Shaded Seats at Raymond James Stadium

What You Need to Know About Shade at Raymond James Stadium

Located in Tampa, Florida, Raymond James Stadium is the open-air home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the South Florida Bulls. Because the stadium features an open-bowl concept without a roof canopy, it is notorious for exposing fans to the intense, humid Florida sun during early autumn games.

Its most famous architectural feature is Buccaneers Cove behind the north end zone, which features a 103-foot pirate ship that fires replica cannons whenever the Bucs score.

The West Sideline Is Best For Shade

The north-to-south orientation of the stadium means the sun tracks behind the home side toward the evening. Because of this, you want to prioritize the west sideline and covered seating. Keep in mind, shade is scarce for early afternoon games. For 4:00pm starts, more seats on the west side become shaded.

• Sections 206 – 218: Choosing the Hyundai Club Level on the west side (including 117 and 118) is the single best strategy for securing shade, as the upper deck structure blocks the sun earliest here. To get shade in the early afternoon, you’re going to want to prioritize the very last rows of these sections.

• Sections 106 – 114: As the sun continues to move behind the west sideline in the later afternoon, shade becomes more prominent in these lower level sections. Still, you’ll want upper rows to get the most protection from the stadium itself.

Late Afternoon And Evening

As a 1:00 PM game crosses into the late afternoon or a 4:00 PM game kicks off, the sun’s trajectory moves sharply behind the west grandstand. While the lower bowl sections close to the field on the West Sideline finally receive relief as the grandstand shadow stretches across the turf, the East Sideline (Sections 131 – 140) and Buccaneers Cove remain deeply exposed to the late-day glare.

For premium relief, west side Club seat tickets are highly prized because they grant exclusive access to an expansive, climate-controlled indoor concourse with AC to escape the humidity.