(WTXL) - Confederate monuments spurred the protests in Charlottesville.
Now the three major professional sports teams based in the Tampa Bay area are pitching in to help remove a Confederate monument from their city.
The NFL's Buccaneers, NHL's Lightning and Rays of major league baseball issued a joint statement saying they are recognizing the monument does not reflect the values of the community.
The teams' announcement came a day after commissioners, gave fundraisers 30 days to collect $140,000, which is about half of what's needed to relocate the monument.
Bob Gries, the former owner of the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team, gave $50,000 to the fund.
The fund has surpassed the $140,000 goal in less than one day.
