The store, at International Plaza in Tampa, will feature the latest, licensed merchandise from local sports teams, including, but not limited to, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, USF Bulls, Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles.

TAMPA – Just in time for Black Friday shoppers, Tampa Bay Sports will open a location today (Nov. 25) in International Mall.

The grand opening of the new, 1,500-square foot mall location will include a ceremonial ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. featuring ThunderBug, Lightning Girls and Lightning executives.

“International Plaza is not only a great retail opportunity, but it also allows us to continue to grow and strengthen our brand in the Tampa Bay community,” Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment CEO Steve Griggs said. “Our new partnership with International Plaza allows us to engage and interact with our fans in a much different way. We are extremely excited to bring our Tampa Bay Sports retail store to one of the top shopping malls in the United States.”

Tampa Bay Sports features a brick and mortar location at AMALIE® Arena, as well as an online store. As with the online store, the new mall location will feature all of the latest, licensed merchandise from all local sports teams, including, but not limited to, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, USF Bulls, Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles as well as from large-scale sporting events that take place in the region.

“We are thrilled to have Tampa Bay Sports opening at International Plaza and Bay Street this holiday season,” International Plaza general manager Gary Malfroid said. “Tampa Bay Sports is a great addition to our retail collection providing our shoppers and visitors with that one of a kind, unique merchandise not found in any other shopping center in all of Central Florida.”

The new store is located on the first floor of the mall near Dillard’s and will also offer shoppers a full sports experience complete with video screens showing highlights, games and other content, as well as appearances by trophies, athletes and other sports personalities throughout the year.

Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment was established by Jeff Vinik in March, 2010 to manage the National Hockey’s League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, the Arena Football League’s Tampa Bay Storm and the leasehold rights to AMALIE Arena, the 19,092-seat downtown Tampa home in which the teams play their games. Since Vinik’s purchase in 2010, he has led a complete brand and
business transformation of the Lightning, Storm and the arena. AMALIE Arena was recently ranked ninth in the U.S. (13th in the world) by Venues Today magazine. The rankings are based on
worldwide ticket sales for concerts, events and family shows in venues seating 15,001 or more from Oct. 16, 2015 through May 15.

International Plaza and Bay Street, an enclosed, two-story regional shopping center with an adjacent outdoor lifestyle center, is located on the southeast edge of the Tampa International Airport. It features 200 specialty stores and 16 restaurants, plus Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Dillard’s and Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza. Shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For information about Tampa Bay Sports, go to tampabaysports.com.

Photos of International Plaza courtesy of International Plaza.

Tampa Bay Sports | International Plaza | Business | Tampa | Shopping | TB Reporter

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