Florida lawmakers gave no money for sports stadium projects during the 2015 Legislative Session.
But that was last session.
With a new application period approaching, Legislative IQ powered by Lobby Tools reports the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Sports Authority are expected to seek state funds for renovations at Raymond James Stadium.
This week, the Bucs announced details of a proposed stadium overhaul, with costs estimated at somewhere between $78 million and $100 million. The Bucs franchise would pick up most of the costs, although Noah Pransky of WTSP notes that they did not pay for the stadium’s initial construction in the 1990s.
This time, the Bucs are looking to the Legislature for sales tax rebates of up to a million dollars every year.
Requests to the Department of Economic Opportunity for stadium subsidies have a Nov. 1 application deadline, leaving less than four weeks for the Bucs and TSA to finalize a renovation agreement and submit requests.
After reports found stadium projects fail to provide a solid return on investment, the state denied all four applications from last year. Despite the denials, the projects began anyway, and several of them expect to apply for subsidies again this year.
