Improved oversight of a Detroit Tigers ticket donation program is providing more assurance that kids in the city are being taken to free ball games, according to Detroit Downtown Development Authority members who pushed for changes last year.
A DDA committee received a Monday update on how the donation program fared in 2023, the first year in more than two decades that a formal agreement determined how tickets should be distributed. A total of 50,000 tickets worth nearly $2 million were given away, just over half were used.
Steve Ogden, chair of the DDA’s Tigers ticket donation committee, said the usage rate must go up in future years but he’s happy to see more tickets being put in the hands of Detroit children.
“Because there was no committee (in the past), the Tigers went forward and made decisions about distribution to get tickets out the door and a lot of them went to places outside of Wayne County and (outside) the city of Detroit,” Ogden said on Monday. “We didn’t know that until we brought everyone back together and recognized that swaths of tickets were going out that didn’t meet the intended criteria.”
The Tigers have been required to donate 50,000 tickets per year to children since moving into Comerica Park through a 1998 Concession and Management Agreement with the DDA and the Detroit Wayne County Stadium Authority.
In the two decades since Comerica Park opened in 2000, the Tigers distributed the tickets without a formal agreement in place. Before a formal plan was approved, the Tigers weren’t required to distribute a specific number of tickets to Detroit or Wayne County residents.
The 2023 ticket donation agreement requires the Tigers to donate 40,000 tickets annually to Detroit organizations serving low-to-moderate income youth and 10,000 tickets for similar organizations serving youth in Wayne County.
Data shared by the Tigers on Monday show a shortfall for Detroit kids — 37,929 tickets went to Detroit organizations and 12,071 tickets went to Wayne County organizations. The presentation did not include information about how many tickets went to low-income youth.
The agreement does not include any penalties for not meeting its provisions.
A 2018 report shows many tickets were distributed to Detroit children in the past. That year, 38% of the tickets were given to organizations representing the city of Detroit and 19% of the tickets went to organizations in Wayne County.
Ogden said local children should benefit most from the program because Detroit and Wayne County residents put up a significant amount of public financing for Comerica Park.
DDA members were impressed Monday to learn that the usage rate increased from 43% in 2022 to 53% last year. The 2023 agreement also sets aside 4,000 tickets with inclusive extras like complimentary transportation, food and beverages or merchandise. Tigers representatives said this made it easier for local schools and summer camp programs to participate.
“The program is starting to mature,” Ogden said. “What you’ll find is, the more successful the program is, the more kids will hear about it and the more organizations would want to participate.”
Jon Perry, manager of outreach and engagement for the Tigers’ community impact team, said weather and transportation are among the biggest barriers to organizations using the tickets on game day. A survey of 198 organizations collected responses from 148 groups, which will be used to make adjustments as the program continues.
“The nature of what we’re trying to do here is help organizations that struggle, that don’t have the infrastructure in place or the leadership to carry this out,” Perry said.
Organizations can apply to receive free tickets for the upcoming season starting Feb. 26. The home opener is scheduled for April 5. Community Impact Director Kevin Brown said the Tigers are building better relationships with Detroit youth groups.
“The key here is identifying organizations that ultimately have the ability to bring kids and chaperones to games and then our organization working with them to make sure that that’s a successful experience,” Brown said.
There were 154 Detroit organizations and 80 Wayne County organizations that received tickets in 2023. The Tigers referred a request for a breakdown of those organizations to the DDA, which did not provide an immediate response.
A third of tickets were released to Detroit Public Schools Community District in 2022.
Ogden said the 2023 agreement was created in part thanks to the tenacity of John Lauve, a Holly resident who frequents city meetings and was a harsh critic of the Ilitch family’s District Detroit development plan, which includes projects adjacent to Comerica Park. Lauve often argues Detroit-area officials do not hold the Ilitch organization accountable to commitments it’s made with public bodies.
He can be found making the case for greater transparency about where the 50,000 tickets are distributed in DDA meetings going back to at least 2017.
“We were able to mobilize,” Ogden said. “The board is pleased by the level of cooperation, the transparency, the fact that we have this open line of communication with (the Tigers) that didn’t exist before. We had some acrimonious meetings in the past. It always felt contentious. The cooperation alone is miles from where we were.”
Through the agreement, the Tigers also committed to track data, study why tickets go unused and strengthen partnerships with organizations that are successful. Brown said those provisions provide more structure for reporting information back to the DDA and ensuring transparency.
“That agreement had a few elements that are helping us grow this initiative,” Brown said.
