Joker Marchant Stadium is a beautiful sight to see, with its Mediterranean-style architecture and well-landscaped outside. It’s the showpiece of the Tigertown complex, surrounded by beautiful woods, and has hosted Tigers spring training games for the last five decades. The team has been training in Lakeland since 1934. (excepting the World War II years of 1943-45). The city and club have had the longest partnership in spring training history. Joker Marchant Stadium was built with concrete construction for just $360,000 in 1966, at a time when other stadiums were being built with structural steel (concrete withstands rust, structural steel does not). The 8,500-seat stadium has had many modifications, the most recent of which took place in 2017. Marcus “Joker” Marchant, a former Lakeland Parks and Recreation Director, provided the inspiration for the name. It is the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers, as well as the regular-season home of Lakeland Flying Tigers and Gulf Coast Tigers minor league affiliates. When it first opened in 1966, the stadium could hold 4,900 people. A bleacher section was erected down the left-field line in 1988, bringing the total number of seats to 7,027. Joker Marchant Stadium was restored in 2002. The state of Florida provided the largest grant, $4.5 million, with the Polk County Tourist Development Council contributing $2 million. The Tigers and the City of Lakeland split the remaining costs of the refurbishment, bringing the total capacity to 8,500. The Lakeland City Commission stated in October 2014 that as part of a new arrangement with the Detroit Tigers, a $37 million repair and enhancement of the 50-year-old stadium will begin in April 2016, following Major League Baseball Spring Training. The Detroit Tigers, the City of Lakeland, and Polk County each contributed a portion of the funding. The City Commission picked two construction firms to handle the project: Barton Malow of Southfield, Michigan, and Rodda Construction of Lakeland.  The Lakeland concession stalls will delight your taste buds. Given that Tigers owner Mike Ilitch controls the pizza brand, the Little Caesars Pizza stand is a perfect match. In addition to the standard hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken sandwiches available at the eight-sided hut on the first base concourse, the stadium menu includes a brat with sauerkraut and a turkey burger. Specialty stalls put up at the rear of the main concourse are where you’ll discover a wide variety of cuisine that isn’t typical of a stadium. The stand on the third-base concourse that offers large turkey legs, pulled pork, and BBQ nachos has been a long-time favorite. The rest of the lineup can change year to year, with a booth selling Flint-style Coney Island dogs being added in 2015. The greatest non-tap beer option in the stadium is at the craft beer bar on the first base side concourse, which provides a modest selection of usual or otherwise popular draft beers (think Miller Lite and Yuengling Lager). Pepsi owns the right to pour drinks from fountains. A spring training game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox drew the greatest crowd in the stadium’s history (10,307) on March 15, 2011.

Click here to see an overview of roofing services we offer in Lakeland, FL area.

Previous Page || Next Page