Bucs Leave WDW Training Camp Behind

[Melanie]

From OrlandoSentinel.com


Bucs pulling out of Orlando and their Walt Disney World training camp
Tampa Bay will move two-a-day workouts to its sparkling headquarters

Chris Harry | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 12, 2009


TAMPA - The radical changes going on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will include a new training camp venue.

No more Disney World, Bucs fans.

The new-look Bucs, led by Coach Raheem Morris, will shift training camp to their $36 million team headquarters this summer, according to NFL sources, leaving their luxury accommodations at the Celebration Hotel and facilities Disney's Wide World of Sports for the first time in eight years.

An official announcement could come as early as Friday.

The team's three-year-old headquarters, located about a quarter-mile east of Raymond James Stadium, has plenty of adjacent space, thanks to empty site that once was home to the Tampa Bay Mall. Parking won't be a problem.

But details on how the Bucs will be able move and seat the hundreds of fans that attend training two-a-day camp workouts will be hammered out over the next few months. Team officials also will have to find a nearby hotel to house players.

After years of staging camp at the University of Tampa, the Bucs moved to Disney in 2002 upon the arrival of Coach Jon Gruden, who preferred sequestering his team during preseason preparations.

Gruden, along with General Manager Bruce Allen, was fired in January. Given the down economy, the Glazer family ownership figured to weigh the pros and cons of paying for out-of-town facilities against holding camp at the headquarters that opened in 2006 and stands as one of the finest in the NFL.

[indytraveler]

It's still a business. I see this as a trend for major league teams. Trying to save cost where they can. Football has revenue sharing so it shouldn't be so bad.
Looking at the down side for the Bucs, when you break camp you really haven't. You've been at your team complex the whole time and been sequestered in a hotel in the city where you live.
Check back in a few years to see how morale will play out.

[murphy1]

The Bucs have gone through some weird stuff and I hope they straighten it out soon. I have friends who went to FSU who are furious that they got rid of some of those guys. I still love them even though they let Dungy (best coach!) go.

[tjstrike]

It's still a business. I see this as a trend for major league teams. Trying to save cost where they can. Football has revenue sharing so it shouldn't be so bad.
Looking at the down side for the Bucs, when you break camp you really haven't. You've been at your team complex the whole time and been sequestered in a hotel in the city where you live.
Check back in a few years to see how morale will play out.

Yeah, except for the Yankees, they'll get the championship bought yet !!