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According to the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham the owners of the Boston Red Sox are actively searching to bring college football back to Fenway Park. The news isn't good for Boston College, as it appears that John Henry would like to bring rival Notre Dame and UConn to the historic baseball stadium:
Talks are in the early stages, according to sources involved in the discussions. But UConn officials feel the idea has merit and Notre Dame may be willing to shift a home game to Boston.
Red Sox executives said in March that they were looking for a high-profile game to play at Fenway Park. The Huskies and Fighting Irish would fit their blueprint on several levels.
UConn, one of three FBS teams in New England, has regional appeal and is only 85 miles from Fenway.
Notre Dame has a national following and would bring a national television audience to the game. The Irish have at least one opening on their 2014 schedule.
Just looking at the Fighting Irish's schedule this game makes little sense. They are already committed to five games against the ACC, Navy, and USC. That leaves five games left to schedule with a bevy of games that ND historically plays including Purdue, Michigan and Stanford. Also the Irish already have games scheduled against Temple, Northwestern, Arizona State, and Rice. If the Irish were to schedule this UConn game, that would mean they would have to cancel a game they already committed to. Not unheard of, but something Notre Dame would still need to do.
You have to wonder if this news was purposely leaked by the Fenway Group in order to push buttons at BC. As we all know, Gene DeFilippo is on his way out, and scheduling a game at Fenway would create a major splash for the new administration. Could BC attempt to get the USC game at Fenway? Or maybe another scheduled game? That remains to be seen.