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Dallas-based Comerica Bank said Friday that it will exercise an option to extend its Comerica Park naming rights deal an additional five years, taking it through 2034.
The original deal, signed between the Detroit Tigers and the bank when it was still based in Detroit in 1998, is a 30-year contract valued at $66 million that began in 2000.
It's unclear if the Tigers will get additional annual money out of the extension. The current deal is estimated at $2.2 million annually, and was set to expire Dec. 31, 2029.
The naming rights extension was announced Friday afternoon by Comerica Bank-Michigan President Michael Ritchie during the Detroit Tigers Winter Caravan stop at Comerica Bank's Auburn Hills Operations Center. The extension option was available under the terms of the initial agreement, the bank said.
A company spokeswoman said the bank opted to trigger the option now as a pro-Detroit business decision.
"We decided to exercise it now as a showing of support for Detroit and the Detroit Tigers," Kathy Pitton, a vice president of communications for Comerica, said via email. "Our Comerica Park sponsorship has increased our name recognition in our primary markets as well as across the country. It's also given us an opportunity to deepen our relationships with customers and to support the revitalization of the city in which...