Tampa Bay Bucs Not Eligible For BP Oil Spill Money

When the incident that happened on the Deepwater Horizon happened back in 2010 there is no doubt that countless businesses along the Gulf South lost a lot of money. One of those businesses making claims against the BP settlement in the case was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.

On Friday a federal appeals court ruled that the NFL team was not entitled to damages and compensation as a result of that 2010 incident. The team had filed for compensation to the tune of $19.5 million saying that the spill affected their revenues.

According to the federal appeals court, the team's losses were not significant enough to be included in the settlement. The court seemed to indicate the accounting practices the team employed gave the appearance of revenue losses during that time frame.

The court found that the team's revenue was not significantly lower than its revenue during the same span a year later. In order to qualify for compensation from the BP settlement, a business had to prove that its revenue rebounded by more than 10% in 2011 compared to 2010. The Bucs' accounting did not show, at least in the eyes of the court, proof that the BP spill caused enough damage to warrant compensation.