The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday will host a ribbon-cutting celebration for its regional ticket office in Sarasota, an event which will bring Chamber of Commerce leaders and elected officials together to celebrate the sports team’s arrival. We spoke with Christopher Spano, the Bucs’ group sales manager, about the decision to open shop this side of Tampa Bay.

Why did you elect to open an office in Sarasota? We identified this as a good place for a regional office because we know our fan base extends well beyond Tampa. It is important to ownership that we be face-to-face with fans and businesses here, and we wanted to be able to do networking events. Having a physical presence and office makes it easier. We are members of the Sarasota Chamber, Venice Chamber, Manatee Chamber and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, and we want to attend any networking functions they put on. We also have one [a regional office] in Orlando. We have passionate fans in Southwest Florida and Central Florida. 

Do you expect to be involved in local sports efforts? We definitely want a presence as it pertains to youth football and will do a big school fundraiser. We are working with Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts. We’re trying to get as involved as we can. We actually opened our doors two months ago, and with the season quickly approaching, we are cultivating relationships with organizations.