Bucs go international; '09 game slated for London

The NFL has announced the Bucs will travel to London next season to take on the Patriots.

The game, slated for Oct. 25 at Wembley Stadium, will be the Bucs' first venture outside the country since a preseason contest in Tokyo in 2003.

The NFL has been trying to expand its reach globally evidenced by games being played in London this season and in 2007.

"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization is extremely excited and honored to be chosen to participate in the NFL International Series," Bucs executive vice president Joel Glazer said in a statement released by the team.

"We look forward to being part of the NFL's global outreach and playing our great game in front of Buccaneers fans overseas."

The Bucs have ties to the U.K. because of the Glazer family's ownership of soccer club Manchester United, one of the premier teams in the world.

One of the byproducts of this move is that the Bucs will lose a home game and the revenue that stems from it. But the NFL takes that into account when scheduling these games and the losses will be accounted for. The Patriots will be unaffected because they are the visiting team and will keep their full slate of home dates.

We hope to get more details when general manager Bruce Allen speaks with the media at 1:30 p.m.

Comments

[Sir Pritam the Great of England]

Excellent....my homeland

[CW]

That sucks. Overseas trips are never a good thing, especially in the middle of the season. I'm sure Gruden is thrilled about this news. I hope this means that their bye-week will be the weekend following this trip.

[Jim M.]

Wonderful. I'm so glad to see that the NFL is continuing it's tradition of stealing home games from their member organizations to generate a couple of extra dollars. I LOVE that now my favorite team gets to be honored (victimized) by a stupid publicity stunt.

A note to the NFL, NHL and MLB: teams COUNT on home games, not just for the revenue generated but for the advantage of BEING a home team as well. One game in any of these sports can be the difference between watching the playoffs or participating in them. And in the NFL, it constitutes one-sixteenth of a team's schedule. Commissioners and owners, PLEASE come up with some other revenue-generating scheme and stop this nonsense. Football in particular will never be more than a novelty to all of those nice folks in Europe just as soccer is here in the States. I think that's the main reason there's no more NFL Europe, no?

[BBFan10]

Knowing the NFL, the Bucs will be scheduled for the Thursday night game the same week. I don't like it one bit.

[chrism]

So... are the Bucs going to charge season ticket holders for the full slate of games (and increase per-game charges for the nth time in a row) despite losing a home game?

[ETO]

I may be mentally challenged but I'm not having any luck working out the mathematics of how both teams loose a home game instead of one team. Seems like you'd have someone with an extra home game somewhere in the NFL. And if not, why can't you make it an away game for both teams so no one loses a home game?

[bucfaninphx]

we have trouble winning on the west coast, how are we going to win in another country? i dont like it. At least I'll be able to watch them on tv at home. I live in Az so I am tortured here with the Cards on tv every week. Go Bucs!!!

[dv7401]

This sucks! I was planning a road trip back home (Tampa) for this game specifically because my wife is a Pats fan and I wanted her to be there with me in person when the Bucs spank her Patsies. Thanks alot NFL for ruining my fun. You guys suck! Thanks also for taking home field advantage away from us for this game. With our luck this game will be sandwiched in between a Monday and Thursday night game. Like last year when the Bucs were forced to play 3 games within 11 days. But tell me again how you don't have anything against the Bucs... I think you all have your feelings hurt cuz Gruden yells at y'all so often...

[Stephen Holder]

ETO: I screwed up. It's just the Bucs losing a home game. The Pats are slated for a road game that week. My bad.

[Jon]

Ugh.

This inspired a facepalm gesture. I feel like the Bucs are under attack this week, being raided not only by Tennessee, but now England?!

Kidding aside, this is just no good. Every Bucs fan has wished for years that they'd get some more prime time games and media coverage - guess we should have been careful what we wished for.

[Jimbo]

Cool. I'm a Tampa boy living in the UK, and I'm going to go to this one. It's the only way for me to experience the games live.

I think it's great for the NFL and the Bucs to play in London. Brits love it, and Bucs fans should come across the pond to enjoy it, too. The pound is falling and the UK is great.

Go Bucs and Gators!

[DR]

I hate this whole UK deal. The World League was a failure and the NFL is abandoning the people who made the NFL the greatest sport in the country- the FANS! The amazing thing that no one talked about this year was the fact the NFL took away a home game from the New Orleans Saints, the only team in league history to lose an entire season of home games. It couldn't get any more disrespectful than that.
The NFL better hope the Bucs improve in the red zone next year. Otherwise the Brits may mistake American football as soccer when the kicker scores all their points. Its just a joke you cry babies.

[Dave]

Hey (bucfaninphx)why don't u get the NFL ticket you cheapskate. I have no doubt the Glazers will charge us the same amount for the season ticket "package." In fact, they will probably try to brag about the fact that the "package" price hasn't increased. I love the Bucs and am glad the Glazers bought them, but most NFL owners, including the Glazers, are such greedheads.

[Ray]

For those of you complaining about NFL playing overseas, here is what I suggest. If I remember right, the Bucs are planning to at least wear their orange jersy once next year. How about making this game a throw back jersey game. Just look at it this way. Both teams can wear their ugly old uniforms where as the good old Bucco Bruce is winking at the patriots guy who is in a compromising stand. I am sure that will turn away all those Brits from watching NFL games ever.

[Jon]

Dave - The Glazers are an intersting study. They know /just/ how to stretch their profit margin without enraging fans beyond a breaking point.

The reason fans don't rage, is because the Glazers deliver. They commit to winning in their commitment to making money. Be thankful. You have the priveledge to pay them for a winning product.

You could live in and/or be a fan of: Detroit, Houston, San Francisco, Oakland, Cleveland, Cincinatti, Buffalo, San Diego, Kansas City or Minnesota (if I've left off a currently awful team beyond Saint Louis, please feel free to rage).

But no. You likely live in Tampa Bay. You live in the #1 small business market in America. The same place that holds the record for most consecutive days of sunshine at 768. You have watched one of the five best all time defensive schemes/units/teams over the past 13 years. You have a coach with unheard of, and somehow locally unheralded statistics (5/10 and potentially 6/11 div championships, twice victim of poor calls in playoff losses ("tuck" game, Sheppards "drop") who still manages a winning postseason record. A championship. The NFL's highest salary cap room for the upcoming offseason. Gruden/Allen/Kiffin producing in the draft and free agency with every possible means.

Buc up.

[Jon]

If you don't want your season tickets, please feel free to turn them in to the organization so that more committed fans can attend.

Thanks.

[bucfaninphx]

Thanks to Dave for the unwarranted attack...I guess people need to rip on other people for no reason...Are you a Cardinal fan? Did I offend you? Sorry, but this the Bucs website, not the Cardinals...Funny how you call me a "cheapskate" and yet you go on to whine about the prices.Classic stupidity.I thought we got rid of the dumb posters with the registration thing? I guess not. Sorry guys- I never have anything bad to say about other posters even when i disagree with them, but i wont be called out by someone who has no clue. Go Bucs!!!

[bucfaninphx]

well said , Jon. People seem to forget how horrible we were and that we could very well still be that horrible if it wasnt for the Glazers who put so much money into this franchise since they took over.I like our owners, they get involved if they need to, and when they do, for the most part they make good decisions. We could have an owner like Al Davis, who is a control freak or like the Lions owners who seem like they could care less about the product they put on the field. Go Bucs!!!

[DR]

Not sure why you guys are crediting the Glazers with anything. They jack the prices up and the Bucs aren't that fun to watch. They are losing money in probably the worst loan in the history of mankind. You look at the future of the Bucs and they have a lot of work to do. They have no future at QB or WR with that joke of a second round draft pick. You all seem to forget that the Bucs lost their last two home playoff games and it was because their lack of offense.

[bucfaninphx]

Well, DR, it's kinda like how life is. Some people are always negative, some people are always positive. For every one of you that complains about how "horrible" our offense is, there is someone who is raving about our defense (and rightfully so) Bottom line is, we're scoring enough to win, and scoring points when we need to.Would i like to see them blow out opponents? Sure. But that has never been Buc football.It's always been about the defense.If you're gonna be a Buc fan you need to understand this.We'll see where we stand in a few weeks after these two huge divisional games. Go Bucs!!! DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! lol