Tampa Spruces Up, Prepares For Super Bowl LV Visitors

TAMPA, FL — With thousands of visitors converging on Tampa for Superbowl LV Feb. 7, the city is putting its best foot forward.

Excitement is building following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers'defeat of the Green Bay Packers Sunday, giving the Bucs a chance to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Raymond James Stadium, their home stadium, as they face the Kansas City Chiefs.

Throughout Tampa, crews have been busy completing a major water main project, landscaping, conducting cleanups and setting up the annual NFL Super Bowl Experience, a free interactive theme park for football fans.

"Our city is gearing up to host the Super Bowl, and we are so excited to offer a fun, safe and unforgettable Super Bowl experience for our community and to show off Tampa on the world stage," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.

NFL Super Bowl Experience

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the NFL Super Bowl Experience, sponsored by Lowe's, which will offer activities for football fans of all ages at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa.

The city has closed the open-air spaces, picnic area and splash pads at the park to the public while the NFL transforms the park into a playground for football fans Jan. 29 to Feb. 6.

Visitors will be able to take photos with the Vince Lombardi, virtually meet and greet NFL players and football legends, try kicking a field goal, compete against NFL players in a 40-yard dash and vertical jump on LED screens, explore a replica locker room and a museum showcasing all 54 Super Bowl rings and shop for NFL merchandise at two stores. Food and drink concessions will be available as well. Click here for menus.

“Whether it’s being able to kick, or punt, or pass, seeing the Lombardi trophy, or doing virtual meet and greets, there will be something for everybody,” Tampa Bay Sports Commission director and CEO of the Super Bowl LV Host Committee Rob Higgins said. “It’s like a theme park for football fans. You can come down and create memories that will last a lifetime with your family."

The Super Bowl will also give Tampa a chance to show off its award-winning Tampa Riverwalk and Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park where more Super Bowl events will take place including a technology village.

Courtesy Super Bowl Host Committee

Admission is free but those attending are required to making reservations by downloading the NFL OnePass app.

NFL Super Bowl Experience

The NFL isn't overlooking the fact that the country is in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic. Fans who visit the NFL Experience must sign a "health promise." There will be limited capacity and fan safety managers will patrol the park to ensure that visitors comply with safety protocols.

Safety protocols include:

• Fans must wear a face covering at all times except when actively eating and/or drinking in the food and beverage consumption zones. Face coverings are defined as masks or other non-vented coverings that cover the nose and mouth. Face shields may not be worn in lieu of a face covering.
• Guests should maintain a social distance separation of six feet, unless they are family members or in the same household; in which case, the family groups should practice appropriate social distancing.
• Queue lines for entrance, games, restrooms, concessions and activities will have social distancing measures in place to enforce 6feet of separation.
• Hand sanitizer dispensers will be available throughout the venues for guest use.
• All payments to vendors will be cashless.

Super Bowl Green Week

A number of community environmental events will take place this week as the NFL celebrates Super Bowl Green Week.

The events of Super Bowl Green Week will focus on building community gardens, planting fruit trees, removing marine debris from the mouth of Tampa Bay and restoring a coral reef.

Green Week caps off a season of community greening projects implemented in the Tampa Bay area by NFL Green in partnership with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, NFL partners Verizon, Oikos Triple Zero, Castrol, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee Sustainability Program presented by Tampa Electric under its Forever 55 social legacy initiative.

Retired special operations military veterans from Force Blue are teaming up with NFL Green, Pepsi Stronger Together and the Super Bowl LV Host Committee to tackle ocean debris. The project called Dive 55 will bring together 55 divers to retrieve marine debris and discarded fishing gear from the waters near Spanish Rocks Reef in Anna Maria.

About 640,000 tons of fishing gear is lost in the oceans each year creating a danger for marine life. Ninety-two percent of animal encounters with debris can be lethal. The marine debris that is retrieved will be sorted for repurposing or proper disposal. Some of the items will be turned into artwork by Hillsborough County students, then displayed at The Florida Aquarium to help build awareness about marine debris.

This unique project is a Super Bowl first and brings together diverse partners including The Florida Aquarium, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Pepsi Valor, Tervis, NAUI, Ocean Conservancy, University of Miami and Frost Science Center.

On Tuesday, the focus will be on the Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Environmental Education Center at Reed Park, 4398 N. Riverside Drive, Tampa.

The Environmental Education Center sits on the eastern shore of the Hillsborough River and is part of the South Seminole Heights neighborhood. Community volunteers will work with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful to install two hydroponic grow towers, build and plant garden beds and a pollinator garden. They will also plant fruit trees and install a community compost area. The gardens and compost area will then be used by neighbors, volunteers and students as they participate in hands-on activities and learn how to grow fresh, healthy food.

On Thursday at the Mango Recreation Center, 11717 Clay Pit Road, Seffner, nearly 50 assorted fruit trees will be planted near the Mango Recreation Center, creating an orchard that will provide nutritional snacks and educational opportunities for the children who use the center. The center provides after school programs and offers gardening, nature-based programming and education about nutrition in addition to team-building programs that stress fun and sportsmanship.

Community volunteers will join staff from Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and Hillsborough County Parks to plant the fruit tree orchard.

On Thursday and Friday, NFL Green will work with Force Blue special operations military veterans, the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and The Florida Aquarium to continue restoring a section of Florida’s endangered coral reef by planting corals that are resilient to changing climate.

Force Blue divers will join UM scientists to monitor coral health and plant more than 150 elkhorn corals at the site near Miami. The planting of so many elkhorn corals, a threatened species, is rare and will add to the genetic diversity of the reef, which is nearing completion.

The coral restoration project unites the Super Bowl host communities of Miami and Tampa. What started as an environmental initiative for Super Bowl LIV in Miami when 100 staghorn corals (another threatened species) were planted in honor of the NFL’s 100th season, expanded for Super Bowl LV in Tampa to become "100 Yards of Hope," a football field-sized coral restoration project.

The end zones and center of the field were established in the fall when divers planted 100 2-year-old juvenile staghorn coral colonies from The Florida Aquarium (genetically unique individuals that may help unlock answers to coral resilience) and more than a thousand staghorn corals from the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef program. Thousands of mountainous star coral larvae (another threatened species) reared by SECORE International and Frost Science were also added to the reef.

A final planting of a massive star and brain corals in the spring will complete the football field-sized effort.

A diverse group of partners has teamed up with Force Blue and the National Football League for the Super Bowl LV coral restoration project.

Nine community greening projects have been completed in the Tampa Bay area since the beginning of the football season.

They have included significant mangrove plantings and shoreline restoration projects at Picnic Island, Maximo Park and Mosaic Park in Tampa, creation of a pollinator garden at Veterans Memorial Park in Tampa, a large tree planting at the Boys & Girls Club in Wimauma, native plantings and removal of invasive plants at Lowry Park and McKay Bay Nature Park in Tampa and the creation and planting of sand dunes at Picnic Island to prevent erosion and protect against storm damage.

A final “passing of the golden shovel” community greening event will take place next fall. That event will mark the passing of Super Bowl community greening projects from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles, site of Super Bowl LVI.

NFL sustainability partner Verizon will also plant 5,500 trees (100 trees for each Super Bowl) at the Withlacoochee State Forest. The reforestation effort will help restore the area back to its natural longleaf pine, sandhill ecosystem. It will also support watershed health and provide critical habitat for wildlife.

Fan Engagement

A unique fan engagement project was created this year called “Green and Win.” This project gave fans a chance to win a unique Super Bowl hat by posting on social media.

Fans were asked to post a photo showing themselves involved in an environmental activity such as recycling, tree planting, a beach clean up or gardening. One hundred fans were awarded Super Bowl LV hats and a chance to be recognized on NFL social media.

For those who weren't lucky enough to score a ticket to the Super Bowl, they can attend the game virtually through the "Fans in the Stands" program.

Fans will be able to send in a photo of themselves or their hero to be printed out onto a cutout which will be placed all across Raymond James Stadium. The stadium will be filled to about a third of its capacity due to coronavirus protocols.

Courtesy Super Bowl Host Committee

By purchasing a cutout, fans will automatically be entered to win two tickets to Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from the fan cutouts will be donated to local charities of your team’s choosing.

After the big game on Feb. 7, fans will have an opportunity to find and tag themselves in a photo of the stadium to share on social media.

The NFL asks that you wear NFL-branded attire in your picture, submit a well-lit photo and show off your team spirit.

Cutouts will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information on the cutout program, click here.

Text SBLV to 888-777 to have Super Bowl LV info sent directly to your phone.

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