The Glazers in 2025 – How Tampa views the Buccaneers’ owners

This week marks 20 years since the Glazer family acquired a controlling stake in Manchester United, going on to complete one of the most controversial takeovers in football history.

To mark such a significant moment, The Athletic will be running a series of articles and podcasts about the takeover and the 20 years since to go deep into what happened, the consequences for Manchester United and what happens next.

It began with the retelling of the original takeover and the family who bought United, continued with what the Glazers plan to do next at Manchester United and now we look at how the Glazers are regarded in Tampa, Florida.

In the broiling heat of downtown Tampa, a group of elementary school children wander into their wonderland.

The Glazer Children’s Museum is a three-storey play centre where activities include arts and crafts, dance and neurodiversity-affirming initiatives. On the top floor, a 26ft-long triceratops, named Big John, is on loan to the museum for three years after a Tampa entrepreneur bought the dinosaur for $7.7 million (£5.8m at current rates) at a Paris auction in 2021.

A 10-minute drive west, we find the Shanna and Bryan Glazer Jewish Community Center, a 100,000-square-foot health, fitness and recreation space. Venture over the Old Tampa Bay and down to St. Petersburg, and the marine-themed Glazer Family Playground is located by the pier.

For those accustomed to the dark caricatures of the Glazer family at Manchester United since a highly leveraged buy-out in 2005, it can feel like an alternate reality to see their names adorning cherished community spaces. But this is Tampa, the city where the Glazers, as owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have a very different reputation.

This is the family’s 30th year of owning the NFL franchise. As part of The Athletic’s series scrutinizing the Glazers’ 20 years in Manchester, we headed stateside to discover a sporting city where the Glazers are not hated.

They are not without detractors, however. One Tampa politician dressed in black in protest at their business arrangements, resulting in threatening phone calls to his family by fans who wanted the NFL team to remain in Tampa. But other residents were supportive. “I got recognized for that,” said Councilman Charlie Miranda, 84, “and I had people send me black underwear, t-shirts, socks, everything in the mail.”

Both United and the Bucs were inherited by the six children of Malcolm Glazer, who died in 2014.

In Manchester, the Glazers fly in and out on private jets and require security to attend games. Some supporters sing about the future death of Joel Glazer, the club’s co-chairman, and chant about wanting the Glazers “out” at every game. The family have never formally engaged with British journalists. Only after the collapse of the European Super League, a highly unpopular plan championed by the Glazers, did Joel begin to meet occasionally with the club’s fans’ advisory board.

(Left to right) Bryan Glazer, Joel Glazer, head coach Bruce Arians and Darcie Glazer Kassewitz in January 2019 (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In Tampa, the Glazers’ ties appear different. At least two of the Glazer siblings, Bryan and Darcie, have residences here. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom property on the highly exclusive Davis Islands — where Tom Brady resided during his period with the Bucs — is currently owned by Darcie and her husband Joel Kassowitz. It is listed for $19.5m.

During the NFL Draft last month, three of the Glazer siblings were present on site, popping in and out of the war room as the Bucs secured their picks. While Joel and Avi are the most present in Manchester, Joel is more often joined by Darcie, Bryan and Ed in Tampa. Darcie was even present at the Bucs’ first-round picks press conference, according to JC Allen, a reporter for Sports Illustrated.

“Joel is very hands-on,” he tells The Athletic. “I’ve talked to Darcie and Joel many times when they’re out on the field, or before games or when I see them at practice. Joel is always at the owners’ meetings and he’s always talking there.” When Joel does speak on Bucs duty, he won’t answer questions about United.

Unlike other ownership groups, where sports teams under the same investors share resources on data and analytics, United and the Bucs are separated as church and state. At most, an executive at the Bucs may be familiar with their direct counterpart in Manchester, but there is zero cross-pollination. This was even the case when the teams had global superstars Brady and Cristiano Ronaldo on their books at the same time.

Tom Brady played for the Bucs from 2020-2022 (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)

During several days in Tampa, it is striking how many local stakeholders are happy to speak about the Glazers; often effusively, even if some felt the need to run it past the Bucs before agreeing to speak. The Glazers themselves declined, via a request made to the Bucs, and the team did not provide any representatives for an on-the-record interview.

Not everyone is in thrall to the Glazers. Like Miranda, the Tampa City Councilman who opposed the manner in which Raymond James Stadium was financed by the authorities in the mid-1990s. He wore black to meetings to mark what he described as mourning the taxpayer.

Or Jeff Testerman, a former long-serving investigative reporter at the Tampa Bay Times, who says: “I never miss a chance on social media when the Glazers come up to fire off a blast at them, because I think they’re for the most part just greedy and took advantage of some locals down in Tampa. They took them to the cleaners.”

Or the firebrand commissioner of Hillsborough County, Joshua Wostal, nicknamed Hostile Wostal. A Republican U.S. army veteran, he is opposed to the terms of the stadium agreement between the Bucs and the local government and wants to prevent further giveaways in return for any taxpayer funding of upcoming renovations to the stadium. “I love everybody, but I just don’t believe in poor people subsidising billionaires,” he says.

In January 1995, Malcolm Glazer spent $192m to acquire the Bucs — and he bought a losing team. The Bucs lost at least 10 games every season in the 12 years preceding the Glazer takeover and attendances sometimes fell below 35,000. This was a stark contrast to what Glazer acquired in Manchester United 10 years later, a popular, successful team under Sir Alex Ferguson that boasted world-class facilities.

The NFL, however, was already profitable enough for the buyout to be the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise. And Glazer wanted something in return if he was to remain in Tampa: a sparkling new stadium. He argued this was necessary to drive revenues to keep the team competitive. He initially offered to pay for half the stadium, on the condition that half the stadium’s seat licences could be sold in advance. When they did not sell enough, he threatened to relocate the team unless the authorities stumped up the cash for the 65,000-seater arena.

Former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe spent $1m attempting to prevent the plan, taking it all the way to Florida’s Supreme Court, arguing the taxpayer spend to benefit a private business was unconstitutional. He lost. Legal papers from the Supreme Court case, seen by The Athletic, state that while Glazer “reiterated his intention to move the team after the sale”, he never actually submitted a relocation application to the NFL.

The stadium project was controversial on two counts. Firstly, some opposed public money being used to fund stadiums. In Tampa’s case, it was funded by a half-cent City Investment Tax (CIT) over a 30-year period, which was approved by voters in a referendum. However, the presentation to the electorate was not solely about a stadium; the CIT was also pitched as a way to fund public safety, police forces, fire services, storm infrastructure and education. It was all wrapped in with the stadium as a “Trojan horse strategy”, in the view of former journalist Testerman. Fifty-three per cent voted in favor.

Raymond James Stadium in September 2022 (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Testerman recalls: “They essentially held the Mayor and the County Commission in Tampa and Hillsborough County hostage. They said, ‘If you don’t pay our ransom, we’re going to take your team away.’ Suddenly, a report would pop up over in Orlando that they were meeting with a group about a possible stadium deal.

“I remember another time when our sports writer was in Hartford, Connecticut. He happened to be leaving the arena when Malcolm and his two sons were strolling down the sidewalk. This became a wildfire rumor that they were talking about moving to (Connecticut).”

The Glazers studied options in Baltimore and Los Angeles, as well as taking a helicopter to assess a site not far from Disney World in Florida. Yet they stayed in Tampa because local politicians found the money, and a remarkably generous stadium contract was agreed on with the Tampa Sports Authority (TSA). Signed in August 1996, the agreement itself, seen in its entirety by The Athletic, describes the stadium as an “inducement” to keep the team in Tampa.

Despite the TSA paying for the stadium, the contract stipulated that the Bucs must pay $3.5m to lease the venue per season, without any adjustment for inflation. The Bucs, in return, secured all money earned from naming rights, as well as from car parking and concessions, and the vast bulk of ticket revenues. Even for non-Bucs events at the stadium, such as Taylor Swift concerts, college football games or WrestleMania, the Bucs receive the first $2m of revenues secured from rents, concessions and parking; 33 per cent of all revenues between $2m and $3.5m; and  50 per cent of all revenues above $3.5m, as well as all revenues from the highly lucrative luxury suites.

The agreement also stipulated that the TSA covers all utilities for the stadium, including electricity, water, sewer, air conditioning and television and internet access, as well as committing to the expensive security costs at NFL games. The TSA pays to prepare the field, keeping it “sodded, watered, mowed, tended and marked.” According to TSA budgets, it projects to receive $4.57m in annual income from the Bucs next year in licensing fees and their ticket revenue share.

The costs of operating the stadium forced the authorities to dip into further pots of money. County Commissioner Wostal has also obtained records, prepared by Hillsborough County’s chief financial administrator and provided to The Athletic, which claim that Hillsborough County’s costs have stretched far beyond the $168.5m price of constructing the stadium. These numbers say it has cost taxpayers a further $48.14m in operating subsidies via its general fund and property taxes, as well as $19.58m in contributions from its tourist development tax. This means Hillsborough County taxpayers have at least an additional $67.73m in costs that go beyond the community investment tax approved in the 1996 referendum.

The City of Tampa covers the other third of operations and subsidies, meaning the cost to the taxpayer overall is in fact even higher. In addition, $271.5m from the CIT has covered debt service on bonds issued for the stadium construction. A spokesman for Hillsborough County confirmed Wostal had accurately described the figures.

Wostal says: “This money is really meant to go towards our failing roads or stormwater management for hurricanes. But due to this stadium agreement, we are legally bound to subsidize the operations of billionaires in a stadium that we already paid for them to have.”

The 30-year lease for the stadium expires on January 30, 2028. The Bucs have the right to extend for a further 20 years, which must be triggered in increments of four periods of five years each. With that right to renew, the annual lease payment would double to $7m, which still appears very good value for a team which Forbes say recorded revenues of $617m last year. TSA will still operate the venue.

The stadium, however, requires renovations to keep up with the glittering offerings across U.S. sport and to keep Raymond James in the frame for future Super Bowls.

Taylor Swift performs at Raymond James Stadium on April 13, 2023 (Octavio Jones/TAS23/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management)

A new build has been ruled out, unlike in Manchester. To secure fresh funds from politicians in Tampa, a renegotiation of the stadium lease may be required.

Last year, TSA chief executive Eric Hart presented a document to Hillsborough County commissioners, seen by The Athletic, which indicated a further $498.7m of capital repair obligations would be required between 2028 and 2048. The original contract said the TSA is responsible for any capital repairs — including luxury suites, scoreboards and locker rooms — which must be up to industry standards of “NFL stadiums of a similar vintage.”

The Bucs, it should be said, did pitch in heavily during the last round of renovations between 2016 and 2018, investing $130m compared to the authorities’ $29m to keep the venue up-to-date, while they previously paid for the video boards at each end of the stadium. The team, which generally hosts 10 games per year at the venue, was not contractually bound to do so. The Bucs would argue that these investments mean the stadium is capable of attracting major events.

Miranda wishes to avoid further strain on the taxpayer. “I’m not against the Glazers,” he says. “I just don’t believe in public tax dollars going into an area that is self-supporting for them. There’s a need for public dollars just as much as there is a need for sports. I have crumbling roads. We need new fire stations.

“The renovations are another thing. Do I renovate and fix your automobile? The answer is no. So why should I do that for anybody else?”

Yet many in Tampa are prepared to speak up for a family who appear to have gained so much from the community they claim to serve. Why? The easiest explanation may be found in two words: winning and giving.

Scott Reynolds, publisher of Pewter Report, a website which covers the Bucs, cites two Super Bowl wins, the first in 2003 and the second with Brady in 2022, as sending the Glazer’s stock to “an all-time high”. Only the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots have won more than two Super Bowls since the Glazers acquired the Bucs in 1995.

Reynolds praises the manner in which the Glazers manage the team, empowering experts such as general manager Jason Licht, rather than meddling. “They’re thought of as very good owners,” Reynolds says. “When the team has been ready for a Super Bowl push, they’ve opened the cheque book and done a really good job of keeping the team’s popular players; Lavonte David, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, re-signing Baker Mayfield, a very popular quarterback. That helped their popularity with the fan base. ”

Within the community, advocates speak of the economic impact of an NFL team in Tampa. Sandy Murman, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, says the deal has been so good “it is almost beyond comprehension.” She cites income for hotels, airports and “money ploughed back into the community.”

Tampa has hosted three Super Bowls at Raymond James Stadium, in 2001, 2009 and 2022. In 2023, Taylor Swift played three nights at the venue at the beginning of her global tour.

Joe Glazer celebrates the Bucs’ 2003 Super Bowl victory at Raymond James Stadium (Chris Livingston/Getty Images)

A fiscal impact analysis of the stadium, provided to The Athletic by the TSA, says that Bucs games in 2023 generated $23.3m in state and sales taxes while ‘special events’, such as Swift, yielded $11.8m. Yet TSA’s own budget report, available publicly, appears to counter the economic impact argument. It reveals the TSA is projecting it needs $3.29m this year and $5.4m next year in the form of subsidies from Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa to break even in managing the operations of the stadium.

Santiago Corrada, the CEO of Visit Tampa Bay (the city’s tourist board), describes sports as a “jewel in Tampa’s crown.” The city, he says, is booming, named recently by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 places in the world. Nielsen ranks Tampa as the 11th biggest media market in the U.S.

Corrada says the Glazers have been key to the Super Bowl bids. “They have been very involved in pitching the city and the stadium to their colleagues, to their ownership peers. They have always championed us. I’ve seen it.”

He believes many are not concerned by the stadium deal. “People enjoy going to watch Taylor Swift. I don’t think somebody’s there saying, ‘Oh, my money for parking is going to the Bucs.’ There are some people with long memories that know enough that may still have an issue with it. A few are my very good friends. But what I say is, ‘Good for them.’ They were able to strike a great deal. It means you’re a smart person.”

The Glazers’ reputation in Tampa is not only about results on the field. They have long-term ties: in their offices, in local advertising and in the community. The Bucs have 255 full-time staff and 68 have served for more than 10 years. Any employee who works for the team for 20 years receives a $20,000 bonus. In the 25th year, it is $25,000.

The Glazers had similar benefits in place for staff at Old Trafford — until the club’s new part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe removed the bonus as part of cost-cutting measures. In Tampa, the stadium’s naming rights partner Raymond James, negotiated by the Bucs for the Bucs, is the longest-standing in the NFL. Coca-Cola has been a commercial partner since their first day in charge.

The Glazer Family Foundation, out of their own pockets rather than Bucs revenues, invested $5m in the children’s museum in 2006 ,and Bryan remains on the board. Murman approached the family for support. She says: “After their dad passed away, no one knew really how the kids would take over, but our community has benefited so much from this family — they really have dug deep.”

The Glazer Vision Foundation was founded because Malcolm discovered late in life that he required glasses. The organization says it has provided 200,000 screenings in schools and more than 20,000 free glasses for children.

Last autumn, two hurricanes hit Tampa in quick succession. The Glazers donated $1m to relief efforts after the first and then gifted $1m to support small businesses impacted by the storm after the second. Thomas Mantz, president of Feeding Tampa Bay, a local non-profit, says the Glazers have funded it both via the Bucs and as a family during times of extreme crisis, notably during the pandemic and after hurricanes. Darcie was praised by multiple interviewees for her role encouraging women in sport and developing women’s flag football in Florida.

The Bucs were burned this year in the NFL Players’ Association annual report card, which scored the Glazers a D+ ownership, placing them 27th out of the 32 NFL teams. But after the hurricane, the Glazers ordered Bucs executives to take care of every employee and their families. All of a sudden, a plane was full of parents, grandparents, siblings, children and even pets. “It was like a flying Noah’s ark,” says one source familiar with the events.

And to those who wonder whether generous contributions assist the wealthy with tax write-offs?

“We know a lot of rich people who don’t do it,” says Tampa Bay CEO Corrada. “Did they have to step up for the children’s museum? I don’t think so. Do they have to do eye exams for free for needy children and provide prescription glasses? I don’t think so. They have woven into the fabric of the community.”

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb)

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