Friday, March 18, 2005

Max Ortiz / The Detroit News Work progresses on adding 950 seats at Comerica Park. Wayne County economic official Mulugetta Birru said the expansion will generate $1.3 million in downtown spending during the week of the All-Star Game.

Taxpayers foot bill for Tiger seats

Wayne County chips in $400,000 for $1.2 million expansion at Comerica Park.

By Joel Kurth and David Josar / The Detroit News

Bankrolling the ballpark The Wayne County Commission has decided to pay $400,000 toward the cost of adding 950 seats to Comerica Park. Do you support this expenditure? Yes No Get results and comments Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers consistently lag near the bottom of Major League Baseball in attendance, but this spring, Wayne County taxpayers will pay for part of the construction of 950 seats at Comerica Park.

With no debate or dissent, the Wayne County Commission on Thursday anted up $400,000 of the project's $1.2 million cost. The Tigers will pick up the rest of the tab for the right-field seats, which will accommodate fans when the stadium hosts the All-Star Game on July 12.

Budget problems continue to vex the county, but Economic Development Director Mulugetta Birru said the seats will spur development in downtown Detroit and pay for themselves.

Still, the deal irritates some fans and taxpayers, especially since it came one day after Marian Ilitch, the wife of Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, bid $525 million to become the sole owner of MotorCity Casino.

"The Ilitches are going to be the ones who make money from these seats. I don't see why taxpayers should pay," said Dominic Negro, 22, an Eastpointe tile installer and Tigers fan. "This is like saying we should pay to add on to his house."

Wayne County owns Comerica Park. Neither the county nor Detroit receive any direct revenue from ticket sales.

Tigers spokesman Cliff Russell said he "doesn't know" why the team asked the public to pay for part of the seat cost.

The investment comes atop $600,000 Detroit taxpayers shelled out last year for myriad improvements. Among other things, the Detroit Downtown Development Authority (DDA) paid to move in Comerica's left-field fence, fix an electronic scoreboard, replace 33 water-damaged luxury suites and change lights that illuminate the Tiger statue at the stadium's front gates that some fans complained caused minor burns.

The DDA, a government group that taxes downtown businesses to foster development, has already budgeted $1.54 million a year for similar repairs and upgrades at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions football team.

23rd in attendance

At Comerica Park, tickets for the new seats will cost $15 apiece during regular season games, Russell said. The ballpark needed seats in that price range, and the location of the seats in right field was perfect, he said. Tickets range from $5 to $60.

Outside of adding seats for the All-Star Game, they'll be needed once the Tigers become more popular, said Gary Brown, a consultant for the downtown authority.

"One day, we will have sell-out crowds at Comerica for sure," Brown told the DDA board of directors Wednesday.

Under the Comerica Park management agreement, the DDA must approve all improvements, whether or not they are paid for by the Tigers. Last year, the 40,000-seat Comerica Park drew 1.9 million fans, 23rd among 30 teams in Major League Baseball. In an average game last year, the park had 16,000 empty seats. The year before, only three teams drew fewer fans, according to a Web site operated by the league.

Work already has begun on the seats, which will replace the bullpens in right field. The bullpens will move to the gap created in left-field at the beginning of last season, when the fence was moved.

The new seats should be ready by opening day, April 4.

Birru said the county's investment will pay for itself this year alone. He said the extra seats would generate $1.3 million in spillover downtown spending during the week of the All-Star Game. That amounts to $1,368 of spending per spectator.

"We own the stadium and need to enhance our investment," Birru said. "Having 950 more seats brings more people to downtown to buy food and beverages and shop."

In recent years, several studies have cast doubt on how much spillover spending stadiums actually generate. A 1996 study by the Reason Public Policy Institute of Los Angeles concluded "professional sports have been oversold by professional sports boosters as a catalyst for economic development."

"There's an extent that the public benefits from our partnership with the Tigers," said Commissioner Gary Woronchak, R-Dearborn. "There's a limit to that extent and we have to make sure there's some public good."

Commissioner Keith D. Williams, D-Detroit, said the county felt obligated to help the Tigers because the cancellation of the National Hockey League season this winter hurt the economy downtown. Ilitch also owns the Red Wings.

"Anytime we can help, we should," Williams said. "They need capacity for the All-Star Game, and anything we can do to make Detroit look good, we should."

Part of economic growth plan

The seats are part of a complicated deal to facilitate growth near Comerica Park and Ford Field. The county also transferred development rights of a strip of land north of Ford Field. The Lions are expected to build a $20 million, 1,200-space garage atop an existing lot, Birru said.

The garage will accommodate workers at Price Waterhouse Coopers accounting firm that is relocating 400 workers to a building near Ford Field next year. The county also is amid negotiations with private developers to build a hotel nearby, Birru said.

"This is an investment, trust me," he said. "This is not coming to the rescue for the Tigers."

Wayne County is paying for the seats with money it has already designated toward the Detroit Super Bowl XL Host Committee. The private committee refunded $500,000 to the county after the state pitched in an identical amount, Birru said. The state's money came from a surplus of taxes used to support Cobo Center.

Spending public money on sports stadiums in Detroit's is not new.

Under the concession and management agreement signed between the Tigers and the DDA, the downtown group puts $250,000 a year into a repair and improvement fund for Comerica Park.

In a few weeks, the Tigers are expected to ask the DDA for even more money from the repair fund for this year's upgrades, Brown said.

Starting in 2010, the Tigers would then be required to pay into the maintenance fund, although the DDA must still approve all improvements.

The arrangement was necessary to ensure Comerica Park never falls into disrepair, Brown said.

Meanwhile the city is still paying for the upkeep of Tiger Stadium on Michigan and Trumbull. Last year, that tab was at least $200,000.

You can reach Joel Kurth at (313) 222-2610 or jkurth@detnews.com.