Madonna University Football Finds a Home: What the Farmington Hills Deal Means for Livonia's Campus and Western Wayne County

Madonna University's new football program has a permanent home — across the Livonia border in Farmington Hills.

Beginning with the 2026 season, the Crusaders will play at The Hawk community center, at 29995 W. 12 Mile Road in Farmington Hills, under a long-term agreement announced July 14 by Madonna Athletics and the city. That means Madonna's home Saturdays — including visiting teams, families and game-day activity — will be centered in Farmington Hills rather than the city where the university is an anchor institution.

Madonna is a private Catholic Franciscan university with about 2,154 students on an 80-acre suburban campus in Livonia. The university is a significant contributor to education, culture and the regional economy.

The Crusaders are scheduled to open the 2026 season Aug. 29, with their first home game at The Hawk set for Sept. 5. The university announced the program in 2018, launched it in 2020 and played its first games in spring 2021. From 2020 through 2025, Madonna used facilities at Livonia Public Schools and Detroit Catholic Central High School for home games. The Farmington Hills agreement marks the first time the program has a dedicated long-term venue partnership.

The Hawk offers something those rotating arrangements did not: one site with a regulation-size football field, running track, locker rooms, bleachers on both sidelines and a press box, all part of a 245,000-square-foot multipurpose entertainment, recreation and cultural center. The venue already hosts football summer camps, clinics and games involving local college and semi-pro teams, and it partners with NFL Flag Football for youth leagues.

"We're grateful to partner with the Hawk Community Center given its unique resources," Chris Dougherty, president of Madonna University, said. "I'm also thankful to the leadership in our Athletics programs for creating this long-term opportunity, and to the Livonia Public Schools and Detroit Catholic Central High School for the use of their facilities, since the program's inception in 2020."

"By welcoming Madonna's football program to The Hawk, we are strengthening our vision of Farmington Hills as a community where athletes' paths can thrive," Karen Mondora, acting city manager of Farmington Hills, said. "This partnership enhances community connections and opens new avenues for residents, families and student-athletes to share meaningful experiences."

The move comes after Madonna's earlier plan for a 5,000-seat athletic complex on the former Ladywood High School property in Livonia fell apart. The project, planned with Gold Star Detroit FC, was intended to open in fall 2023 as Madonna football's permanent home, with support from Livonia Mayor Dennis Wright.

That project was terminated in July 2023 because of issues outside the university's control, which Madonna did not publicly detail. "The University has done everything possible to make the stadium dream a reality, however, because of issues outside of our control, we were unable to do so," Noel Emenhiser, director of athletics at Madonna University, said.

Afterward, Madonna continued using Livonia Public Schools facilities, including Franklin, Stevenson and Churchill high schools. Livonia has several high school stadiums that exceed 1,000 seats: Franklin has 2,558, Stevenson has 2,408 and Churchill has 2,264. But the city's broader sports infrastructure is built around indoor domes and multi-sport training complexes. Its largest dedicated sports venues — the 110,500-square-foot Trinity Health Sports Dome and the Livonia Athletic District, with more than 95,000 square feet — are designed primarily for multi-sport training and youth leagues, not spectator capacity.

The Hawk presents a different model. Centrally positioned near Madonna's campus, the venue minimizes travel distance while offering a turnkey stadium with integrated locker rooms, press box and multipurpose center amenities that Livonia's high school fields and training facilities do not provide in a single package. Farmington Hills positioned The Hawk as a ready-made, long-term solution for college and semi-pro football — a municipal athletics strategy Livonia has not replicated.

The discussions that produced the agreement took place exclusively between Madonna and Farmington Hills officials; Livonia officials were not part of the negotiations. No Livonia municipal alternative emerged in the three years between the planned stadium's termination and the Farmington Hills deal. The decision raises questions for Livonia residents about whether the city has the appetite or capacity to invest in sports infrastructure that can compete with Oakland County neighbors — and what the departure of Madonna football signals for future partnerships with its anchor university.