Features
One of the most recognizable features of the stadium is a 103-foot (31 m), 43–ton steel-and-concrete replica pirate ship, which fires soft-rubber footballs and confetti each time that the Bucs score points or enter the other team's red zone. The cannon fires once for each point scored. In addition, when the Buccaneers enter their opponent's red zone, stadium hosts hoist team flags around the perimeter of the upper deck. During various times throughout the game, the song "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" is played on the stadium public address system (taken from Pirates of the Caribbean), which signals patrons onboard the ship to throw beads, t–shirts, and other free prizes to the people below. The segment is also known as a "Mini Gasparilla" to most fans. An animated parrot sits on the stern of the pirate ship. Controlled by radio and remote control, the parrot picks fans out of the crowd and talks to those passing by.
During Super Bowl XXXV on CBS, the pre–game, halftime, and post–game desk reporting took place from aboard the pirate ship. NBC's Super Bowl XLIII coverage also emanated from the ship.
The two Buc Vision 92-foot (28 m) wide Daktronics video displays are among the largest in the league. Buccaneer Cove features a weathered, two–story fishing village facade, housing stadium concessions and restrooms. All areas of the stadium are ADA compliant.
Temporary bleachers were erected in the endzones for Super Bowl XXXV, and the attendance was a then-stadium record 71,921.
In 2003, the corner billboards in the stadium were replaced with rotating trilon billboards.
Raymond James Stadium boasts the 2nd best turf in the NFL, according to a 2009 biannual players' survey.
Read more about this topic: Raymond James Stadium
Famous quotes containing the word features:
“Each reader discovers for himself that, with respect to the simpler features of nature, succeeding poets have done little else than copy his similes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which force of habit made permanent. Nature, like the destruction of Pompeii, like the metamorphosis of a nymph into a tree, has arrested us in an accustomed movement.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“It is a tribute to the peculiar horror of contemporary life that it makes the worst features of earlier times—the stupefaction of the masses, the obsessed and driven lives of the bourgeoisie—seem attractive by comparison.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)