TAMPA, Fla. — The NFL will not allow the Bucs or Chiefs to hold a postgame Super Bowl party for players, coaches and members of the organization, coach Bruce Arians said Friday.
The Chiefs plan to leave immediately after the game and return to Kansas City.
The Bucs’ facility at the AdventHeath Training Center in Tampa includes an indoor practice field and three outdoor practice fields that could easily host a socially distanced gathering with players and families who have undergone testing for COVID-19.
But the Bucs were informed by the NFL that ownership cannot host or support a postgame party due to the league’s coronavirus protocols.
Of course, bars and some adult clubs will be open following the game in Tampa, and it would seem those would make players more vulnerable to becoming infected with the virus.
“You wish (you could hold a party),” Arians said. “(The Bucs’ facility) is the perfect place. It’s the safest place with all the inside and outside (space). The league said no.”
Some families of Bucs players have undergone COVID-19 testing all week leading up to Super Bowl 55.
Win or lose, Super Bowl participants often plan postgame parties at the team hotel or other venues in the city hosting the game.
When the Bucs won Super Bowl 37 in San Diego 18 years ago, the organization threw a party later for coaches, players and front office staff and their families at the team hotel.
