Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It has been the home of the Detroit Tigers, a team in Major League Baseball (MLB), since it opened in the year 2000. The stadium was designed in a classic style that looks old-fashioned, and it can hold 41,083 people.
History
The Detroit Tigers were founded in 1894. From 1896 until 1911, the team played at Bennett Park, located at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. In 1911, new team owner Frank Navin decided to build a new ballpark on the same site. This new stadium, which later became known as Tiger Stadium, opened in 1912. It remained the Tigers’ home for the next 88 seasons. By the mid-1990s, it was clear that the stadium had reached the end of its useful life.
Comerica Park was built on the original site of the Detroit College of Law. Ground was broken for the new stadium on October 29, 1997. At the time of its construction, the scoreboard in left field was the largest in Major League Baseball. The stadium was part of a plan to improve downtown Detroit, which also included the construction of Ford Field, located near the ballpark. The first game at Comerica Park took place on April 11, 2000, when the Tigers played against the Seattle Mariners.
On Tuesday, April 11, 2000, 39,168 people attended the first game at Comerica Park. The temperature that day was 36 °F (2 °C), and it was snowing. The Tigers defeated the Seattle Mariners 5–2. Brian Moehler was the winning pitcher, just as he had been in the final game at Tiger Stadium.
In December 1998, Comerica Bank agreed to pay $66 million over 30 years for the right to name the new stadium. In 2018, Comerica extended its naming rights agreement with the Tigers through 2034. In October 2025, Comerica announced plans to merge with Fifth Third Bank, a process that was completed in February 2026. As a result, the stadium is expected to be renamed before the 2027 season.
Features
The main entrance to the ballpark is located across the street from the Fox Theatre and between two historic downtown churches, St. John Episcopal Church and Central United Methodist Church. Outside the main entrance is a tiger statue that is 15 feet (4.6 m) tall. There are 8 other large tiger statues throughout the park, including two that are on top of the scoreboard in left field. These tigers' eyes light up after a Tigers home run or a victory, and a growling tiger sound plays as well. The tigers were originally created by sculptor Michael Keropian and made by ShowMotion Inc. in Norwalk, Connecticut. Along the brick walls outside the park are 33 tiger heads with lighted baseballs in their mouths.
At the left-center field concourse, there are statues of almost all the players whose numbers have been retired by the Tigers (except Jackie Robinson, whose number was retired in every MLB park in 1997 and is located on the wall in right-center field). A statue of Ty Cobb is also there, but he does not have a number, as he played baseball before players wore numbers on their uniforms. These players' names, along with the names of Hall of Fame players and broadcasters who spent a significant part of their career with the Tigers, are also on a wall in right-center field. Ernie Harwell, the team's longtime radio announcer and a recipient of the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award, has a statue just inside the stadium on the first base side.
Comerica Park was the last ballpark in MLB to feature a special dirt strip between home plate and the pitcher's mound. This strip, sometimes called the "keyhole," was common in early ballparks but rare in modern ones. It was removed before the 2025 season. The home plate area is shaped like a home plate, not a circle.
In the northeastern corner of the stadium behind the stands from the third base line is a Ferris wheel with twelve cars designed like baseballs. In the northwestern corner of the stadium behind the stands from the first base line is a carousel.
The flagpole located between center and left fields was originally in play, as was the flagpole in Tiger Stadium. However, the left field wall was moved in front of the pole before the 2003 season. A ball that hits the pole is now ruled a home run. The right field of the stadium features the Comerica Landing, formerly known as the Pepsi Porch, a picnic deck between the 100 and 200 level seating bowls. Also in right field, and part of the 100 level seating bowl, is an area of seats known as "Kaline's Corner," an homage to Hall of Fame right fielder Al Kaline, who once played for the Tigers when the team played in Tiger Stadium.
An LED scoreboard was added to the right-center field wall, and the upper deck fascia for the 2007 season.
A giant fountain is located behind center field. General Motors sponsored the fountain from 2000 to 2008 and used the area to showcase GM manufactured vehicles. While GM stopped its sponsorship in 2009 because of financial problems, the GM branding was not removed from the fountain. Instead, signs for Chrysler and Ford were also added, along with the message "The Detroit Tigers support our automakers." In 2010, GM returned to sponsoring the display, now known as the Chevrolet Fountain.
A completely redesigned and upgraded left field video display debuted for the 2012 season. The serif "TIGERS" wordmark was removed and replaced by cursive lettering that can also display graphics and video. An analog clock below the Tigers wordmark and above the Comerica Park logo was also removed. An HD LED display was installed, which was much larger than the three displays that had been there for years.
The previous scoreboard used light bulbs—still a popular scoreboard technology around the time the park opened, though they were quickly aging as LED displays became available and were installed around other Major League ballparks. The scoreboard was also raised 16 feet (4.9 m) to address complaints that the scoreboard was too far left and thus obstructed by the left field upper deck. Along with the replacement scoreboard, all remaining bulb fascia scoreboards were also upgraded to LED. A new videoboard was installed for the 2024 season. Measuring at 15,688-square-foot (1,457.5 m²), it is the second largest in MLB. The script Tigers wordmark on top of the videoboard was replaced with the Comerica Park signage in 2025.
In 2014, the Tigers announced a $4 million renovation to the Comerica Landing. This renovation included the removal of the bleachers that once occupied the space and the addition of new stadium seats. The plan also included new high-top tables, a new bar in the middle of the porch, couches and lounge chairs, as well as a fire pit. The bleachers that once occupied the area were moved to the space above The Jungle restaurant and bar.
There is a fireworks show after Friday evening games, usually starting after Memorial Day.
Dimensions
Comerica Park is much more helpful to pitchers than Tiger Stadium, which was known for being very good for hitters. Except for dead center field, the outfield at Comerica Park is larger than the outfield at Tiger Stadium. This caused some complaints from players and fans. One well-known example was when Bobby Higginson joked that the park was called "Comerica National Park."
Before the 2003 MLB season began, the team changed the distance from left-center field from 395 to 370 feet (120 to 113 meters). This also removed the flagpole from the field, which had been added as a tribute to Tiger Stadium. Two years later, the bullpens were moved from right field to a new area in left field created when the fence was adjusted. In the space where the old bullpens were in right field, about 950 seats were added. These changes helped make Comerica Park less friendly to pitchers and more friendly to hitters, ranking it as the third most batter-friendly ballpark when considering extra bases.
Before the 2023 MLB season, the team announced that the center field fence would be moved 10 feet closer to home plate, measuring 412 feet (126 meters). This change was made after precise measurements showed the actual distances from home plate. The team also said the fences in center field, right-center field, and right field would be lowered to 7 feet.
At Comerica Park, the layout of the playing field means that when a player is at bat, the direction they face looks farther to the south than at any other baseball stadium.
Transportation
Public transportation to the park can be reached by the Detroit People Mover station at Grand Circus Park and the QLine at Montcalm Street. Additional options include SMART, which travels from nearby areas, and DDOT.
Stadium use
In 2005, Comerica Park hosted the 76th MLB All-Star Game, the first in Detroit since 1971. Before the game, the Home Run Derby took place. Bobby Abreu hit 24 home runs in the first round, breaking the previous record of 15. Abreu won the Derby by hitting a total of 41 home runs during the event, defeating Tigers catcher Iván Rodríguez. In the All-Star Game, the American League won 7–5, with Miguel Tejada earning the game's MVP Award.
The first playoff game at Comerica Park was played on October 6, 2006, against the New York Yankees. On October 21, 2006, Comerica Park hosted the first World Series game in the ballpark's history (Game 1 of the 2006 World Series).
In 2008, the Tiger statue at the main entrance of the ballpark was dressed in a Detroit Red Wings jersey because the Red Wings were playing in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The jersey is usually worn by the Spirit of Detroit, but it was being restored at the time.
On August 15, 2011, Minnesota Twins player Jim Thome became the eighth player in baseball history to hit 600 career home runs.
Comerica Park hosted its second World Series in 2012, with the Tigers losing all four games to the San Francisco Giants.
On April 23, 2022, Tigers player Miguel Cabrera became the 33rd player in Major League history to get his 3,000th hit. He achieved this with a single in the first inning against Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela.
Only two no-hitters have been thrown at Comerica Park, both by the Tigers. On June 12, 2007, Justin Verlander threw the first no-hitter at the park, leading the Tigers to a 4–0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. This was also the first no-hitter by a Tiger in Detroit since Virgil Trucks did so in 1952. On July 8, 2023, Matt Manning, Jason Foley, and Alex Lange combined to throw a no-hitter in a 2–0 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Comerica Park also hosted a near-perfect game by Armando Galarraga against the Cleveland Indians on June 2, 2010. Galarraga retired the first 26 batters he faced, but an umpire mistakenly awarded the Indians a hit in the ninth inning, denying him a perfect game and no-hitter.
On February 9, 2012, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that Comerica Park would host the Hockeytown Winter Festival alongside the 2013 NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. The festival included events such as games from the Ontario Hockey League, American Hockey League, Great Lakes Invitational, youth hockey games, and an NHL alumni game. The festival was canceled due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout but was rescheduled for December 2013. An outdoor rink was set up on the infield of the ballpark for public skating and hockey games.
On July 19, 2017, Comerica Park hosted its first soccer game between Roma of Italy’s Serie A and Paris Saint-Germain of France’s Ligue 1 in the 2017 International Champions Cup.
On July 30, 2023, Crystal Palace of England’s Premier League and Sevilla of Spain’s La Liga played against each other at Comerica Park.