Raymond James Stadium readies for Super Bowl 55
When they TAMPA, FLA. — received word less than four years ago that they would be hosting Super Bowl 55, little did the Bucs know they would have to adjust their planned stadium upgrades to account for a pandemic.
The team, the Tampa Sports Authority and Hillsborough County spent the past four years preparing Raymond James Stadium for the NFL’s championship game. When the coronavirus pandemic arrived in March, they had to make additional allowances for the unprecedented circumstances.
Last summer, about $10.4 million was allocated toward coronavirus-related safety upgrades — which included touch-free toilets and sinks, hand-sanitizing stations and removable seat bottoms to ensure social distancing — funded by the federal government’s CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act.
“We’ve had a million fans at games across our 17-week season,” said Jon Barker, NFL live event production head, on Tuesday. “We’ve had 17 weeks to learn, change, adapt, learn, change, adapt, and we just continue to do that and refine those plans. We’re very confident in what we’re doing here.”
Every person who attends Super Bowl 55 on Feb. 7 will receive the typical swag bag of the pandemic times: an N-95 mask, antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizer and a safety card. The league is expecting 24,700 spectators, including 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, at the stadium.
In addition, Barker said sanitization efforts that fans and guests might not see are happening behind the scenes, including the cleaning of the stadium.
“We’re taking every step possible,” he said. “If you think about the start of it, and then you continue to add things to mitigate and mitigate and mitigate until you can get the risk all the way down, that’s the work we’ve been doing for 17 weeks, and we’re very, very confident in what we’ve got here and certainly ready for (a week from) Sunday.”
Eric Finkelstein, the NFL’s senior director of events planning, said the improvements made to the stadium over the years - including an Intel True View replay system in 2019, the redesigned East Stadium Club in 2018, new seatbacks and upgraded concession stands - are among the reasons the league keeps returning to Tampa, which is hosting the game for the fifth time.
“This city knows how to put on a Super Bowl, and the stadium does for certain, as well,” Finkelstein said. “The enhancements and the upgrades that have happened to the facility are tremendous and huge and are certainly things that we are taking advantage of.”