Buccaneers joining NFL trend toward pandering to female customers

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The Buccaneers haven’t been very good at football lately, but they’re doing some Super Bowl-level pandering to women.

The team has introduced something called “RED,” and gosh, it’s probably better to let them describe it — “a brand new women’s movement that will re-invent the female fan experience.”

Wait, it gets better.

The team’s website has a feature on the “movement” that will help the Bucs in “changing the way football is enjoyed by women.”

This program’s kickoff party includes a few reasonable and non-insulting things such as an “Insider’s Talk” with General Manager Jason Licht, and some appearances by former Buccaneers.

But it quickly devolves into: “gameday style tips from local area experts, and even a RED Lifestyle Lounge session to educate attendees on the art of incorporating their passion for the Bucs into their other lifestyle interests such as tailgating and home entertaining.”

So, in case you’re one of the female of the species in greater Tampa, who is looking for the right blend of Warren Sapp with a parrot on his shoulder and Martha Stewart for her home, they’ve got you covered.

They’re also here to help the ladies with technical football concepts like the “play clock,” since girls can’t possibly understand such subtle nuances of the game.

Listen, the Buccaneers aren’t the only ones with programs geared to market the team toward women. The Ravens have been doing it for years, and call their version “Purple.” (Even after the pink Ray Rice jerseys went out of fashion.)

So the Bucs aren’t really anything other than derivative. And a tad chauvinist. And more than a little tone-deaf.

But other than that, what do you say ladies, let’s accessorize those Jameis Winston jerseys and get out there and cook up some delicious food for the tailgate.

41 responses to “Buccaneers joining NFL trend toward pandering to female customers

  1. How bout we wait and see how many women sign up for this before we bring out the snark. My god why is everything nowadays that has the gall to be geared toward a particular sex or minority deemed as sexist or racist.

    Yeah a lot of women know plenty about football but a lot of them don’t also. And yeah there are a lot of men d that don’t know about football either but maybe the women prefer to go to a class strictly for women instead of some generic football 101 course.

  2. “The Buccaneers haven’t been very good at football lately”

    Lately? That sure is an understatement!

    Things won’t be any better this season either…. They don’t have what it takes to be in the top 15 teams much less among the best!

  3. Their efforts would be better spent trying to hang onto the interest of men. Stop infesting the rule book with subjective decisions that cause even the casual observer to feel the game is influenced by officiating, cut down on the TV ad time, and lower ticket prices. Right there you double your fan base.

  4. Actually, this could be a good way to help women who don’t enjoy football connect to it with things they might be more interested in. Its not anti feminist to enjoy cooking or getting things together to make a tailgate fun. Some women may also enjoy this to help them understand a game that has quite a few moving parts that could be hard to follow. Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to grab the pitchforks.

  5. My first thought was, “What are the Redskins going to call theirs?” Someone was asleep at the wheel there.

    My second thought was “Thank you, I’ve been trying to explain defensive holding vs. defensive pass interference for years!” Maybe someone else will do a better job.

    The third thought was “Sweet, our neighbors and us switch off throwing Sunday Football viewing parties and my wife is always asking what we can do better with the food and such.”

    So I don’t understand the back handed comments by the person who wrote this opinion.

  6. To be fair, a lot of coaches could use a lesson on how the clock works.

    This whole post just reeks of a SJW who is trying to score points with women.

  7. The Bucs made Jameis Winston the #1 pick in the draft, so doing some thing nice for women is certainly in order.

  8. The timing is impeccable!

    1. Team drafts its new face of the franchise.
    2. New face of the franchise has been accused of rape, and gave him no choice but to declare for the draft.
    3. The previous face of the franchise is publicly fired after being arrested for solicitation.
    4. Launch a program aimed at recruiting more women to root for the new face of the franchise.

    What could possibly go wrong with this flawless plan?

  9. They should have their new QB talk about his college experience and how that helped him develop into a mature, sensitive individual.

    That’d keep’em glued to their seats.

  10. I wonder how a page advertising makeup tips and home decor would go over with the guys. After all, they’re not sporting new hair color or a fresh mani/pedi to sit on the couch and watch the game, are they?

    The NFL can discount and marginalize its female fans all they like. The fact remains that it’s not the guys driving the league’s financial bus anymore. It’s women. They’re still the only growth demographic left in professional football. And it’s unfortunate that those in decision making roles in the league don’t take women (and their enjoyment of the sport, let alone their buying power) seriously.

  11. Warren Sapp is going to be the Host of Events to make the females feel at ease and welcomed. Wait, what?

  12. What a joke. And to think, I just got done explaining to my husband that each team does not in fact have 3 bye weeks per season..

    I guess the Bucs will use all the help they can get with their fanbase.

  13. Not everybody understands the nuances of a sport.

    In college we had the #1 team in the country, we all watched every game (until the loss to UK in the Final 4) and I had to explain to everybody what a shot clock was.

  14. A few years ago the Packer’s wives club used to sponsor a workshop called Football 101 for Women. Several of the players would talk about the game and take questions. Panel moderator, Linebacker Brady Poppinga had Center Scotty Wells talk about holding and give a demonstration. It was funny but pretty basic and simple. The women laughed. Then the first question came from a 76 year old woman. Could someone explain Cover 2 defense as opposed to man-to-man or zone? Both men were incredulous. The women were serious about what they wanted to know, and it was decorating tips.

  15. All the defenders of this are culture heroes.

    The needs of the league outweigh the needs of the the football fan. Bring all the fringe fans you can. Who gives a crap if the game is obliterated.

    Ban all tackling because moms think it is too rough. It will happen eventually. Then let the lawyers come in and scrape up what remains of this once great sport.

  16. Yeah, let’s have the face of the PR campaign to pander to women be a rapist. What could go wrong?

  17. And make sure that Winston doesn’t have any requests for the ladies while they “accessorize those Jameis Winston jerseys and get out there and cook up some delicious food for the tailgate.”

  18. Pam Oliver Worked the sidelines for years without having a clue about how the game is played.

  19. Warren Sapp and the female fan experience in the same article? I applaud you for being able to pull that off. I doubt Tampa Bay or the NFL likes that but oh well.

  20. Oops. Typo in my last paragraph. Should have been:

    “My point is the content should be offered and people should self-select for whether they CARE about that specific content.”

  21. Teaching women the rules of football without being condescending. That’s the new definition of chauvinistic kids. /s

    People have to learn the game somehow. If a team wants to take the time to lay out the basic concepts without demeaning somebody I fail to see what the problem is.

  22. The Tallahassee Police will also be on hand to blame any female victimized during the process and laugh about it on camera.

  23. I know you’re trying to be funny, but just a clue, a whole lot of women just watch football with their men. I’m going to go out on a limb and say those women far outnumber the ones who actually know the game, but go ahead and bash the Bucs for fan outreach anyway. That’s so much more fun than pointing out that a business is trying to grow their fan base.

  24. As a woman and avid football fan, someone who actually knows how the game is played, I don’t have a problem with this at all. I definitely have issues with the NFL and think they should concentrate on other things besides pandering to women, but I don’t think this is sexist. There are women who would like to know more about the game and might appreciate incorporating domestic things that they like to do around football. I’m sure some husbands aren’t patient enough to explain all the rules and if your Sundays are centered around the game I’d try and make the best of it too!

  25. How do I get in on this? Sounds like a great place to meet some broads. Same reason I took home-ec in school.

  26. Plenty of other teams already have this program in place. Cowboys have 5 Points Blue website & program which has been pretty successful.

  27. They could have a short “how to” on proper PSI for a football, and all the New England fans should attend. Of course, someone other than Tom Brady needs to teach it.

  28. Look up the Fl. Seminoles last game when Winston Jameis played. The female element in he stadium that day chanted something about Jameis being a rapist. It was quite catchy, I thought. Then I thought – will these women be back to chant at Bucs games? (Oh yeah, probably!)

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