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Michigan, Western Michigan to open 2026 season in Frankfurt, Germany

pBCHVlJX_400x400by: Brett McMurphy07/25/25Brett_McMurphy
NCAA Football: ReliaQuest Bowl-Alabama at Michigan
Dec 31, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Michigan Wolverines take the field for the ReliaQuest Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Michigan and Western Michigan will open the 2026 season on Saturday, Aug. 29, in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, sources told On3.

The game will be held at Deutsche Bank Park, a 55,000-seat retractable roof soccer stadium that has hosted five NFL games.

“I am excited about the football and educational experience this game could provide for our players,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “We are always looking for unique opportunities to expose our student-athletes to other cultures. In the last 10 years, our program has been to Italy, France and South Africa and this game would provide another chance to grow our international fanbase.”

This will be Michigan’s first international game in the program’s 145-year history. It will also be the fifth college football game held in Germany, but the first between FBS programs and the first in Frankfurt.

“The University of Michigan is one of the few worldwide brands in college athletics and the interest in playing an international game would be unique,” Michigan AD Warde Manuel added. “This would be a great opportunity to teach ‘Go Blue’ to a new group of fans in Germany.”

Michigan will become only the sixth Big Ten member (at the time of the game) to play overseas. The others: Northwestern vs. Nebraska in 2022 in Dublin, Ireland; Penn State played UCF in 2014 in Dublin; and Wisconsin vs. Michigan State in 1993 in Tokyo.

The MAC has had several teams play in bowl games outside the United States, but Western Michigan will be the first MAC team to play an international regular season game. The Broncos have played outside the United States twice before in the 2015 Bahamas Bowl and the 2007 International Bowl in Toronto.

Next year’s contest between UM and WMU was originally scheduled to be played at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 5, 2026, before being moved to Frankfurt. It will be the 29th meeting between the Wolverines and a MAC opponent, but the first not played in Michigan Stadium.

Michigan has won all eight meetings against the Broncos, the last game in 2021.

Next year, TCU and North Carolina also will open the season in Europe. The Horned Frogs and Tar Heels will play on Aug. 29, 2026 in Dublin, Ireland.

Also known as Waldstadion, Deutsche Bank Park most recently held two NFL regular season games in 2023. Deutsche Bank Park is the home field for Eintracht Frankfurt of the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German soccer league.