Whether conducted on the immaculate practice fields of One Buccaneer Place or at nearby Raymond James Stadium, all of this year's training camp practices will be open to the fans
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a new training camp home in 2009, and a new man will be running the practices. Given the significant changes made in team management, the coaching staff and the player roster since the end of 2008, it's safe to say that just about everything will have a blush of newness at the Bucs' training camp this summer.
But one thing will remain the same: Every training camp practice will be open to Buccaneer fans, with admission and parking completely free.
The Buccaneers, of course, have always allowed the public into training camp, whether they were conducting practice at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, the University of Tampa or old One Buc Place. The team had no interest in changing that policy in 2009 but faced the possibility of closed practices after choosing to relocate camp to its new state-of-the-art headquarters in Tampa and needed to work out the logistics with the city.
At Thursday's meeting, the Buccaneers' petition to alter the zoning parameters was granted, clearing the last hurdle to open practices at training camp this summer. The team will now begin the process of outfitting its backyard to accommodate the thousands of fans expected to attend.
Training camp practices will begin on Saturday, August 1. The first practice on opening day will be held at One Buccaneer Place, but the second half of the two-a-day will be conducted at Raymond James Stadium in the evening. That night workout is also free and open to the fans, an exciting development given how popular evening practices have been in previous training camps.
In addition, fans interested in purchasing season tickets will find all the available seats tagged, making it easy for the prospective ticketholders to pick their perfect locations.
The last training camp practice will be held on Wednesday, August 19. As always, a detailed schedule of practices, with dates, times and locations, will be posted on Buccaneers.com well before the start of camp. The Buccaneers' special Training Camp section on their official web site will also have daily updates, including any possible changes to the schedule.
For the past seven years, the Bucs have conducted camp at Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and housed the team at the nearby Celebration Hotel in Celebration, Florida. The team had an overwhelmingly positive series of camps at the Disney facilities; still, they are thrilled to be moving the proceedings back home in 2009. The team remains committed to connecting with its fans throughout the Central Florida corridor but also views camp at One Buccaneer Place as an opportunity to enhance the year-round experience for Bay area fans.
The Buccaneers headquarters are located on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Tampa, just to the east of Raymond James Stadium. More detailed information regarding parking locations, camp amenities and the like will be posted on Buccaneers.com prior to the start of training camp.
