It's official.
- NFL grants final approval on 2021 Tampa Super Bowl
- Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium
- Originally set for Los Angeles, construction delays move game to Tampa
- Buccaneers.com
The Super Bowl is coming back to Tampa Bay.
NFL owners on Wednesday officially signed off on Raymond James Stadium and the Tampa Bay area hosting Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021.
In May, NFL owners voted unanimously to push the L.A. Super Bowl back a year to 2022, opening up 2021 for Tampa. Delays in construction on the Los Angeles stadium for the Rams and Chargers prompted the move.
Wednesday's move was considered all but ceremonial but there were some conditions that had to be met, mostly with transportation and hotel rooms.
"The final approval of Super Bowl LV is a great source of pride for the Glazer family, the Buccaneers organization and the entire Tampa Bay region," Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer said in a statement released by the team. "We have made substantive improvements in recent years to ensure that Raymond James Stadium could ultimately host the game for a third time and we appreciate that our fellow owners have recognized the stadium and our area’s long and distinguished history as a world class host city."
The Tampa Bay area has previously played host to four Super Bowls, the first in 1984 and the last in 2009. It’s been the longest drought in between hosting Super Bowls, that also included Super Bowl XXV in 1991 and Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
Raymond James Stadium has undergone a $150-million renovation in the last couple of years, hoping to land another Super Bowl. Tampa has been a finalist in recent voting, but Atlanta and Miami, followed by L.A. were chosen.
Now Tampa Bay organizers begin work to get ready for the NFL's biggest game in four years.