bashing. After all, the fans are not the ones who hired an idiot, mush mouth jackass as a coach. The Glazers chose to go cheap before the lockout and now they are paying the price. I would like to bitch slap Florio and every other member of the pen and mic club that keeps trashing tampa fans.
September 3rd, 2012 at 8:22 am
941Buc – No we are not. Dont let those fools tell you otherwise.
ProfootballTalk blows.