DETROIT ? The All-Star game will return to Detroit in 2005, for the first time in more than 30 years.

“It’s been a long time,” commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday during a news conference at Comerica Park. “It’s really been too long.”

The announcement did not come as a surprise because Selig said last year that the Tigers were “a prime candidate” to play host to the game, last played in Detroit in 1971. Also, the All-Star game frequently is assigned to new ballparks. Comerica Park opened in 2000.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that Detroit was going to be the home of the 2005 All-Star game,” Selig said. “This was the one that was so obvious. I finally decided we were going to do this.”

The All-Star game is the latest in a series of high-profile sporting events awarded to the area in recent years.

The 2006 Super Bowl will be played at Ford Field, next to Comerica Park, about six months after the All-Star game.

“We’re delivering a 1-2 punch at the right time,” Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said.

The 2004 Ryder Cup will be held at Oakland Hills in suburban Detroit. The 2009 NCAA Final Four also will be played at Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions. The 2004 All-Star game will be in Houston.

In addition to the 1971 All-Star game — memorable because Reggie Jackson homered off the light tower at Tiger Stadium — Detroit played host to the game in 1941 and 1951.

All major league teams must have one All-Star representative each season, and the Tigers have had only one in each of the past nine years.