Michigan wants to move UConn game to MetLife

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon announced Friday at a press conference that the Wolverines are negotiating with Connecticut to move a future matchup between the two schools to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Connecticut’s stadium, Rentschler Field, only holds a capacity of 40,000 fans. Moving the game to MetLife, home of the New York Jets and Giants, will enable an additional 42,500 fans to see the game in person.

Michigan is slated to play at Connecticut on Sept. 21, 2013 as a return game for the Huskies season opening visit to Michigan Stadium in 2010. Brandon was not involved in scheduling this home-and-home series and has since been trying to negotiate a way for more Michigan fans to attend the game. His new philosophy is to only schedule away games where a large amount of Michigan alumni are located or at a location where Wolverines fans would like traveling to. Obviously, MetLife makes more sense on both fronts.

Brandon also announced that it will pay BYU $1.3 million to play at Michigan Stadium Sept. 26, 2015. This is the most Michigan has ever paid a visiting football program, and it is rumored that Colorado will receive close to that price in 2016 when it visits Michigan Stadium. The game against BYU was scheduled after Notre Dame voided its contract to play against the Wolverines from 2015 through 2017 after agreeing to partially join the ACC in football.