Big-time soccer is coming back to the Big House.

Crain's has learned that the International Championship Cup is expected to return to Michigan Stadium this summer, where the exhibition soccer tournament featuring some of the world's most popular clubs set the U.S. soccer attendance record four years ago.

The ICC's return to Ann Arbor — 2018 tournament teams haven't been disclosed — is according to a soccer industry source familiar with the situation but who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity. It's unclear if ICC and Michigan have a signed deal.

"At the moment, we're unable to confirm as our schedule is still being finalized. However, we'll be making a formal announcement next month in regard to scheduling and venues," Manuel Cedeño, a spokesman for the tournament organizer's outside public relations firm, New York City-based Mfa Ltd., said via email Monday morning.

A message seeking comment also was left with a University of Michigan athletic department spokesman.

The 2014 ICC match at Michigan Stadium between global powerhouses Manchester United and Real Madrid drew 109,318 fans, the largest crowd to watch a soccer game in U.S. history. In 2016, the stadium saw Real Madrid and Chelsea FC play in front of 105,826 fans. That's the second-largest U.S. soccer attendance record.

Last year's local ICC match was held at smaller Comerica Park in downtown Detroit between A.S. Roma and Paris Saint-Germain — two teams with less of a U.S. profile — and attracted 36,289 fans.

Playing again at Michigan Stadium suggests tournament organizers would pit the most popular teams there, but nothing has been announced yet on which clubs will participate in the ICC this summer. The tournament is used as preseason friendlies by participating European clubs.

The round-robin exhibition tournament is played mostly at stadiums in the United States, Canada and Europe, but has also staged matches in Australia, China and Singapore. Spain's Real Madrid has won three ICC crowns, the most of any club. The tournament debuted in 2013 and has varied in size and format.

The ICC tournament is organized by New York City-based Relevent Sports LLC, which is owned by Detroit-born New York real estate developer and billionaire Stephen Ross, a 1962 UM grad and the university's largest donor. It's part of an investment and marketing firm, New York City-based RSE Ventures, which he launched six years ago.

Relevant Sports contracts the teams, for undisclosed sums said to top $20 million in some cases, to play in the tournament. In turn, Relevant Sports makes money by selling the domestic and international television broadcast rights, along with corporate sponsorships and tickets.

The ICC games are a budgetary windfall for Michigan.

For the 2014 match, UM was paid a lump sum of $2.6 million by match organizers for a 16-day lease of Michigan Stadium. Under the terms of the contract that year, Relevent kept all revenue from the match, including ticket sales, suite leases, concessions, sponsorship and advertising sales, and media rights fees.

In 2016, the lease was a complex deal of shared revenue and expenses. The most basic portion of the lease said Relevent would pay UM a base $500,000 fee to lease the stadium, then split ticket and other revenues, such as suite sales, parking, catering and hospitality, concessions, and event-related merchandise. Revenue totals were not disclosed, and were formally requested from UM's athletic department but have yet to be provided.

The 2016 lease stipulated that Relevent would keep the first $8.6 million in revenue. After that threshold was met, UM was to keep the next $500,000 in revenue. After that half-million dollars, a second revenue threshold of $9.1 million marked the beginning of a split: Relevent kept 75 percent of all revenue and UM was to keep 25 percent.

Michigan was also to get a $100,000 bonus from Relevent if ticket sales surpassed 97,500, which they did.

The tournament's return comes as soccer is a front-burner topic in metro Detroit: Semi-pro club Detroit City FC has grown to average 5,000 fans per match at its Hamtramck home despite being a fourth-tier club, and Detroit awaits its fate as a Major League Soccer expansion market. The city, whose expansion bid is led by billionaire businessmen Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores, was named a finalist late last year, and could be awarded a team in the current or next round of MLS growth.