PLANT CITY, Fla. — Most professional sports teams have official beer partners, but what about sangria partners? That’s what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are doing this season, and they’ve asked Keel Farms out of Plant City to join the team.
While walking through the blueberry fields, Clay Keel thought back to when his father started the family business in 1981.
“It was a working farm, so I did a lot of weeding, I did a lot of potting, putting plants into pots 2,000 times a day,” Keel said.
Now here they are, 40 years later, producing cider and sangria that will be sold at Raymond James Stadium during every Bucs home game.
Getting the opportunity to serve his family’s recipe for his favorite team is a dream come true for Keel.
“My grandfather, he used to take me to the Bucs games in the 80s, in the 90s,” Keel said. “So it brings back a lot of good memories.”
Just like the Bucs, this is also the pre-season for Keel Farms. They've been preparing hundreds of cases of Pirate Punch Cider as well as their blueberry and strawberry sangria for game day. They call it the Tampa Two, after Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin, "the legendary defense that started in the early 2000s."
"They kind of took over the NFL, right?" Keel said. "And they won a championship with it, so that’s where the name originates."
Keel Farms is proud to be part of something so unique as an NFL team partnering with a local family-owned and operated sangria maker.
If you want to try the new Tampa Two before the season even starts, Keel Farms is having an official release party this Saturday, August 27, at 3 p.m.
For more information, go to keelfarms.com.
