The Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League provide football action. Many big-league teams train in the area, but for a Major League team of its own, the area awaits 1998 when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays throw out their first pitch in St. Petersburg. Opera season, sponsored by the Sarasota Opera Association, ushers in four operas renowned for high quality. Other musical organizations of note include the Jazz Club of Sarasota, the Key Chorale, La Musica, the New Gloria Musicae Singers and the Sarasota Concert Band. Film and dance are encouraged and supported enthusiastically.
Theatrical productions are plentiful.
The Asolo Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, Theatre Works Inc. and Players of Sarasota are all busy on the boards. Numerous art galleries, centers and schools take their cue from the first-rate John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The events calendar is crowded year-round in Sarasota. Spring inaugurates the county fair, the International Chamber Music Festival and the Sarasota Jazz Festival. Summer arrives with the Sarasota Music Festival, Fourth of July fireworks, a series of Concerts in the Park and a Festival of New Plays, three weekends devoted to original drama by Florida writers.