Tigers Provide Jolt For Detroit Despite Economic Struggles
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Tigers Still Drawing Well Despite
Economic Struggles In Detroit |
The "sweetest image of this baseball season is the sight of Comerica Park, filled from the box seats to the bleachers," according to Lee Jenkins in this week's SPORTS ILLUSTRATED cover story. At the end of spring training, the unemployment rate in metro Detroit "had climbed to 23%, the average home price fell below $12,000, and the Tigers calculated that season-ticket sales were down 13,000." Corporate sponsorships and luxury-suite sales also were "taking a hit," and "anybody familiar with the economics of baseball could envision how the summer would play out: Paltry attendance would lead to slashed payroll and a second straight last-place finish." While the "financial forecast in Detroit has not necessarily brightened," the Tigers "have provided a jolt ... for the city." The Tigers currently are 81-70, two and a half games ahead of the Twins in the AL Central, and they rank fourth in the American League in attendance with 31,360 fans per game. Tigers 3B Brandon Inge: "We know there are families in the stands who are fighting to keep their houses and feed their kids. We take that seriously. We can't lollygag our way through a game."
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Tigers Senior VP/Business Operations Duane McLean "studied ticket-buying patterns closely this season and found that more fans were buying tickets to games one or two weeks in advance and fewer were buying tickets one or two months in advance." The team "responded with more $5 tickets, new $5 meals and two extra $5 parking lots," and season-ticket holders "were offered month-to-month payment plans and partial-season-ticket holders were allowed to pick all their own dates." Tigers VP/Community & Public Affairs Elaine Lewis added that the team "has given away more than 80,000 tickets this year and worked with more than 2,000 nonprofit organizations." But Jenkins writes the "most stunning example of community outreach" was Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch's decision to allow GM to continue advertising on Comerica Park's centerfield fountain "free of charge." Ilitch also "added the Ford and Chrysler logos ... over the message: THE DETROIT TIGERS SUPPORT OUR AUTOMAKERS." Ilitch is "consumed with two causes that don't always lend themselves to profit." Ilitch: "Turning around our city, and winning the World Series." Ilitch, 80, "wants to see those goals realized in his lifetime." One MLB exec said Ilitch "doesn't operate from a profit-and-loss standpoint," rather he "treats the team more like a public trust" (SI, 9/28 issue).
NOTABLE OMISSION: CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS pointed out that Jenkins "doesn't note, in his discussion of Detroit's economics and the team's season ticket sales being down 13,000, that Ilitch decided to raise ticket prices" (CRAINSDETROIT.com, 9/22).
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