A couple of more wins and this will change. I disagree with their prediction. If we lose 4 or 5 straight forget it, but if they continue on this trajectory, They will sell out the games. Shoot, the Steelers game nearly sold out. If we beat Saints, it will be the talk of the NFL.

Some (very few) bring up good points. Horse, good observation but not sure the percentage breakdown of clubs seats vs regular ones compared to the other teams. I also do not think this has anything to do with Rah. I really think he will end up being a good coach if he is able to continue here or somewhere else. Players respond to him well. I just went and looked at several teams we will be visiting this year to check out their prices and for one, it looks as though most of them have same prices as we do. Some have better discount packages available when compared to ours. I then began to realize in general for pro sports in Florida have below average attendance, even Miami. Things may change in Miami with the Heat but basketball doesn't seat 60K plus of people either. Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Atlanta all have a much larger metropolitan area for manufacturing than Florida has. Essentially, more middle-class people. If you took out the hospitality industry in Florida $20 tickets would be expensive. Florida has no state tax (good) but it also has very little higher paying jobs than most metropolitan cities. All the cities I mentioned above are ones that I have had a professional job in. I can barely gross 100K here but in Pittsburgh (same type job) I made a little more than double. In the other cities it is at least 50% more. This is only me now think if the whole city has the same percentage as me. Yes I paid more taxes but I still net much more than Florida. I love Florida and the tropical weather so I deal with it. How many of you are Floridians? Florida is a transient state and many people have strong ties to other teams when moving here right??

What's up with these pre-mature BLACKOUT anouncements, does this have anything to do with the Player Labor or TV nagotiations next year. Maybe they feel it's better for them to show that they didn't sellout any games. Just a thought.

I had season tickets for 10 years and I gave them up last year and I will tell you why. The stadium was built with no shade for the fans whatsoever. I suspect it was built that way on purpose to sell more drinks. Every home game is scheduled for 1pm kick off time, the hottest time of the day. Why not schedule at least the games in Aug, Sept and Oct at 4pm or god forbid at 7pm. If the games were all at 7pm they would all sell out. Sitting in the direct sun on a 98 degree day is torture. Then when you go to get a cold drink, the owners thank you for spending over $100.00 for 2 tickets by charging $4.50 for a bottle of water that you can buy at Sam's club for 35 cents. Then the instant replay screen operator rarely shows the replays you want to see, like a bad call by the ref's etc. People in the stand were constantly saying what's going on because unless you had a radio there is no way to know what is going on. I called and complained many times and was told that they are not allowed to show controversial calls in the stadium (that's a total lie.) I began to realize that watching at home was so much more fun than being there. I would like to see the Glazers leave their air conditioned owners box and sit with the real fans during a hot Sept game and see how long they last. So don't wonder why the games are not selling out. Improve the game watching experience and make it more comfortable for everyone at the game not just the rich people. The luxury boxes and the extremely expensive club seats can go into air conditioned comfort. The rest of us are treated like steerage passengers on the Titanic and that's no way to treat your fans.

I live Houston, so obviously catching a game is a challenge. I love the bucs and travel from bars to bars just to see my team good or bad, but to be honest the area of Tampa doesn't deserve a pro team. I follow the league and other fan bases and I can honestly say buccaneers "fans" are the only ones that actually hope for losses so they can satisfy there distaste for ownership and more specifically coach morris. Its sad but the harsh truth. I don't even care for the whole we are in a recession b.s, cause is the cities of Detroit and Cleveland can sell there games in there cities with there weather being as it is then the city of Tampa has no excuse! I'm actually glad the games are blackout for that area because a lot of those fair-weather fans don't deserve a good thing in the buccaneers.

I live in Orlando. I have been a Bucs fan for as long as I have beena fan of football. If you look in my room there is Bucs paraphernalia all over the place. I have a Bucs tag for my car. I subscribe here. My friends laugh at me because I know the roster all the way down to the practice squad. The point is, I am a Bucs fan. With that said, I don't go to the games. Even living in Orlando, I can't. I can't afford to. I have a decent paying job, but when you add in ticket prices, parking, gas, eating and what not; it's not a economically sound decision to go to the games. I try to hit up one each season, but if I can't afford it, I just can't afford it. I'm sure there are many more like me. We have to prioritize where I money goes and as much as I love football, some things are hight up on the hierarchy of needs. I wonder how much would be lost/gained with lower ticket prices. What's more financially sound; not selling out at high prices, or selling out at slightly lower prices?

I don't see why the TV & radio stations as well as PR report can't buy up the tickets to avoid a blackout when if correct there were only 4000 ticket needed to prevent a blackout against Pittsburg. Of course seeing the results of the game it was just as well. But I do wish they would keep this in mind for future games.

Living now in the Detroit area, I had the occasion to attend a Lion's game yesterday. (DVRed the Bucs) I was amazed to see a sold out game in this economically challenged area. Prior to the game, the Lions had won only 2 games of the past 36 and they were sold out. Well, the club seats were mostly empty but the seats that counted were full. The concessions were crowded including all of the kiosks that sold Lions gear. Can there be an ownership more hated than the Ford's who brought Matt Millen to town?

this is exactly my point abucsfan...THE LIONS sold out in DETROIT. im seriously tired of "reasons" which is just another name for excuses. the lions have been at the bottom and were 0-3 heading into last wk and they still have more fans going than we do. their is just no excuse at this point none. i understand a lot of changes happened very quickly, but its a business, and the sooner the majority of you realize that the better. honestly, i think a lot of ppls anger towards the team stems on the way brooks was treated and that happened over a yr ago.....im a fan of the team, i dont need the owners to show their faces and from what im seeing, they are giving to the community and the players are doing their part as well. all i hear are "THE GLAZERBUMS" and "THE COLVERHOUSEGLAZERS" or w.e bs name you all have for them. WE ARE 3-1, im sorry, but w.e excuse and reasons their are for not supporting this team is just an excuse. and no trae, my rant is towards all the fans that are still whining abt the head coach and the team. forget about the glazers and be a fan of your team. im sorry, i cant stand it anymore. to me, its just pathetic.

buclover1988, you can still support your team and be a loyal Buc Fan by watching it on TV and on Radio. Just because you don't want to or can not afford to pay for pricey tickets doesn't make you a fair weather fan. TV and Radio pay a lot to the NFL for the right to broadcast and I am sure they would welcome a larger audience and so would the NFL and it's advertisers.

abucsfan, we have too many pricey seats geared for past good time economy. The Owners might want to take a look at changing those areas by adding more seating at a much less price which would maintain their existing revenue until the economy improves in a few years; well maybe it will.

Buclover.... I am not sure if your rant was addressed to my comments - but if they were, I want to clarify that I am a HUGE bucs fan. And even though I live in Los Angeles, I have kept my 4 season tickets for every single year of the franchise's existence. All of your points are valid...but I think you are missing the point. The point is not why the fans SHOULD be supporting the team, the point is that they unfortunately are not. So I think what the Bucs need to find out is WHY have the fans lost interest?? That was the only thing I was exploring - and as I said - I think it goes much deeper than just one or two things. I think a combination of the factors I have listed - with the economy and losing being the biggies - have turned the fans off... Raheem might be a solid coach - but just based on my own unscientific observations I do not think he and his team are connecting with the fan base. And since the NFL is not just sport - but also an entertainment business - it is a reality that fans need to feel excited about everything from a coach, an owner, uniforms, the experience at the stadium, etc. It goes far beyond just winning and even the players. I think back to the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL as a great example. If you do not think this community will support an enjoyable football product...go look up the Tampa Bay Bandits. This was a USFL team that routinely packed 50-60 thousand fans in the old Tampa Stadium. They played an exciting brand of football, they won games, but they also had some really great personalities associated with the team - a young ball coach with the name of Spurrier brought a really exciting brand of football and he was a local hero that fans could relate to, a fun and accessible owner who had fancy Hollywood friends support the team like Burt Reynolds, a really fun game day experience, they appealed to the country roots of this area, and they had some really exciting players who played a wide open brand of football. It was just a great all around fan-oriented product - and fans showed up in droves. The Bucs need to take a step back and see where the disconnect is with local fans. I think consistent winning will get most people back in the stadium - but it might take more than that in the long run. In this economy, just battling through to a 9-7 season might not be enough.

and its not like we havent tried to bring big time ppl in. its not our fault they dont wanna come here "its not a big media market" and you can see y its not bc of our fans. we offered more to haynesworth than the redskins did...we traded for winslow. like i dont get your reasoning. were doing this through the draft and if "showing you care" is bringing in a whole bunch of over priced players and going 7-9 then i kinda like the "not caring method" better where we take our lumps but are better off in the comming yrs which is where this team is headed. it also helps how much josh has progressed, that has been soo huge. hes our guy, now we just need to fix a few holes and we will be very deadly.

This is SOOO pathetic. WE ARE 3-1! cant understand raheem?????????? i understand him just fine and guess what??? it really doesnt matter if you all can understand him or not because the ppl that matter do understand him. what a bunch of babies. whine whine whine whine whine. its soo terrible being 3-1. id much rather be 1-3, no, EVEN better id much rather be 0-5. im a die hard buccaneer fan and im disgusted with many of my fellow "fans" and how you make excuses upon excuses as to why you wont support this team. you continue to doubt raheem and his team and they continue to prove you all wrong. guess what? raheem knows more than you! i am 100000% sure of it. and its time to shut up about the glazers, they are business men, not baby coddlers. they bought out tickets last yr bc they understood we were in the early transition stages and the season would be ugly, but heaven forbid that they expect the fans to get off there butts and support this young promising team play now that improvement has clearly been shown and are 3-1 with the possibility of defeating the saints and making a serious push for the playoffs... there is a reason they are incharge and not you all and hiring raheem may have been one of the best things to happen to this franchise in a long time. without raheem and dom, we wouldnt have freeman. give credit where credit is due and stop being soo pessimistic . i wish i lived in tampa, i would be at every home game supporting them. and 35 dollars a ticket isnt outrageous, thats perfectly reasonable and again its just another piss poor excuse as to why majority of you refuse to support this team.

I have to say Traew01 that you have written the best comments I have seen on this website in a long time. Very well said and I do think that Raheem is someone that is very hard to relate to when he speaks. I can't do it and I know tons of people that just can't get him either. I hope they do well because they will always be my team, just wish there was sometype of answer or some driving force that forced me to not question them.

The MAIN REASON they are not selling out is the GLAZERBAUMS GREED !!2years ago in this terrible economy the money hungry owners had the nerve to raise the tickets 33 percent and never lowered most of them ...especially the pricey ones.....which is about half the stadium....100 hundred bucks a ticket.....thats when people stopped coming and firing Gruden because the morons believed Dumig and some of his fans.....thats what sunk the ship.......first and foemost the 33 per cent increase and also a lot of Gruden fans....jmvho.

I'm sick and tired of this freaking "story." The GD Royal Glazerbaum's WANT it this way. The tickets are too expensive and they're much more concerned with the CBA than us common fans.

No business sells 100 percent of their product, the NFL needs to be happy with a 75 percent full house to lift blackouts.People in Tampa will come back to the Bucs when the likes of Freeman, and company become stars, and win consistantly. It's not just Tampa, Florida fans are bandwagoners. I've seen it with the Bucs, Magic, Jags, and Fins. Hit a bad streak,the wagon unloads, it's just the way it is. Hopefully the Bucs will still reside in Tampa when these new players become winners.

This situation with the Bucs is quite fascinating to me. I have been a season ticket holder since 1976. Aside from the economy - which is the obvious factor - right now there seems to be a combination of factors working against the Bucs in terms of generating fan support: 1. Negative view of ownership - the Glazers have always been very inaccessible, and their foray with Manchester United has compounded matters. Their lack of spending in free agency, and inability to bring in any big names (i.e. Brett Favre -- putting aside whether that is the PRUDENT thing to do) - has made fans feel like the owners are not dedicated to winning - but care more about the bottom line. A change in ownership would completely reinvigorate the fan base. Best way to describe it right now - a malaise. 2. Head coach - One can argue pros and cons about Raheem Morris' coaching ability. But the fact is, he is not well liked by the majority of fans. He does not generate much enthusiasm from the fan base - and his continuous coach speak has become, for lack of a better word, boring. 3. Lack of star players - This is mostly a product of young guys just emerging. But when the Bucs were at the height of their popularity - they had the Sapps, Brooks, Lynches, Rices, Dunns and Alstotts....these were all players that the really resonated with the fan base. This team just lacks that spark. 4. Fans are not convinced - I think this is the biggest factor. Right now, I just do not think fans are convinced that this team is really a contender. This is only going to come with time - and a real playoff run. But I can tell you right now, if they lose big to the Saints this week, on the heels of the home blowout to the Steelers, it is not going to help their cause with the fans. 5. Club seating prices need to be reduced. Tampa has always supported a winning football team - and they will again. Football is just too big a sport in this area - and comparing football with the support of baseball is apples to oranges. There is no history of fan support for baseball here - but a clear history of fan support for football. But it has been close to a decade since the glory days - and all of these factors are playing a huge role in the lack of support.

traew01, I so disagree with you about Raheem Morris no fan support. He has me convinced that he is learning and is leading this team. I agree with you about the Owners and I can't figure out why they are this way. It's a good thing here in Tampa bay that they are messing up pertaining to present and future fan support.

So if we're not Super Bowl contenders right this second, then people shouldn't go to the games? Those are pretty reasonable expectations. And here's some news for the Gruden fans you speak of: we haven't been Super Bowl contenders since the year we won the Super Bowl. Now everyone wants to blame Morris for last year despite the fact that he inherited a team with zero young talent thanks to Gruden's poor drafting and constant signing of old free agents. The Bucs had a choice: continue signing a new batch of 34 year-olds every season and be consistently mediocre OR start from scratch and try to build a contender by taking a long-term approach. How can people trash Morris and Dominik when they have hit on more draft picks in 2 years than Gruden did in 6, not to mention they found a franchise QB late in the first round, which is the ingredient that the Bucs have never had. This team is so full of young talent, it wouldn't make any sense for the Glazers to "spend money" on free agents right now. The Glazers should, however, be spending money this offseason resigning our young players and filling in the holes on the depth chart. Yes, the Glazers are greedy bastards...that's why they are billionaires, but people shouldn't let that keep them from enjoying what the Bucs are doing. There's nothing wrong with people not showing up because they would rather not spend the money, but anyone who is boycotting because the Bucs are taking a long-term approach and not signing over-the-hill veterans is just plain wrong.

The problem is not with the cheap ticket; they will sell out of them. The problem is with the pricey higher tickets. They need to be super discounted the day of the game so atleast the stadium is full. I think the Owners next year might want to rethink the price of the box seats and up. Go Owners; think smarter!

First the Rays, despite their wining ways. And now the Bucs. Way to go Tampa. Way to take pride in your local teams.

I don't buy it. This is just an opinion but I really think the Glazers are fudging the numbers. I don't know what their motivation is, perhaps it's the labor deal, who knows? Something doesn't smell right, though. Tampa Bay is a front running crowd and I'm sorry, that Steelers game was the largest crowd I've seen at Ray Jay since 2003. Doesn't bother me, I'll be there but I really think there's something else behind this other than the economy or fan apathy.

tollhouse13 -try LeeRoy Selmons -kinda of a restaurant - sportsbar about 5 minutes from the stadium. The place is clean, the food good, reasonably priced and kid friendly. Enjoy the game

TheBucFather - Those types of promos can work when a team has to sell a couple thousand tickets. The Saints game sounds like it's at least 10,000-15,000 away from being sold out from what I'm hearing. That's way too many tickets for any local business to shell out money for in this economy.

I am coming to Tampa for this game from Canada. We are just staying in Tampa for the weekend. Does anyone know a good place to eat, or maybe something to do on Saturday. I can't wait for this game. Let's see the Bucs defend their turf from the super bowl champs. Go Bucs. I have been watching the Bucs since 1997. This will be the first time I have seen them at home. I've watched them in Detroit and Buffalo. Has anyone here been to a game with club seats? What is it like?

This is SAD! If I lived in Tampa these days (was there during the glory days), I would be capitalizing on an opportunity to see my beloved BUCS play live in Ray Jay. What could be better on Sunday? Now I live in Colorado and I have the Ticket (which costs a pretty penny), so I can watch them play every week so blackouts are not my problem. COME ON TAMPA.... SUPPORT YOUR BUCS! What is it with Tampa Sports??? I mean the Rays are finally selling out a game in the Playoffs, but it took a game 5 in the divisional series to do so! Seriously, this is why we get no respect in the national Media.

You read on PFT that other teams that have struggled to sell out have come up with creative solutions to sell their remaining tickets. Per PFT this week, both the Rams and Bengals partnered with their sponsors to buy up the last few thousands of tickets to ensure the game will be on TV. Are the Bucs even trying this, or our they just sitting on their hands to use the blackouts as leverage in the CBA negotiations??

If wish I lived in Tampa