The NFL announced Monday that the Chicago Bears will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London this season. The game will be in Wembley Stadium on Oct. 23. If the labor problems last until Aug. 1, the game will be re-scheduled for Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Bucs will return to the British capital for the second time in three years, having lost to the New England Patriots at Wembley in 2009. For the Bears, the game on Oct. 23 will mark the 25th anniversary of having played a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys at the stadium. "Our past four games in London have demonstrated the tremendous passion for NFL football that exists in the UK," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. Source: ESPN
Gotta love how they always pair big name teams with the Bucs when they come over here. Buccaneers has as much drawing power over here as a wet fart.
y'all must thank y'all funny or summin. If there's no labor agreement by Aug. 1st there will be bigger issues then this game. The fact that is even brought up is worry enough for me.
I heard today that the Bucs season ticket holders still have to pay for the 8th home game even if it is in London. Can a Bucs fan confirm that?
Just heard about it on the radio Ward. The season ticket holders will be credited next year for the London game this year.
Something else I thought about...what about the fans from Tampa or Chicago that might want to see the game in London...only to have it then get cancelled after making reservations for rooms, buying plane tickets, game tickets...
In terms of drawing power in the UK do you really think the Rams would fare better. Personally I don't I'm afraid.
It's still a load of horse crap though Ward. Let's just say the Bucs have 40,000 season tickets sold. At an average ticket price of $75 the Bucs get to draw interest on that $3M for an entire year.
Did I ever suggest that they would? I just don't think it's the best idea to bring over a team for a second time that doesn't have a lot of support. But then again, going by the support from the owners/coaches for the game, they probably didn't have much of an alternative.
Absolutely! This obviously wasn't a good year to do it. I personally dont like it at all, but this year it was a year they should've "taken off."
The thing about the Bucs though is they have the best organised fan club of any NFL team in Britain with strong tis to the team