I am faced with a few complications as far as keeping up to date with the Bucs news in the UK. Distance is obviously a big one, 4454 miles to be precise from door to door. Then there is the time difference, Tampa is 5 hours behind the city I live in. Twitter helps bridge some of that gap – as long as “breaking news” occurs before 6 pm in Tampa, or I will be asleep as we are 5 hours ahead here.

Last year I bought NFL game pass for the first time, another instance of having to “invest” in being a fan (check my previous article for my thoughts on this). This has been one of my best investments to date despite setting me back £140, or $175. I’m offered the opportunity to see Bucs news in the UK in near real time, which is great. Every day I watch Good Morning Football, which starts at lunchtime for me. As I type this, they are discussing the merits of the Tampa defence this year.

I get Buccaneer games “live” with NFL game pass. There is a slight delay between the game and the feed, so I often have to put my phone out of sight to not hear about a touchdown before I see it. That’s known as a first world problem! If the schedule is kind to me, I will see most of our games in real time. Thursday and Monday night football are a pain. I have to avoid the score the next morning until I have seen the game in full. Thanks again NFL game pass!

A few years back I joined Bucs UK, a fan club for those of us stranded on this side of the pond. They send out regular emails updates for Bucs news, events, meetups etc. I met a lot of them at Wembley Stadium in London a few years back too. The guys who manage it have great relations with the Bucs. This offers us exiles access to tickets if we are fortunate enough to be able to make the trip to Tampa, as I will be this year. They also hooked me up when I travelled to Florida in November 2015. The Bucs were playing away from the Raymond James and they arranged a tour of One Buc place – which was awesome. The full story on this will follow in the near future.

Podcasts. I love podcasts. They work perfectly for those who can be out of the loop. My first encounter with the WhatTheBuc podcast was half way through the 2015 season. I liked that fact that Derek was the voice of a fan, rather than media voice. He spoke about the sort of things that were on our minds and that made me feel a little closer to all of the Bucs news, especially with the inclusion of the ginger bad ass from time to time. I’ve since started listening to other podcasts which cover the NFL as a whole. In addition, I also subscribe to the likes of the Pewter Report for my Bucs news fix.

My final regular source of all things NFL, including Bucs news, is the NFLUK website. Excellent UK based journalists and NFL fans create the content. They also have a weekly podcast, my ears are kept busy with all of the news. NFLUK have also recently discussed the addition of 4 new European players, something you can also read about in the detailed “Welcome Aboard” series here on WhatTheBuc – how apt!

In this digital age, the distance doesn’t prove to be as problematic as it might have been a few years ago. Not being able to attend games is a touch frustrating, but it makes you appreciate the infrequent interaction with the team even more. I’m going to be in Tampa in December to see in 2018. As a result, I’ll be heading to the Raymond James to hopefully see a playoff-bound Bucs beat the Saints.

Coming up next in my “From the outside, looking in” series I will be catching up with WhatTheBuc Patreon Callum. He talks all about his relationship with the Bucs, how it came about and his plans for the upcoming year. Be sure to stay tuned.