Found this story that goes back to 2008 which states that the General Assembly okay'd the deal:
UConn v. Notre Dame Update: General Assembly Clears Path to South Bend
April 24, 2008 by
Dan Fitzgerald 10 Comments
Under the gold dome of the state capitol,
state legislators and UConn officials announced an agreement that clears the way for UConn to play under
the golden dome, at the University of Notre Dame. A contract between Notre Dame and UConn has not been finalized. However, the General Assembly has given its blessing for UConn to enter into a contract under which UConn’s “home” games will not be played at Rentschler Field, but at either the new Giants Stadium or Gillette Stadium.
The agreement between UConn and the General Assembly included shortening the length of the contract with Notre Dame from ten years to seven years. (There will actually be two contracts with Notre Dame: a contract for a single game on November 21, 2009; and a contract for a six-game series between 2011 and 2017). The rationale was that a shorter series would provide the opportunity to renegotiate a second series, during which
Notre Dame might agree to play in Connecticut.
“If there’s a 10-game series, the window of opportunity to play at Rentschler is zero. Scaling it back to six years, think it leaves the window open a little bit for a Rentschler game.”
-Rep. Michael Christ, East Hartford
More is here:
http://ctsportslaw.com/2008/04/24/u...e-general-assembly-clears-path-to-south-bend/