Tampa Ranked As A Top City For Hosting Sports Events

In South Florida, obviously, we have ideal weather and tourist attractions that are visited by travelers from all over the world. However, Sports Business Journal recently praised Tampa for also being a top city for hosting sports events.

To gather information and compile such a ranking, the Sports Business Journal took a close look at the top 1,500 sporting events in the country among the "U.S. cities that have had the most recent success at attracting and hosting sporting events."

As a result, Tampa ranked #14 on this list. In general, Florida had a strong showing here, with Orlando being #1, and Miami being #11.

With places like Tropicana Field, Raymond James Stadium, and Amalie Arena, there is a wide range of options in terms of venue types that can accommodate various events.

For example, the WWE has found Tampa to be a great place to hold one of their main events of the year. Wrestlemania was at Raymond James Stadium in 2021, and the Royal Rumble was just at Tropicana Field this past January.

There are also smaller-scaled national events that have frequented Tampa. This includes the USA National Field Hockey Festival , which has taken place here three times since 2019.

Spanning two stadiums throughout five different decades, Tampa Bay is one of four cities to host the Super Bowl more than four times, Pro Football Network said. This dates back to 1984 when Tampa first hosted the Super Bowl. The big game returned here then in 1991, 2001, 2009, and 2021. As we all know, the last Super Bowl saw Tom Brady lead the Bucs as the first team to ever win a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

Next year, the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four will take place at Amalie Arena from April 4 - 6. Monster Jam typically brings their show to Tampa every year.

That's So Tampa also reported that, "The city’s 99 youth and amateur sporting events across 28 sports in 2022-23 generated more than 250,000 hotel room nights."

Bronson Arroyo pitched in the major leagues for 17 years, winning a World Series title in 2004 with the Boston Red Sox. Obviously, baseball has always been a big part of his life. And so has music. Arroyo, who grew up in the greater Tampa area is also a guitar player, singer, and songwriter. He released his first album, Covering The Bases, in 2005. It features covers of Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam - who is listed here as one of Arroyo's favorite Tampa concert experiences.

Just like taking the mound, Arroyo has also taken to a few stages. He's rocked with Pearl Jam and he's jammed with Eddie Vedder at the singer's solo concerts. He's also performed regularly at benefit concerts such as Boston's Hot Stove Cool Music. In fact, Arroyo's first time performing live was at the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit in 2012. Legendary baseball analyst, Peter Gammons, suggested Arroyo play a song. So he did, performing a cover of Pearl Jam's "Black."

Two weeks ago, Arroyo played with his band the '04 at the Innings Festival in Tampa. This was the second year this unique festival occurred in Tampa. It's a unique mash-up of mainstream live music and professional baseball.

In addition, Arroyo just released his new record Some Might Say on February 17. This a collection of 10 original songs, some of which were played live at Innings Fest for the firs time.

He's also a big music fan. The 2023 baseball season is finally here. So, it felt like the perfect time to reconnect with the legend. We spoke with him about his three favorite Tampa concert experiences.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers took their Stadium Arcadium tour to stadiums all around the world. Though this tour lasted almost two years, this was the only stop in the Tampa region. The show consisted of a 20-song setlist (5 Stadium Arcadium tracks), bookended by a Flea, John Fruciante, Chad Smith jam. Red Hot Chili Peppers first Tampa show was back in 1986 at the London Victory Club.

The Lumineers' first official world tour in support of their debut record comes to the University of South Florida campus. They closed with a cover of "Sweet Virginia" by the Rolling Stones. The Lumineers have only played Tampa proper three times, twice since then (2017, 2022). This Saturday night show was the second to last stop on their U.S. 2013 run. The band did not return to Florida until 2017.

The home of the Tampa Bay Lightning is also the home to one of Bronson Arroyo's favorite Tampa concert nights. Pearl Jam started their 2016 tour in South Florida, with show number three in Tampa (formerly named the St. Pete Times Forum). How about a 32 song setlist with two encores that included John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix covers. In total, songs from 10 different Pearl Jam records were performed. R.E.M.'s "It Happened Today" served as the band's walk up to the plate music. This was the band's most recent Tampa area show.