I didn't see this posted anywhere. I live out of state but how do you locals feel about possibly having to pay for these upgrades? http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/21/tampa-bay-stadium-enhancements-could-be-coming/ Tampa Bay stadium enhancements could be comingPosted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2015, 9:39 AM EDTPlenty of stadiums that opened in the 1990s already need to be replaced, supposedly. At least one simply needs to be improved a bit, possibly since many of the seats have seen little wear and tear in recent years.Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Sports Authority will present more than $25 million in proposed Raymond James Stadium improvements to its finance committee. The process should be a formality, however, given that the enhancements already were pledged as part of the proposal to lure the 2017 college football championship.The powers-that-be in Tampa also are hoping to bring an upcoming Super Bowl back to Raymond James Stadium, and the enhancements surely will help that effort.Though the article doesn’t say it specifically, it sounds like the enhancements (which would include new video boards and new TVs throughout the stadium) will be funded publicly. Which cuts against the current read-my-lips-no-new-taxpayers-dollars trend.Then again, it’s only $25 million for improvements to an existing venue. And maybe that’s the key for shaking public money out of the trees. To get it, teams need to not ask for all that much of it.It’s also helpful if the upgrades will be useful for other non-NFL events, too. Especially if those non-NFL events will result in more of the seats in the stadium actually having people in them than most Buccaneers games do.
