The Buccaneers announced early Thursday afternoon that Sunday’s home game with New Orleans will be broadcast on local television, as ticket sales met the 85 percent threshold to avoid a blackout, before the 1 p.m. Thursday deadline.

"We're pleased to have reached the 85% of general admission seats needed for local broadcast of this Sunday's game versus the New Orleans Saints, which leaves us with the remaining 15% of tickets - starting at $30 - available for this exciting divisional showdown," said Brian Ford, Vice President of Business Administration.

In July, the Buccaneers became the first team to take advantage of the NFL's new policy aimed at reducing local television blackouts.

This year, the Buccaneers have reduced the prices of 80% of general admission seats, starting at $30 for adults and $15 for children. Also new this year, the team introduced a 12-month payment plan, half-season passes, as well as free stadium Wi-Fi, top-of-the-line game production, an enhanced replay system, and bolstered customer service.
The Buccaneers are the first NFL team to utilize the Ticketmaster app's paperless ticketing capability and the first to use Apple's Passbook app to allow for even easier entry into Raymond James Stadium. Mobile ticketing is currently available for single-game ticket purchases.

The Saints game will be just the third home game to be televised locally since the start of the 2010 season. Last season the two nationally televised games (Colts, ESPN, Cowboys, NFL Network) were sellouts. So far in 2012 the home games against the Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs all failed to meet the 85 percent threshold and were blacked out.

The Buccaneers decisive win on Sunday combined with the throwback game, along with a marquee team coming to town were most likely the major factors in the fans turning out in such numbers to allow the game to be broadcast.