Reading the reports they might have to turn away people seeking season tickets.
There are already more sold than last year and it seems they expect to be around 24,000 sold so far.

Now, someone help me out here. ESPN.com lists the capacity at CoPa as 41,070, but the opening day crowd of 44,297.
I fully realize they sell standing room tickets, but how many?
Furthermore, does the team need to look into what they could do to add seats prior to the 2009 season?
As it is they could only draw about 350,000 more fans than they did last year.
I'm not sure where they could add seats. They can't do a 2nd deck in LF because of the scoreboard. I doubt they would mess much with the porch in RF, but maybe. My guess would be they would have to bring LF in a bit or move the Tigers pen, not sure where to.
All in all, probably a nice problem to have.

But how difficult will it be for those of us that go to 3-4 games each year to get tickets?

as to the capacity question, i can believe that they sold that many standing room tickets. the palace regularly oversell games by 1,000 seats.at least when they actually sellout and Rock Financial doesn't buy up the rest to keep the streak alive.

Cant wait for the tigers to start, I think the tiger tickets may be a good investment

I want some god damn tickets and I want them now!

Looks like the weekday matinee games are the only ones that I'll be able to attend this year.

I guess it's a great time to be a teacher!

lol

My rant about Comerica seating seems to have sparked some interest. I swaer writers from the Free Press and News steal our material.



Creative, logical thinking can boost Comerica Park's capacity

How many ways have we been reminded Comerica Park was flawed from the day the architect's plans were, lamentably, made final?

Comerica is eight years old and, already, big changes have been made, and changes at least as great are probably in the offing.

A major reason the next rounds of inevitable alterations are necessary is because demand for tickets is exceeding supply. The Tigers will need to find more space for more seats.

Why did this happen? Why was there such bad judgment exercised? Why no foresight into what would occur at the box office when a baseball team in a baseball town became competitive? Why was there such a misbegotten focus on expanding the size of the playing field rather than allowing for expanded seating?

The shame of it all is that Comerica Park works in so many terrific ways. The location is fabulous. It is convenient and allows fans to mingle in neighborhoods rife with restaurants, bars and night spots.

Comerica Park, simply put, is the place to be during warm-weather months in Detroit.

Another plus is that the ballpark's exterior is gorgeous. Its open-air concourses and walkways are special.
That said

It's just that the field and the seats were messed up so badly. They were constructed almost as a stick in the eye to those who loved Tiger Stadium's intimacy.

Ridiculous expanses in the outfield; upper decks that are swept back so far they might as well be in Livingston County; lower-deck seats that are too exposed to the sun and have too little gradation between rows.

This is an awful indictment of a ballpark built in a baseball town, particularly when superb examples of new structures -- Camden Yards and Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) -- already were open and being greeted with glee by fans and ballpark critics.

As was forecasted well before Comerica Park opened in 2000, changes were destined to be made, and they began as soon as Dave Dombrowski, then the new president and general manager, got a gander at what his predecessors left him.

The left-field fence had to be moved in only three years after the park opened. It was, of course, ridiculously distant and made a mockery out of any well-hit ball to left field.

The consolation from moving in a fence and making left field at least somewhat fair to hitters was that new space was created, which enabled another huge mistake -- the right-field bullpen -- to be moved into the vacated region in left field.

That, in turn, provided for some excellent new seating in right field.
What's next?

The Tigers now are in need of creating similar tradeoffs that work to the advantage of the game and the fans.

It will not be easy. But a few thoughts exist:

• As owner Mike Ilitch suggested last September, the dugouts need to be reduced. They're big enough to house army divisions. That's wasted space where prime seats could instead be located. Blow up the dugouts and put some desperately needed seats in there. The players won't mind a little less space and the coffers will benefit handsomely.

• Bring in the silly left-center-field fence, which, like the right-center field recesses, is so far away the Tigers don't even put numerals on the fence or reveal the distances to spots (probably 430 feet or more) that might as well have a separate area code.

If you bring in the left-center field fence to a reasonable distance, and extend rising seats from that point to a place halfway up the brick wall behind it, you can obviously add capacity that makes left-center fair to hitters and provides occupancy that benefits everyone.

• The Tigers might want to consider some excavation in front of the existing infield seats. There is way too much wasted space between the seats and the baselines.

If you dig down far enough to prevent obstruction to the front-row crowd, and construct a cushy venue in space that is now being squandered, there is conceivably a wonderful opportunity to add Super Deluxe seating that would sell for, well, for the ticket equivalent of Alex Rodriguez's salary.
It's time to act

These are thoughts, only thoughts. But the Tigers clearly are thinking about changes that must be made before Opening Day 2009.

They have too good of a product now, and they have too serious of a need to make that product available to Detroit's baseball audience. The team might have its ups and downs, but the demand for more seating occupancy at Comerica Park will not be a one-time phenomenon.

Comerica Park has a lot of pluses, and, unfortunately, a few unnecessary negatives. Some of the latter have been reduced to everyone's gain by creative minds in the executive offices. Other opportunities are waiting to be seized.

If the Tigers act shrewdly, the hottest sports venue in Detroit in 2008 will only get hotter.

I've already got a 27 game season ticket plan!

thats an awfully snarky article.

more seats would be great, but its not like its the tiger's fault that demand exceeds supply. news flash for Lynn Henning: it happens at every sporting event. thats life.

as far as miserable upperdecks, i agree, but that was the tradeoff for no obstructed view. going to wriggley is fantastic, and a truely great reminder of tiger field, but its also a nice reminder of what a downer it can be to stare at a poll for 9 innings.

i like the copa alot. adding seats and bringing in the fences is fine, too. i think she was throwing a fugazi hissy fit.

ps: i dont think they stop selling standing room only. but, last year that had roped off much of the concours around the infield, limmiting standing room availability. 2 years ago, me and my dad went to like 20 games with standing room tickets, just because standing in the infield concourse was actually pretty ideal. we went once last year and decided that from now on we'll be getting seats.

pps: i plan on going to a couple, and since only a couple i dont mind spending a little $. i intend on using ebay or craigslist, because im sure getting them from the tigers aint happening.

First, Lynn is the name of an old man, not a woman.

But beyond that, I think the attack stance of his article was bad form, but some of his ideas were actually decent.