At the major league level, three teams compete. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL), the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL, and the Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball (MLB). The Rays have won two World Series, in 2007 and 2017.
The Rays were founded on February 5, 1996, as an expansion team in the MLB. They replaced the Oakland Athletics as the second new franchise in the Tampa Bay area since the NFL's Buccaneers went bankrupt after one season (1982) of existence. The Rays' primary owner is Stuart Sternberg; their general manager is Chaim Bloom. The team plays its home games at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Tropicana Field was built in 1994, and has been called "the worst stadium in baseball" by some critics. It has a listed capacity of 44,000, but only about 40,000 people can fit in there on a regular basis due to its small size compared to other major league stadiums.
However, the field does not obstruct any views, is in a convenient location (near the center of St. Petersburg), and is easy to get to (via bus or rail). It also features a giant orange sun sculpture outside the stadium before every game as well as music concerts during batting practice.
Tampa Bay is home to three major sports teams: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, and the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, but it is also home to the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship. All four teams call Tampa Bay home.
The Bucs were founded in 1976 as a replacement for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had moved to San Francisco after one season. The new team was owned by Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., with former Pittsburgh Steelers coach John McKay serving as their first head coach. Tampa Bay played its first game on February 4, 1977, losing 16-14 to the New York Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The franchise has since become a success story in the NFL, with more than $250 million in stadium construction spending over the last two decades.
The Lightning are the only major professional sports team based in Tampa Bay. The NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning were established in 1992 when the Montreal Canadiens decided to move their American Hockey League (AHL) team out of Montreal. The franchise has been successful since its inception, with more than 20 playoff appearances and two Stanley Cup championships. In June 2014, the Lightning announced plans to build a new downtown arena to replace the aging Tropicana Field. The project is expected to cost around $275 million and will open in 2017.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are an American professional gridiron football club based in Tampa, Florida, that competes in the National Football League's National Football Conference (NFC). The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in 2003 and again in 2021.
They're one of only two teams (the New England Patriots are the other) to have played in every Super Bowl since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 (the Pittsburgh Steelers were the first team to do so), with the exception of the 1994 season when they were suspended by the NFL for using an ineligible player. Tampa Bay is also one of three teams to have never lost a Super Bowl game (along with the Patriots and Oakland Raiders).
In 2002, the Buccaneers became the first NFL team to go from last place to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. In 2003, they finished with a 12-4 record and won their first Super Bowl title. They returned to the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 but failed to win another game and both times they were eliminated by the New York Giants in the first round.
In 2010, the Buccaneers began the season with a 9-7 record but went on to finish with an 11-5 record and second place in the NFC South. It was their first non-losing season since 1992 and they made their third straight post-season appearance.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (abbreviated the Bucs) are an American football team headquartered in Tampa, Florida. They are now members of the National Football League (NFL) in the NFC South division of the National Football Conference (NFC). ...
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The St. Petersburg, Florida-based Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball franchise. The Rays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that plays in the American League (AL) East division. Tropicana Field has been the team's home stadium since its existence. The Rays have not played their home games at Tropicana Field since 2014 due to ongoing renovations to Sun Life Stadium.
The Rays were established on an interim basis by MLB on February 2, 1996. The team originally consisted of six former members of the Montreal Expos: Doug Drabek, Jeff Niemann, Jason Tyner, Carl Willis, and Mike Lowell. On October 5, 1996, an ex-Rays player named Eric Show took part in a game between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers with both teams having one win each. The winner would advance to the World Series. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after 12 innings. The two teams then decided to use their best pitchers for the 12th inning with Steve Sparks pitching for the Astros and Dennis Martinez for the Dodgers. In the 13th inning, however, the Dodgers won the game when Mark Grudzielanek hit a three-run homer off of Martinez to give them a 4-1 victory and the only World Series berth available.
Tropicana Field was built in 1992 and has been the home of the Rays ever since. It is located near the center of St.
The Charlotte County Sports Complex is home to the minor-league clubs connected with the Tampa Bay Rays. Not all four teams play at the same place: if AAA and AA teams are at home, the A teams are on the road; if AAA and AA teams are on the road, the A teams are at home. The Rays' top farm club is the Class AA Durham Bulls, who open their season on April 6 against the Charleston RiverDogs.
The complex is located in Port Charlotte, Florida. Baseball has been played here since 1990 when it was part of the Southern Division of the Florida State League. The league changed its name to the South Atlantic League in 1991 and to its present name in 1998. The Charlotte Sports Complex is the home of the Charlotte Knights baseball team which plays in the Eastern League. The stadium opened in 1989 and has a capacity of 12,000 people. It is located about 25 minutes by car from downtown Charlotte.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were one of eight teams that participated in Major League Baseball (MLB) before the Montreal Expos joined in 1969. The Devil Rays were established in 2002 as an expansion team and play in the American League East division. They have won two World Series titles - in 2005 and 2009. The franchise is owned by Jeff Luhnow of the Houston Astros organization.
The Devil Rays initially used Tropicana Field as their home stadium but moved to their own facility, Raymond James Stadium, after only three seasons.
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