Raymond James Stadium damage: Hurricane Milton floods Buccaneers field overnight

Gilbert McGregor

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Raymond James Stadium damage: Hurricane Milton floods Buccaneers field overnight image

The effects of Hurricane Milton are being felt throughout Central Florida, specifically the Tampa area.

After the storm made landfall Oct. 9, many structures throughout the region were impacted and flooding was prominent throughout its cities and towns. Among the impacted structures are the homes of the area's sports teams, specifically MLB's Tampa Bay Rays and the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here's more on the damage that has been done to Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers and the South Florida Bulls.

MORE: Which NFL, NHL, college football games are affected by Hurricane Milton

Buccaneers stadium damage, explained

Late Wednesday night, an X (formerly Twitter) account titled Florida Weather Center shared a video documenting the flooding of the field at Raymond James Stadium.

In videos later shared by various TikTok users, flood waters continued to rise on the stadium's playing field.

In anticipation of the storm, the Buccaneers evacuated Central Florida on Tuesday, traveling to New Orleans for their Week 6 meeting with the Saints. The Bucs are currently slated to return home to host the Ravens on Monday, Oct. 21 at Raymond James Stadium.

USF, however, is scheduled to host Memphis at the stadium Saturday. As of Thursday morning, the game is still on track to be played, per the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Thursday afternoon, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided an update on the situation, reporting that early surveys suggest that damage to the Bucs' stadium and' practice facilities is purely cosmetic. Based on that reporting, Raymond James Stadium remains structurally intact.

Does Raymond James Stadium have a roof?

Raymond James Stadium does not have a roof. The outdoor stadium has been the Bucs' home since the 1998 NFL season.

Elsewhere in Tampa, the roof of the Rays' Tropicana Field was severely damaged by hurricane winds that reached 101 MPH. The damage began late Wednesday and the roof had been completely ripped off by Thursday morning.

MORE: Hurricane Milton tears into Tropicana Field roof

Hurricane Milton aftermath

In addition to flooding at Raymond James Stadium and roof damage at Tropicana Field, the hurricane caused great damage to the Tampa Bay Times building in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Winds caused a construction crane to fall into the building and a water line break caused flooding on the inside.

Ahead of the storm, multiple sporting events in the state were moved or canceled. In its aftermath, recovery efforts will dictate how long it takes for the region to return to a sense of normalcy before the focus shifts back to sports.

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.