2012 Renovations to Comerica Park Include new Scoreboard

TigerFest put on hiatus for one year
Renovations to Comerica Park necessitate cancellation
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 12/14/11 10:30 AM EST

DETROIT -- Progress usually takes time. Sometimes, it takes more than that. This is one of those times for the Tigers at Comerica Park, which is about to get some improvements for 2012.

While Tigers fans can look forward to an improved ballpark atmosphere next season, including upgrades to the enormous left-field scoreboard, the work required to get it done is going to take some patience through the long Michigan winter. Much as the Tigers hoped they could go ahead with TigerFest through it all, it has now become clear they can't hold it at their home. As a result, the club is putting its annual winter warmup event on a one-year hiatus, though their Winter Caravan will still go on as planned.

Tickets for TigerFest, which would've been scheduled for Jan. 21, normally would have gone on sale around this time. It was a difficult decision for the Tigers, who have sold out the event every January for the past several years. But the combination of ballpark construction work and a busy weekend for facilities around Metro Detroit left them out of options.

TigerFest moved to Comerica Park in 2007 and has been a sellout event ever since. It was a bold move to try to hold the event in a largely outdoor facility during the heart of winter, and it has had its share of bone-chilling days along the way. The Tigers have made it work by using most of the available indoor areas in the park, save for the suites and press box, while covering and heating large parts of the concourse.

When it all comes together, there isn't much room to spare.

"The intention was to hold a TigerFest in 2012," Tigers vice president of communications Ron Colangelo said, "but it became apparent there were going to be space limitations. And when we realized there would be safety concerns, we decided it was in the best interest to postpone the event."

The upgrades to Comerica Park are among the biggest since it opened in 2000. The Tigers opened a new retail store called "The D Shop" last spring, and retail sales jumped 26 percent over the previous year. The success earned the team recognition as MLB's Club Retailer of the Year.

Details on the scoreboard upgrades are expected to be announced soon. The scoreboard is largely the same as when the ballpark opened, and has shown its age at times over the last few years.

At the same time, new scoreboards, including huge video boards and improved graphics, have had major effects on ballparks around the Majors. A giant video board and LED scoreboard was one of the highlights of a massive renovation of Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City before the 2009 season, and helped modernize one of baseball's older ballparks. The Phillies updated their scoreboard last offseason with an HD board that stands as the National League's largest.

Working on as large of a scoreboard as Comerica Park -- still one of the biggest in the big leagues -- takes up space and time around the ballpark for new parts and the equipment to install them. That's where the Tigers, who have held a fanfest event for about the last 15 years, encountered challenges, then concerns.

Joe Louis Arena housed TigerFest for four years before the event moved to Comerica Park. However, the Red Wings are at home there for games on back-to-back Saturdays, Jan. 14 and 21, around the weekends TigerFest normally takes place. Cobo Center hosts the North American International Auto Show from Jan. 14-22, and the Lions' chances to make the playoffs leaves Ford Field a possibility for football games in January.

The Tigers Winter Caravan, which was in the planning stages well before TigerFest came into question, will take place on Jan. 19-20 and include several stops around metro Detroit with most of the Tigers' roster expected to attend. That schedule should be released in the coming weeks. Planning for the caravan is completely separate from TigerFest, and the Tigers don't plan on extending the caravan to Jan. 21.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

New scoreboard in works at Comerica Park
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 02/16/12 12:00 AM EST

DETROIT -- The sellout crowd at Comerica Park will roar on Opening Day, taking in its first sights of Prince Fielder in a Tigers uniform and Justin Verlander back on the mound. The fans will take in the start of a new season, and they'll bask in whatever sunlight they can find on an early April afternoon in Michigan.

Even if an overcast day shrouds the sun, though, they'll still have some light to follow. Because if the Tigers' renovation designs go to plan, the scoreboard that looms over left field should be beaming.

Comerica's newest feature, which will boast 6,000 square feet of high-definition video and graphics, is poised to become the fourth-biggest video board in Major League Baseball. And as workers put together the new board on the corner of Brush and Adams, it's the biggest project the stadium has seen -- aside from the team itself -- since the Tigers moved in the fences and moved the bullpens in the mid 2000s.

It's a big enough project that the Tigers had to cancel their annual FanFest event in January out of safety concerns around the ballpark. By all appearances, it should be worth the wait.

The scope of the project was apparent a while ago by the sight of an empty scoreboard structure. All of the boards, advertisements and lighting were stripped out, and even the ceramic Tigers that stood atop the board were taken down and sent out for treatment. The new board will be assembled in the coming weeks, with plans to have everything together by the end of March.

When it makes its public debut April 5, it'll be light years -- pardon the pun -- ahead of the technology it replaced.

Most of the previous scoreboard dates back to the first days of the ballpark, debuting in 2000 as the largest scoreboard in the Majors at the time. Much of the lighting was based on bulbs, which was common around the big leagues then, with a 1000-foot video board for footage and replays.

However, once vibrant multi-color LED scoreboards became available a few years later, teams began updating. The Tigers added LED boards along the facing of the second deck and the right-field fence in 2007, but were one of the few teams left still using the old-style scoreboards.

The new scoreboard, built and programmed by Daktronics, will be entirely LED. It will be wider than the old board, and it'll actually be raised approximately 16 feet on the current structure so that it's less obstructed from fans by the left-field upper deck.

Even the Tigers lettering on the top of the scoreboard will be dynamic, state-of-the-art LED, allowing for special effects and color changes that should outshine other big league parks. Gone will be the 22-foot block lettering TIGERS, replaced by cursive lettering that will tower 36 feet over the scoreboard. The ceramic Tigers will return.

The smaller board hanging below the main board, where pitch counts and radar-gun readings appear, will also be replaced. The new version will be twice as long, allowing for more information. Add in new boards along the club level where the line score usually appears, and all the boards in the park will be LED.

Daktronics is an industry leader, as its integrated supersystems (video and scoring) are featured at 22 of 30 Major League ballparks.

Duane McLean, Tigers executive vice president of business operations, and team vice president for park operations Michael Healy listed a few reasons behind the upgrade. First and foremost, it will provide a better entertainment experience for fans, both with stats and video. It's expected to provide increased visibility for advertising opportunities for sponsors.

"Every year there are discussions with ownership to assess how to upgrade the ballpark and enhance the fan experience," McLean said. "The goal is to provide the best in-park atmosphere possible for the fans. The new HD video board and system integration is a significant upgrade to Comerica Park."

Another advantage is the chance for the Tigers to expand their video presence at the park. Four stationary cameras, plus a roving camera, will be installed. In addition, the upgrades include replacing all of the 400 television screens in the ballpark with HDTV flat screens, from the club suites to the press box to the concourse.

Add up the changes, and they mean a vastly different look to the game, on the field and around it. With the kind of numbers this team could put up, the timing couldn't be much better.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Tigers to unveil new 6,000-square-foot scoreboard
3:02 PM, February 16, 2012

By Anthony Fenech
Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

The Detroit Tigers have been vague about Comerica Park’s stripped-down scoreboard.

“If you walk by the ballpark , you can see that there are things being done to the scoreboard,” general manager Dave Dombrowski said last week. “I will tell you that there will be some changes. I’m not yet at liberty to discuss they will be.”

Today, those changes came to light, as Daktronics Inc. announced that the Tigers selected them to design, manufacture and install a video-screen upgrade to the leftfield scoreboard.

The LED screen will be 48 feet high by 128 feet wide. At more than 6,000 square feet, it will be the largest video screen in the state and among the largest in the major leagues.

Other changes include different “Tigers” lettering on top of the scoreboard and a new LED scoreboard to track pitchers' statistics.

“Every year, there are discussions with ownership to assess how to upgrade the ballpark and enhance the fan experience,” Duane McLean, Tigers executive vice president of business operations, said in a released statement. “The goal is to provide the best in-park atmosphere possible for the fans.”

On top of the scoreboard, “Tigers” will be in a script font, stretching horizontally. In the past, the team name appeared in all caps, arching across the top.

Below the scoreboard, a 5-feet-high-by-100-feet-wide LED scoreboard primarily will be used for pitching stats, pitch counts and pitch speed. LED upgrades also will be made to the scoreboards sandwiched between the suite levels down the first- and third-base lines.

“The new HD video board and system integration is a significant upgrade to Comerica Park,” McLean said in the release.

The 12-foot tiger statues that stand on top of the leftfield scoreboard currently are being refurbished in Milford, Conn.

Construction and safety issues were the reason the Tigers canceled their annual January fan festival at Comerica Park, which opened in 2000.

Comerica Park, 48201
Official MLBlog of the Detroit Tigers front office.

Scoreboard Construction
Posted on February 16, 2012 at 9:36 pm

The Tigers are working hard to complete the construction of the new scoreboard for Opening Day. The old board has been taken apart and today the first new pieces are being installed. Take a look at a few photos from the construction.

February 28, setting sun illuminates Ford Field
by Lowell on DetroitYES

March 6, The display screen is completed and the surrounding panels are nearing completion. Can't wait for it to light up!
by Lowell on DetroitYES

March 8, The display screen is completed and testing is going on.
by Lowell on DetroitYES



Now batting Miguel Cabrera. Oops we have a little issue with a double cap.

FROM DETROITYES.COM
March 15. The Olde English D is shining. Workmen in the upper tiers continue completion and projection testing continue.

The Tigers Return...

March 16. The tigers return above the scoreboard. Screen operators
project the workmen place the second tiger in position. [Great pic
Thredmission!]

OLD SCOREBOARD


NEW SCOREBOARD ALMOST DONE... AS POSTED ON TIGERS FACEBOOK PAGE

March 30, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Tigers' new state-of-the-art scoreboard up and running

By Tony Paul
The Detroit News

Detroit— With one week until the Tigers return home to open the 2012 season, Comerica Park workers are feverishly working to put the final touches on a series of impressive ballpark upgrades.

The biggest project, the installment of the state-of-the-art video board, is nearly complete. The 6,000-square-foot, high-definition screen was up and running Friday morning during the Tigers' announcement of a business partnership with the "Pure Michigan" campaign.

After the press conference, the Tigers subbed out the "Pure Michigan" logo on the scoreboard with action videos. To say the least, fans are in for a treat.

It puts to shame the old 1,008-square-foot video board, with was to the right of two out-of-date panels that used only bulbs to display statistical information.

Those panels are gone. And so, hopefully, are the Atari-like graphics, like the clapping hands.

Work continues on the scoreboard, which still features 10 or more advertisements.

The two mammoth fiberglass Tigers are back in place high atop the scoreboard after getting some touch-ups in Connecticut this offseason. Missing still, though, is the "s" on the end of the script "Tigers" that will sit between the left-field light towers.

The script "Tigers" replaces the blockier-type "TIGERS." The script will serve a dual purpose, with the panels in the lettering also serving as an extension, of sorts, of the video board. The Tigers will show videos in the script "Tigers" — like the waving flags and fireworks during the national anthem. The team also could turn it pink during breast cancer awareness days, or red during the Red Wings playoff run.

Late Friday morning, the Tigers had it lit up.

Technology upgrades are elsewhere in the ballpark. Underneath the new video board, which will be the largest in the state of Michigan, is a larger, high-def panel to show pitch speeds and pitch counts.

Throughout the ballpark, flat-panel televisions have replaced the old tube screens, too.

The Tigers also are wrapping up upgrades to all their suites. In them, they're renovating the bathrooms and installing new carpeting, furniture and state-of-the-art food-heating equipment.

In other news:

* The Tigers already have sold close to 22,000 season tickets, or nearly 1.8 million tickets. And that doesn't include all the single-game tickets they've sold. To put that in perspective, just in season tickets, that's more than the Tigers drew all of 2002 or '03, and more than five major league teams drew all of 2011.

* Tickets for Opening Day obviously are sold out. Tickets to Game 2 of the season, Saturday, April 7, against the Red Sox, are going fast, too, said Duane McLean, the Tigers senior vice president of business operations.

* Friday's partnership announcement will put "Pure Michigan" 150 feet up on the right-field light tower, as well as on the benches in both dugouts.

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From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120330/SPORTS0104/203300428#ixzz1qdyyOAX2

Pure Michigan is coming to Comerica Park
10:21 AM, March 30, 2012

By Ellen Creager
Detroit Free Press Travel Writer

Fans at Comerica Park this summer will be reminded to be a tourist in their own home state.

Travel Michigan officials announced this morning that Pure Michigan ads are going up in the park, both as a large logo on a light tower in right field and on dugout bench backs and railings for the Tigers and visiting squads.

The ads will continue for three seasons.

The Pure Michigan campaign, introduced in 2006, is one of the most famous state tourist slogans in history, along with Virginia is for Lovers and I (Heart) NY.

The Pure Michigan web site, www.michigan.org, is the most visited state tourism website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.