Home team Bucs, without the home team perks

If you’ve ever been to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers home game at Raymond James Stadium, you remember it. It’s memorable because of all the traditions that come along with the home game experience. Whether it’s the pirate ship battle before the team’s introduction, or Lavonte David or Vita Vea getting fans on their feet on third down from the jumbotron. How about the famous East/West chat of, “TAMPA........BAY!”

When you’re in the Super Bowl, all true home field advantage is virtually stripped away. The Bucs and fans-alike currently find themselves in an unprecedented situation. This is the first time ever in NFL history that team is playing in the Super Bowl as the home team at their actual home stadium.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

What many may not understand is that the Super Bowl is run by the NFL, not the actual team. The Super Bowl site is supposed to be a neutral site. Each team basically gets the same type of introductions and accommodations.

They also get equal share in branding from merchandise to the end zone paint schemes. The banners in the stadium are all Super Bowl themed, instead of Buccaneers flags as we traditionally see. The NFL has already replaced the Bucs logo on the field with the NFL crest. The NFL also uses their own public address announcer to remain neutral. Alan Roach will be making the call for fans in the stadium for Super Bowl LV instead of the Buccaneers’ announcer John Magrino.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Although everything looks differently, it’s still Raymond James and it’s still Tampa. The pirate ship isn’t getting moved out of the stadium, but the effects from it are being virtually removed from the game. Fans will not hear the famous cannon blasts of the pirate ship after a big play or touchdown. The ship will stay quiet all game long.

Apparently, the Buccaneers front office did try to keep the cannon blasts at least for the introductions, but the NFL was not having it. Instead, according to Rick Stroud, they will have an audio recording instead of the cannon blasts. Insert a face palm meme, emoji, or whatever you’d like at this point.

Now, although all of that is disappointing, the Bucs have made history. Unprecedented history, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. Not only are they the first team to be the home team on their actual home field in the Super Bowl, but it’s the first year with a new quarterback and several other new players. Most of the time it takes years to build the chemistry and system that works best for a newly formed team, but not when you have Tom Brady.