One of the most anticipated nonconference college basketball games of next season is moving from one of the sport's most iconic venues to a baseball stadium more than a thousand miles away.
The Duke-Michigan game scheduled for December 21 will be played at loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, rather than Madison Square Garden, according to CBS Sports. Contracts have not yet been signed, but sources described the move as close to 100 percent finalized.
"The game is going to be played at the baseball stadium barring something drastic happening," one source told CBS Sports.
A third source confirmed the game's direction while noting there were still critical final steps to complete.
The move stems directly from a broadcast rights dispute that followed Duke's announcement of a multi-year deal with Amazon. Under that arrangement, Amazon will pay Duke many millions of dollars in exchange for a package of three premium nonconference games. Duke is set to face UConn in Las Vegas, Gonzaga in Detroit, and Michigan in Miami. The problem was that Michigan and Duke had not signed a contract when the Amazon deal went public, and Fox pushed back immediately.
Fox is the Big Ten's primary television partner and holds joint territorial media rights to games played in states where Big Ten teams are based, as well as select adjacent states. Bringing Amazon into the equation cut across those arrangements.
"TV is paying a lot of money for this," one source told CBS Sports, referring to the Big Ten's media deal that runs through 2030 and pays out north of $1 billion each year. "Schools got paid, the Big Ten got paid. This is Fox flexing its muscle and standing on principle."
Madison Square Garden hosted Duke against Illinois in February 2024, a game aired by Fox. Last season, Duke and Michigan played in Washington, D.C., on ESPN. CBS also holds Big Ten rights and factors into the broadcast picture.
Michigan is the reigning national champion. Duke was last season's top overall NCAA Tournament seed. Both programs are expected to enter next season as top-five teams nationally. The December 21 date falls in the final stretch of nonconference play, just before Christmas.
The game now heads to southeastern Florida, where a basketball court will be set up inside a Major League Baseball stadium.
