Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers
Photos by Lloyd Brown, James Hilchen, and Marc Viquez, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.86
Comerica Park 2100 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI 48201
Detroit Tigers website Comerica Park website Year Opened: 2000 Capacity: 41,083
The Tiger Den
Note: Comerica Park will become Fifth Third Park beginning with the 2027 MLB baseball season, following Comerica’s merger with Fifth Third Bank.
The Detroit Tigers are one of the oldest major league teams in the American League. They have played in several stadiums during their more than 130 years of existence. These include Bennett Park, Briggs Stadium, and Tiger Stadium. They have won four World Series (1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984).
Comerica Park has served as the home of the Tigers since 2000. It has an upper deck behind the plate and down the two baselines, with an overall capacity of 41,083. The outfield area at Comerica Park has no upper deck, allowing fans to have a clear view of the Downtown Detroit skyline.
Food & Beverage 4
The concessions program at Comerica Park offers a wide variety of food and beverages. They include Little Caesar’s Pizza, National Coney Island, Guernsey Farms Dairy, Dippin' Dots, and both branded beer stands as well as a Michigan Craft Beer stand in the right field part of the stadium. The stadium offers multiple Cultural Nights throughout the season, with the food specialties of the featured culture at pop-up stands throughout the park.
The Tigers offer several value meal deals at Comerica Park. The Hot Dog Value meal contains a hot dog, chips, and a soda for $9.42; a Pizza Value Meal of a Little Caesars Super Slice and a 16-ounce soda for $12.50; and a Value Beer Deal of a 12-ounce beer in a can for $5. On 313 Tuesdays, hot dogs, water, soda, and chips are all priced at $3.
Stands can be found in the Big Cat Food Court along the first base side of the ballpark as well as along the concourses. There is a sit-down beer hall/restaurant located behind section 133, as well as the Brushfire Grill on the first base side of the ballpark.
Atmosphere 4
The Tigers have done a great job of spreading the Tigers brand throughout the ballpark. A large tiger sculpture will greet you as you enter the main entrance to Comerica Park. Once inside, you will see both a tiger-themed merry-go-round, as well as a tiger-themed Ferris wheel. Tiger elites including Ty Cobb, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenburg, Willie Horton, Al Kaline, and Hal Newhouser are saluted with statues atop the outfield walls. Longtime broadcaster Harwell is also recognized with a statue on the concourse.
Several Tigers numbers have been retired by the club, including Lou Whitaker (#1), Charlie Gehringer (#2), Alan Trammell (#3), Hank Greenberg (#5), Al Kaline (#6), Jim Leyland (#10), Hal Newhouser (#16), and Jack Morris (#47). Jackie Robinson’s 42 has also been retired throughout MLB and is included on this list. These numbers all appear on the outfield walls.
The main concourse offers displays on the history of the team and its ballparks over the decades along the concourse walls.
Neighborhood 5
Comerica Park is located in District Detroit, an area filled with restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and sports facilities in Downtown Detroit. It is next door to Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions of the NFL.
Among the more popular sites to visit before or after a Tigers game are the Fox Theatre, the Fillmore Detroit concert venue, Union Assembly, Renaissance Center, and the Little Caesars Arena, the home of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Pistons.
Restaurants close to the ballpark include the Elwood Bar and Grill, the Firebird Tavern, and HopCat. Oddly enough, the nearby Red Wing-themed Hockeytown Café is a popular pre-game dining spot.
Another popular area to visit is just a few stops on the Q-Line from Comerica Park. Greektown is home to several wonderful Greek restaurants, as well as the Hollywood Casino at Greektown.
Fans 4
Tiger fans are very loyal to the team, despite the long drought of postseason appearances. In general, they are quite welcoming to visiting fans. They are proud of their city and how it has rebounded since the 1970’s and can often be relied on for good recommendations on area restaurants, nightlife, and tourist attractions to see.
Fans can visit the main team store (section 119) along the first base side of the concourse, as well as several smaller outlets scattered throughout the stadium.
It is easy to keep up with the score/stats at Comerica Park, as there is a huge scoreboard/videoboard measuring 67 feet high by 185 feet wide in dead center field, as well as the ribbon boards on the facing of the upper decks.
Access 4
It is very easy for Tiger fans and visitors to access Comerica Park by a variety of means. It is near both I-75 and I-375, as well as several state highways. The most popular exit to reach the ballpark is the Grand River exit.
It is also served by stations of both the Detroit People Mover (Broadway Station) and the Q-line (Grand Circus Park). These rail stations operate free of charge as they circulate through the downtown Detroit area.
The FAST high-frequency bus service delivers fans to Comerica Park from the Detroit suburbs. Info on schedules and pickup points are available at www.ridesmart-fast.org
There are six parking areas adjacent to the ballpark. Fans can reserve a parking space before arriving at Comerica Park by going to the SpotHero app.
There are four main gates into the ballpark, marked by four 80-foot-tall baseball bats. Gates open 90 minutes before the first pitch. Once inside the park, the concourses are 40 feet wide, easily accommodating the fans as they travel to their seats.
Gates open 90 minutes before the first pitch.
Return on Investment 3
Tickets range from $60-$120 depending on the opponent. Parking ranges from $10-$20 in one of the parking decks surrounding Comerica Park. In general, the concession prices are comparable to other MLB ballparks.
The ballpark operates as a cashless venue. There are reverse ATMs in the ballpark where you can convert your cash to a charge card. Despite the ballpark’s proximity to the Canadian border, these machines do not accept Canadian currency. A transaction fee is added to any purchases using a Canada-based credit card.
Extras 3
Comerica Park offers two rides that are more commonly found in an amusement park than in a major league ballpark. The HiChew Carousel is a tiger-themed carousel that operates near the main gate at Comerica Park. Rides are available at a cost of $2 per person. The Fly Ball Ferris Wheel is in the third base area of the park. It offers rides inside baseball-shaped cars for $2 per ride.
The Tigers have made two World Series appearances (2006, 2012) since moving into Comerica Park. They lost both years.
Hopefully, the Tigers will hit a home run at the game you attend. When that happens, the two Tigers atop the center field scoreboards’ eyes will light up, and they will roar.
Final Thoughts
Despite the recent lack of playoff appearances, Detroit is a great baseball town. The team boasts more than 15 members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and one of the longest tenures in major league baseball. Comerica Park does a great job of saluting that baseball heritage, while providing a memorable experience for today’s fans with its mix of tiger-related imagery and traditional big-city sports.
