Tickets still available, but Bucs not worried about TV blackout

Staff file photo by JAY CONNER

Attendance has been soft at recent Bucs games, but a blackout Sunday would be a first at Raymond James Stadium.

Assuming the Rams pick a QB at No. 1, what should the Bucs do with pick No. 3 in the draft?

By ANWAR RICHARDSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 09, 2009

» Comments | Post a Comment

TAMPA --

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are only a few days from their home opener and tickets are still available.

The Bucs play the Dallas Cowboys at 1 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. According to NFL rules, if a game is not sold out it will be blacked out for television viewers within a 75-mile radius of the stadium.

Bucs officials, however, do not seem worried.

"There are still a few tickets left, but we are confident the game will not be blacked out," team spokesperson Jeff Kamis said.

The NFL's deadline for selling out the stadium is 72 hours before kickoff, which in the Bucs' case is 1 p.m. Thursday. If a team is close to a sellout, the NFL occasionally will extend the deadline to 48 or even 24 hours before kickoff.

The Bucs have not had a game blacked out at 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium since it opened in 1998.