Tampa Bay Buccaneers expect to apply for stadium renovation subsidies in 2016

raymond-james-stadium

Florida lawmakers gave no money for sports stadium projects during the 2015 Legislative Session.

But that was last session.

With a new application period approaching, Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools reports the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Sports Authority are expected to seek state funds for renovations at Raymond James Stadium.

This week, the Bucs announced details of a proposed stadium overhaul, with overhauls estimated at somewhere between $78 million and $100 million. The Bucs franchise would pick up most of the costs, although Noah Pransky of WTSP notes that they did not pay for the stadium’s initial construction in the 1990s.

This time, the Bucs are looking to the Legislature for sales tax rebates of up to a million dollars every year.

Requests to Department of Economic Opportunity for stadium subsidies have a Nov. 1 application deadline, leaving less than four weeks for the Bucs and TSA to finalize a renovation agreement and submit requests.

After reports found stadium projects fail to provide a solid return on investment, the state denied all four applications from last year. Despite the denials, the projects began anyway, and several of them expect to apply for subsidies again this year.

Phil Ammann

Phil Ammann is a Tampa Bay-area journalist, editor and writer. With more than three decades of writing, editing, reporting and management experience, Phil produced content for both print and online, in addition to founding several specialty websites, including HRNewsDaily.com. His broad range includes covering news, local government, entertainment reviews, marketing and an advice column. Phil has served as editor and production manager for Extensive Enterprises Media since 2013 and lives in Tampa with his wife, visual artist Margaret Juul. He can be reached on Twitter @PhilAmmann or at [email protected].



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