Buccaneers winning, but fans lose as low attendance blacks out games

TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are once again on the winning side of the football after Sunday's 34-24 win over the San Diego Chargers.

But many Tampa Bay football fans who woke up Monday morning may not have even known they won, because once again, the game was blacked out.

The Buccaneers have only had one home game televised locally (the game against the saints) this season.

They had only two sellouts in their last two seasons.

You need 85 percent of regular seats sold to have the game televised -- but those tickets must be sold by Thursday before the game, exactly 72 hours before the game starts.

By game time yesterday, they had sold a little more than 83 percent. It’s disheartening to many fans who would really like to catch the gridiron contests on the tube, considering the Buccaneers are now over the .500 hump with the win against Philip Rivers and the chargers yesterday.

But maybe -- just maybe the three straight wins will bring fans back to Raymond James.

Bottom line, it doesn't seem like coach Greg Schiano is worried about ticket sales at all--- he’s just trying to keep stacking wins.

"I think as we go, we go one game at a time.  So were going to enjoy this for a few hours and then we are onto Carolina and that is the only thing that’s on our mind and I know one thing, if you can take care of one game at a time, you look up at the end and maybe you got something cooking, so that’s where we are."

So the Buccaneers head to Carolina next week for an NFC south showdown with The Panthers, and then it’s back to Raymond James to host the Atlanta Falcons the following weekend, also a divisional game.

Maybe a win against the panthers will re-energize fans and make blackouts a thing of the past, only time will only tell.