Recent visitors from Buffalo were impressed by both the technology and flair of Raymond James Stadium
Maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers weren't the best hosts on Sunday, but that didn't mean their house failed to impress.
The Buffalo Bills visited Raymond James Stadium on Sunday and left with a 31-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but their traveling party also left with a wonderful impression of Tampa's glistening football palace.
Here's what the Buffalo News had to say about Raymond James Stadium on Monday:
"Great Venue: Raymond James Stadium is the best new facility in the NFL, a mixture of Disney World and MTV. The scoreboards are the most clear, the end zone pirate ship is the best gimmick, the picnic balconies a nice touch and the wide walkways allow a fan to walk around the stadium as we do in Dunn Tire Park."
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The Dallas Cowboys won't follow the Bills into Raymond James Stadium until Sunday, but a team's worth of NFL players will spill onto the Bucs' home field on Tuesday.
Noted filmmaker Spike Lee arrived in Tampa on Monday and attended the Bucs' late-afternoon walkthrough. On Tuesday, Lee will be directing the action as he films a commercial designed to promote the league's upcoming playoffs.
Players from around the league will arrive in Tampa on Tuesday to appear in the commercial. It's a shorter and more familiar trip to Raymond James Stadium for such participating Buccaneers as Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Shaun King, Todd Yoder, Joe Hamilton and Charles Kirby.
Though Tampa is a perfect late-November location for a commercial shoot, it is perhaps not coincidental that Lee emerged as a prominent Buccaneers fan earlier this season. The famous New York Knicks NBA supporter was on Tampa Bay's sideline during the team's trip to Foxboro, Massachusetts to play the New England Patriots earlier this season.
Lee wore a Buccaneers' cap that day. He'll have his director's hat on Tuesday.
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Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium was a sellout for the Buccaneers as they faced the Buffalo Bills. Of course, that's no surprise.
Tampa Bay's entire 2000 schedule was sold out in July, before the season even began. That puts the Buccaneers and their rabid fans in elite company in the NFL, but the league's overall attendance this season has been excellent.
When the Bucs topped the Green Bay Packers in Raymond James Stadium several weeks ago on November 12, Tampa Bay's sellout was part of an unusual sweep. Around the league, every game in every stadium sold out. The following week, when the Bucs were in Chicago, it happened again, marking the first time in NFL history that every game was sold out for two consecutive weeks.
The NFL is on pace to record an all-time high in overall league attendance. The Bucs are helping at Raymond James Stadium, averaging 65,584 folks per game through six home contests.
