The Bucs don’t have it made in the shade just yet.

But that’s what the team is angling for when it comes to renovations for Raymond James Stadium.

According to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers have plans to ask for $1 billion in stadium renovations from the Tampa Sports Authority with the team possibly paying one third of that and then seeking the rest of the funding from the public.

Half of the renovation money for Raymond James Stadium, which was opened in 1998 with a large amount of public funding, would be used for sun shades to cover parts of the stadium seating similar to what the Miami Dolphins employ at Hard Rock Stadium. Early season home games in September and October in the sweltering Florida heat and humidity can be brutal for fans in attendance and it seems like the Buccaneers are trying to tend to this issue.

Bucs’ Interest In Ray-Jay Renovations Spurred On By The Rays?

Over the last few years the Buccaneers have been very tight-lipped about their plans for renovating Raymond James Stadium or even discussing a possible timetable for such renovations. But the recent discussions about the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team relocating across the bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa could be accelerating those plans.

Perhaps the Tampa Bay Rays’ aggressive plans to potentially move from Pinellas County to Hillsborough County and build a stadium and entertainment complex on Dale Mabry Highway right across the street from Raymond James Stadium might be causing the Glazers to increase the pace of talks with the Tampa Sports Authority.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, there is a deadline in January to negotiate a new lease agreement and the Bucs have privately discussed a five-year extension. The Rays are having discussions with the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County for funding a $2.3 billion stadium deal for the Tampa Bay area’s baseball team.

Raymond James Stadium – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Sports Authority President and CEO Eric Hart told the Tampa Bay Times he expected the Buccaneers to request somewhere between $700 million and $1.3 billion in renovation money for Raymond James Stadium. The Tampa Sports Authority reportedly has a budget for $58 million already earmarked for projects at Raymond James Stadium.

“I think most of us have talked to the Buccaneers at this point, and we’re going to be writing a very large check in the very near future for Raymond James Stadium,” board member Tony Muniz said at Tuesday’s meeting per the Tampa Bay Times. “And that’s our priority. We have to always remember that. I think that we need to take care of Raymond James before we go out and try to convince the Rays to stay in Tampa Bay.”

Hart told the Tampa Bay Times the renovation projects would happen without closing the stadium and that the plan would be to do one section of the stadium at a time. The Jacksonville Jaguars are renovating their stadium in 2027 and will be relocating to Orlando for games at Camping World Stadium for next season during the repairs and upgrades.

“We’ve done this before, so we’ll do it again,” said Hart, referring to renovations from 2015 to 2018. “I think our goal would be to not have them relocate.”