Florida’s Gulf Coast offers visitors and residents alike many opportunities to attend professional sports throughout the local area. There is a full schedule of events throughout the upcoming months whether you’re a soccer fan, football fan or baseball fan. Here’s a little more information on the local sports scene and where you can go to catch a game and be part of the action.
For the Football Fans
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off the pre-season this week with their first home game against the Baltimore Ravens. Home games are played at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, also known as the Ray Jay.
The stadium is renowned for its 43-ton, 103-foot long replica pirate ship. The stadium is home to both the Bucs and the NCAA’s USF Bulls. The Raymond James Stadium hosted the Super Bowl XXXV and XLIII, bringing national attention to this local Tampa venue.
For the Baseball Fans
The Tampa Bay Rays have been playing at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg since 1998. It is currently the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball. Not only has it hosted baseball, but its the only stadium in history to host full seasons of pro baseball, football, hockey and arena football.
Tropicana Field is also well known for its Rays Tank. It is located over the right-center field wall and is a 35-foot, 10,000 gallon tank home to over 30 Cownose rays. Thanks to a partnership with the Florida Aquarium, fans get the unique opportunity to feed and touch the rays during game time.
For the Soccer Fans
The Tampa Bay Rowdies play their first home game of the fall season this weekend on Saturday, August 10 against the NY Cosmos. Home games are played at the Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg.This famous stadium used to be home to the Tampa Bay Rays for their spring training. 
Over the years, several other Major League Baseball teams, including the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, have used the stadium as their headquarters for spring training. The St. Petersburg Athletic Park at the current site of Al Lang Stadium was the spring home for the Boston Braves and New York Yankees from 1923 until after World War II, hosting such baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial. The first incarnation of the current field was built for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1947.
The easiest way to stay informed of the upcoming games in each of these sports is with the Plumlee vacation app. With a few quick clicks, you can have the full schedule of upcoming sporting events including dates, opponents, times, locations, ticketing information, GPS directions and more for the Bucs, the Rays, and the Rowdies.
Just click on the Home icon, choose Events, and you’ll have months of sporting information right at your fingertips. Your Gulf Coast vacation with Plumlee Realty isn’t complete until you download the app. It’s a must-have tool that helps you make the most of your time here by providing you with the local travel and accommodation information you need, all in one place.
We hope you make time to attend one of our local professional sporting events. Tell us what you think of our sporting venues, where you went and what you saw. We’d love to hear about it. We look forward to seeing you in our stadiums in the very near future!
