SI: Comerica An Elite Park
By Blake VandeBunte • Apr 30th, 2008 • Category: Comerica ParkSports Illustrated and baseball fans in America have spoken and the best place to see a baseball game in the country is at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. As Tiger fans we shouldn’t take this too hard as Comerica Park checked in at number four on the list of best ballparks in the big leagues. SI offered a poll in March to visitors on its site to rate their home ball park. So this is pretty much a fan vote and the results will show how satisfied fans are with their ballpark. They were asked to rate their club/stadium on ten categories:
- Affordability
- Food
- Team Quality
- Tradition
- Atmosphere
- Fan IQ
- Hospitality
- Promotions
- Traffic
- Neighborhood
Fans who have attended Comerica Park will not be surprised to see how the Tigers fared in these categories. The top rated category was “Team Quality” where they had the highest mark in baseball. This says to me that as long as our team is decent, Tiger fans love their Tigers. The second highest mark was on “Atmosphere” where Comerica ranked 4th in baseball.
Where does Comerica Park struggle? The lowest ranking was in “Traffic” where Comerica visitors ranked the Tigers 21st in all of baseball (30 teams). The Tigers next lowest ranking was 17th, a mark they received for “Hospitality”.
For the most part I agree with marks Comerica received from Tiger fans and visitors. Anyone who took part in the discussion over at Detroit Tigers Weblog about Comerica would probably agree with these rankings as well as they appear to match up for the most part.
Some surprises on the list:
- The Pirates and their new park ranked #3 overall. I have heard that is a wonderful stadium, but the team is just awful. They were the lowest rated in “Team Quality” and finished in 3rd anyway. That tells you how nice the park must be.
- The Red Sox ( you know, EVERYONE’S team) finished 21st on the list. They finished last in “Affordability” and “Promotions”. That’s a pretty annoying combo if your a Sox fan. You pay tons of money just to get in and there are weak door prizes. At least you’ve won two of the last four World Series. The average price of a ticket to a Red Sox game is $48.80.
- The lowly Kansas City Royals check in at #12. Their fans rank their ball park as having the most fair prices. They also ranked 8th in “Food” and 2nd in “Hospitality”.
- The New York Yankees didn’t fare much better than the Boston Red Sox since they are ranked #20 on this list. The only team with pricier tickets is the Red Sox. They also finished very close to the bottom on “Food” and “Hospitality”. Limited hospitality in New York City? Get out of here!!
Anyway, the list a decent read if you want to look it over. For Detroit Tigers Weblogs discussion on Comerica click here. For the SI rankings, click here.
Blake VandeBunte is a posting fiend.
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Yeah, man, it costs like 8 bucks to go to a Royals game! Bitchin’! Plus you can get that good Kansas City barbecue.
I have been to Progressive field and it is a nice place to see a game. It is much like Tiger Stadium where it feels small anywhere that you sit. Also, I am glad that Comerica ranked so high. I was sad to see Tiger Stadium go but, I really like watching a game at Comerica. There are good seats everywhere.
Some of these statistics are a bit weird to me - the Brewers are the eighth best team in quality? Really? I checked - last time in the playoffs: 1982 as an AL division winner. They have never won their division in the NL. The only team to not make the playoffs since the last time the Brewers were there is the TB Rays. And their fans rank them eighth. Not sure whether that tells you more about the lack of high expectations or how poor these metrics are.
For me, my favorite is still Camden Yards. Petco Park in SD and Mile High in Denver are really nice parks too. KC is a cut below. RFK was horrible (the one the Nats had rated from last year, I will see the new stadium Saturday for the first time for a game). And I like the old time parks like Tiger Stadium and Wrigley. Still need to get back for a game at Comerica.