Joker Marchant Stadium

Joker Marchant Stadium is a baseball field located in Lakeland, Florida. The stadium, opened in 1966, was renovated in 2003, holds 8,500 people, and was named after local resident and former Parks and Recreation Director Joker Marchant. It is the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers, as well as the regular season home for the minor league affiliates Lakeland Flying Tigers and Gulf Coast Tigers. On March 15, 2011, the largest crowd in the stadium's history (10,307 people) watched a spring training game between the Tigers and the Boston Red Sox.

The stadium's capacity was originally 4,900 in 1966 when it opened. In 1988, a bleacher section was added down the left field line, increasing seating capacity to 7,027. Fifteen years later, a stadium version of Extreme Makeover occurred when a modern Joker Marchant Stadium was unveiled following 10 months and $10 million worth of work on it after a nationally renowned architectural firm (HKS) designed and a locally based contractor (Rodda Construction) built what four entities paid for. The State of Florida's $4.5 million grant was the biggest financing chuck, while the Polk County Tourist Development Council chipped in $2 million. The remainder of the renovation’s cost was paid for by the Tigers and City of Lakeland, increasing capacity to its present figure of 8,500.