The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are trying to secure a possible $1 billion renovation for their home, Raymond James Stadium, as part of negotiations for a potential five-year lease extension.

As reported by Colleen Wright of The Tampa Bay Times, the renovation would include a sunshade for fans.

According to Wright, the Bucs are offering to pay for a third of the costs with the public footing the rest of the bills.

The deadline to negotiate a lease extension is approaching in January. Negotiations between the team and the Tampa Sports Authority are already underway. Sports Authority President and CEO Eric Hart has said he is expecting the Bucs to “request somewhere between" $700M to $1.3B for the project, basing his estimates on the costs of other NFL-stadium renovations.

Hart also stated that part of the project costs would be for maintenance. The bulk would go to upgrades, which The Authority and the Bucs hope will lead to increased revenue.

The Times reports Hart also added that those projects “will happen without closing the stadium.” Wright says the plan is to “take sections of the building offline one at a time.”

Unfortunately, there could be a potential snag in funding availability for the Bucs. The Tampa Bay Rays are in the midst of attaining funding for their new stadium. The public money approved for the Rays' stadium, around $976 million, may make it difficult to reach a deal for the Raymond James Stadium project.

Emma Behrmann reports that $440 million of the Rays' funding will come from the half-cent sales tax called the Community Investment Tax and another $303 million from the Tourist Development Tax.  

Those two government revenue streams would likely be the sources of any potential Raymond James Stadium upgrades as well. With that money already approved for Tampa's MLB franchise, there may be not enough funds to go around. 

The Bucs lease with Raymond James Stadium doesn't expire until January 2028. However, the deadline for the Bucs to notify the Sports Authority that they intend on extending the lease comes a year sooner.

The Bucs have played in Raymond James Stadium since it opened in 1998. A ranking of all NFL stadiums from earlier this year ranked the Bucs' home as the 24th best in the league.

Raymond James Stadium is approaching 30 years of age. Renovations are sorely needed for one of the NFL's most famous stadiums, which has hosted three Super Bowls since it opened.

Negotiations between the team and local governments could get contentious over the next few months. However, expect the two sides to reach an agreement before the January deadline.

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