With the Grapefruit League barely underway, tickets to the Detroit Tigers’ home opener have already sold out.

However, some fans are crying foul because tickets never went on sale on an individual basis, and in fact some fans who thought they had Opening Day tickets no longer do. All Tigers full season ticket holders are guaranteed seats to the opening day game, but until recently, fans who purchased the partial season 27 game package were also given three opening day tickets. However, the Tigers said the team was forced to change this policy as demand unexpectedly exploded. These fans will be given extra tickets to a game where the Tigers face the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox instead.

As an additional consolation, these fans will be entered into a drawing for playoff tickets, but again, tickets cannot be guaranteed because of the large numbers of fans who have purchased the 27 game package.

The secondary ticket market has become the only place to purchase the coveted opening day tickets. StubHub, official partner of Major League Baseball, is currently selling Opening Day tickets for as much as $1,250.

After years of underperforming, the Tigers are now hot and fans are all over it. The first weekend that single game tickets were made available, 202,000 tickets were sold. Over the same time span last year, the Tigers only sold 87,000 tickets, according to published reports.

Perhaps the spike in interest should come as no surprise after the Tigers’ offseason signing of all-stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Fans may be hoping to see the start of a championship run, remembering their team’s World Series defeat at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

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