Bucs cut stadium seating capacity following Brady's retirement

A general view of Raymond James Stadium. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Buccaneers cut stadium seating capacity following Tom Brady's retirement

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Aug 12, 2023 5:31 PM ET

Without Tom Brady the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not expecting to be the draw they once were.

Pewter Report, a longtime staple on the Buccaneers beat, pointed out prior to Friday's preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers that the team had removed 3,600 seats that were added for Brady's final season a year ago.

Those seats pushed the Raymond James Stadium capacity from 65,168 to 69,218.

The section was referred to as "The Krewe's Nest" and no longer exists this season.

No more @TomBrady, no more Krewe’s Nest.

The #Bucs removed the temporary seating that was installed last year at ⁦@RJStadium⁩ that increased stadium capacity for what would be Brady’s final NFL season.

⁦@ProFootballTalk⁩
⁦@NFL_DovKleiman⁩ pic.twitter.com/IsmVIfszlV
— PewterReport ‍☠️ (@PewterReport) August 11, 2023

Brady's arrival in Tampa Bay prior to the 2020 season was a major turning point for the franchise and immediately sent the team into Super Bowl contention. The Buccaneers went on to win the Super Bowl in Brady's first year with the team.

Even though the team was even better the following regular season (going from 11 wins to 13 wins) the Buccaneers lost in the NFC Divisional playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

In 2022, the Buccaneers failed to make the playoffs in Brady's final season going just 8-9 while Brady struggled to make plays down field.

Things are not expected to go much better this season as the Buccaneers offense will be put in the hands of either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask. Pretty significant drop from arguably the greatest quarterback of all time.

That also probably means fewer wins and ultimately less demand for tickets.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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