By Tom Krasniqi

The Buccaneers did what they could.  The team slashed concession prices in half –excluding alcohol—and also offered free parking for the season opener.  They also reduced ticket prices and provided in-stadium enhancements in order to get the fans to come back.  The NFL even offered teams an option of selling 85% of their general admission seats, as opposed to the 100% threshold which stood until this season.  At the end of the day on Thursday, it all didn’t matter. 

Sunday’s season opener against the Panthers at 4:25pm will be blacked out locally on television.  What does this all mean?  Well, you won’t be able to see the game in a 75-mile radius of the Tampa area.  That means the Sarasota, Lakeland and Orlando markets won’t be carrying the Bucs game on TV either. 

Prior to this season, 13 of the last 15 Bucs regular season games have been blacked out.  Week 4 of 2011 against the Indianapolis Colts (a Monday night game), and Week 15 of the same season against the Dallas Cowboys (a Sunday night game).

Both home preseason games this season were blacked out locally.