Bucs going 'global'in preseason matchup

Tampa Bay, with the Jets, will make its first international appearance at the American Bowl in Tokyo.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 25, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- Bucs fans complaining about that long flight to California are in for a bigger trek if they want to be there the next time Tampa Bay takes the field.

The Bucs, fresh off their first Super Bowl appearance, will make their first international trip in the summer, traveling with the Jets to compete in an American Bowl preseason game on Aug. 2 in Tokyo.

"One of the first things Jon Gruden said to the team was, 'We can take this thing global,' " Bucs executive vice president Joel Glazer said. "When we go to Japan, we'll definitely be going global. This exposes the Buccaneers to another whole continent. We want to spread the word about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and there is no better way to do it."

The trip means a fifth (bonus) preseason game for the Bucs, and general manager Rich McKay said the league consulted the team before scheduling the game. While the logistics are daunting, he saw no negative impact on the team.

"I know teams that have done it, and they've learned over the years how to incorporate it into their preseason schedules," McKay said. "From a worldwide exposure standpoint, it certainly is a positive for the franchise."

Gruden, who learned of the trip from a pool reporter, obviously has more pressing matters in the next 48 hours, but said he is looking forward to crossing the globe in August.

"I've never been overseas, so that will be a new experience to me. I'm not the most experienced traveler, so I'm worried how it's going to affect me. I've got more things to concern myself with right now."

The game will be the first between Jets coach Herman Edwards and his former team. Edwards joined the Bucs in 1996 as defensive backs coach under coach Tony Dungy. Edwards was promoted to assistant head coach and left at the end of the 2000 season to coach New York.

While this is the 11th NFL preseason game played in Tokyo, it will be the first to cater to a Japanese audience. Games in Tokyo have been played on Sunday mornings, allowing it to be shown live on Saturday night in the United States. This one will be played at 5:30 or 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The 14-hour difference would equate to a 3:30 a.m. kickoff Tampa Bay time, so the game will be shown on tape delay on ESPN in the United States on Saturday afternoon.

"All the other games in Tokyo were originally catering to a U.S. television audience," said Doug Quinn, senior vice president for NFL International. "This is for the local crowd, and when it takes two hours to just get into downtown Tokyo, this is a lot better for NFL fans in Japan than a Sunday morning kickoff."

The game will be in the air-supported Tokyo Dome built in 1988 with a seating capacity of 55,000. Both teams will make their international debut, Quinn said, and the Bucs' selection as ambassadors for the league speaks well of their recent success.

"The American Bowl is absolutely an emergence into the NFL's marketing elite," Quinn said. "We try to bring high-profile teams with high-profile players who the fans want to see."