When the Buccaneers score a touchdown at Raymond James Stadium, cannons fire at Tampa’s pirate ship-themed home field. But not at the Super Bowl.
NFL officials told Jenna Laine of ESPN that they will not permit the cannons to be fired after Buccaneers touchdowns at Super Bowl LV.
The reason is that the Super Bowl is supposed to be on a neutral field. This year’s Super Bowl happens to be on a participating team’s home field for the first time in NFL history, but that doesn’t change the NFL’s efforts at neutrality. The Buccaneers are considered the home team because the NFC is always the home team in odd-numbered Super Bowls and the AFC is always the home team in even-numbered Super Bowls, but that only applies for issues such as getting to choose their jersey color. Everything about the stadium, including not only the cannons but also the painting of the end zones and other elements of the field, will be treated as neutral.
So while the cannons will fire during pregame introductions, they will go unnoticed for the rest of the game -- unless a player throws a football into a cannon, in which case some lucky bettors will profit.