Report: Duke-Michigan game to be moved from Madison Square Garden to LoanDepot Park

Next season’s non-conference blockbuster game between Duke and Michigan will no longer take place inside Madison Square Garden. The game will now likely take place at LoanDepot Park on Dec. 21, home of the MLB’s Miami Marlins. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander first reported the news.

Per Norlander, the game was moved from NYC to Miami due to a broadcasting dispute with FOX. Duke announced a landmark deal with Amazon Prime in late April, in which Prime which will exclusively broadcast three Blue Devil games (UConn, Michigan, and Gonzaga) next season. Michigan, the reigning National Champions, were one of three opponents announced.

Duke and Michigan, however, had not yet signed a contract at the time of that announcement. This led to immediate pushback from FOX, the Big Ten’s television partner. TV networks own the broadcast rights to conferences’ non-league games, depending on where they are played. The game was announced to be taking place at MSG, which FOX has joint territorial media ownership over. The network flexed its muscle, and now the game will be taking place down South at LoanDepot Park.

Breaking: Next season's big Duke-Michigan game that was initially announced for MSG is being moved, sources told @CBSSports. The teams are finalizing plans to play at the home of the Miami Marlins. Yes, a baseball stadium.

Here's the story behind the saga:https://t.co/tgG0WfPMOC

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) June 3, 2026

“The game is going to be played at the baseball stadium barring something drastic happening,” one source told CBS Sports. “It’s really close to being finalized,” another source said.

College basketball was last played inside MLB stadium in 2022

College basketball is no stranger to being played inside an MLB stadium. In 2022, Wisconsin and Stanford met in a non-conference matchup inside American Family Field, home of the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers. The Badgers came away with a 60-50 win in the Brew City Battle.

Prior to that game, the 1999 Final Four took place inside Tropicana Field, home of the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays. No. 1 seed UConn outlasted No. 4 Ohio State (64-58) and No. 1 Duke (77-74) in Tampa to win its first National Championship in program history

By making the move to broadcast this game in late April, Amazon Sports gets its foot in the door on broadcasting live college sports. Amazon has held the rights to broadcast the NBA since the beginning of the 2025-26 season, has held the rights to the NFL since the 2017 season, and broadcast The Masters for the first time this year.

Last season, No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Duke met on Feb. 21 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Blue Devils, led by a double-double from Naismith Player of the Year Cameron Boozer, came out on top with the 68-63 win. The Wolverines would get the last laugh, however, as they lost just one more game over the remainder of the season (Big Ten Championship against Purdue) en route to their first National Championship since 1989.