TAMPA, FLA. (WSVN) - What a difference a year makes.
In 2020, Miami had an unbelievable experience leading up to the big game, and now this year, fans in Tampa are lucky to have a Super Bowl Experience event amid the pandemic.
“You see me with a mask, right?” said Buccaneers fan Joe Mendez. “Those are the precautions you gotta take. You just gotta make sure that you take care of yourself, make sure that you distance, make sure that everybody around you has a mask, those are the priorities that you have to have in place.”
“It’s amazing, you know, to still fight through all the different challenges the team has done and to make it to this year,” said Chiefs fan Lisa Palmer.
Event organizers said the top priority is to keep everybody safe.
“This is only one time of a lifetime to do,” said Mendez. “Even though we’re going through all this COVID situation, I think everybody has been kind of good with distancing themselves and respecting each other so I think that’s pretty good. That’s a good thing. The experience has been great.”
The Super Bowl Experience was held inside last year in Miami, however this year due to COVID, everything has been moved outdoors.
“It’s quite a great distraction,” said Buccaneers fan Brian Perkins. “You want to get into a mode of welcoming people to your city and making the fear of the other stuff going on get away from you and clear your head. It’s a great time. It’s a beautiful night to be out here in Tampa.”
For some, just the ability to experience a Super Bowl is more than enough, given what’s happened in the last year.
“Super Bowl is Super Bowl, anyway that you look at it. Whether you’re seeing it on the TV or whether you’re at the game, or whether you’re at an event like this, it’s Super Bowl, man,” said Mendez. “That’s how it is.”
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