The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played a home game at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday but you would not know it was a home game based on the amount of Pittsburgh Steelers fans in attendance. It was a true takeover.
More than 50% of the crowd was rooting for the visitors!
This kind of thing is not uncommon for the most passionate fanbases in the NFL when they travel to desirable vacation destinations like Nashville or Los Angeles. However, it is rare to see the home team be completely outnumbered.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans are mostly checked out.
A team that had legitimate Super Bowl hopes to begin the regular season has very quickly plummeted to the bottom of the standings. Tampa Bay lost starting quarterback Baker Mayfield to an injury. The Buccaneers dropped to 1-4.
Although there is still a lot of time to turn things around, the fanbase seems to have lost interest. As a result of the early-season struggles, Tampa fans mostly decided to stay home. Ticket prices for Sunday’s game dropped below $100 as kickoff neared closer. Raymond James Stadium was nowhere near capacity.
And, those who did go to the game, were significantly out-numbered by their opponent. It was not particularly close.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans completely took over Raymond James Stadium.
No fanbase in the National Football League travels better than the Pittsburgh Steelers. As we saw in Tennessee earlier this year, the Philadelphia Eagles are a close second. As we saw in Florida on Sunday, it actually may not be that close.
Pittsburgh played its first game in Tampa since 2018 so Steelers fans were able to make the trip for the first time in eight years. And they most certainly did!
According to boots on the ground, there was a lot more yellow in the crowd than red.
Steelers fans outnumbered Buccaneers fans outside of the stadium.
Steelers fans takeover at Ray Jay. pic.twitter.com/NQtHB4d3av
— rock riley (@realrockriley) October 18, 2026
That was also true inside of the stadium.
The takeover trend continued during pregame. Even the fans on the field during warmups were there to see the Steelers.
It was a split of at least 60/40.
There are A LOT of Steelers fans in Tampa.
— Riley Holsinger (@HolsingerRiley) October 18, 2026
Check out all of the Terrible Towels that are twirling in the air. pic.twitter.com/r1oseBg5m7
The late arrivers were also in favor of the road team.
The word “invasion” might be even more accurate than takeover.
It's a Steelers Nation invasion in Tampa! pic.twitter.com/Zi62jSXfhH
— 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 (@steelcityundrgr) October 18, 2026
Because of the Steelers fans’ presence at Raymond James Stadium, the Buccaneers played a true road game at home.