Syracuse University to rename Carrier Dome; add new seats, event space

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University on Wednesday announced plans to rename the Carrier Dome and to add new seats to the on-campus venue as part of the next phase of building renovations.

Carrier, the company whose name has been on the building since its inception, has agreed to allow Syracuse University to rename the facility as of May 1, per a university news release.

Syracuse in its release did not include any details about a new naming-rights partnership. The sports-business publication Sportico on April 15 reported that Syracuse–based JMA Wireless has secured the new naming rights to the venue.

Carrier’s 1979 donation represented the first naming agreement for a major stadium in college sports, and “one of the first in all of sports,” Syracuse University said.

“With Carrier’s cooperation, we will seek to rename our stadium while we continue our work to transform the experience for our students, faculty, staff, fans and Central New York community,” John Wildhack, director of athletics at Syracuse University, said in the release. “Without Carrier’s generosity and longstanding support, completion of the Carrier Dome would not have been possible, nor would the decades of iconic sports moments and Central New York memories. We are eternally grateful for the tremendous impact Carrier has had on Orange Athletics, the Syracuse University community and the Orange fan base.”

New seats, event space

Syracuse University’s plans for the next phase of interior renovations to the Dome includes a complete reseating, a new publicly accessible event facility, and an upgrade of the entire digital infrastructure. The school sees it as the “next phase of its work to enhance, elevate and expand the stadium experience.”

Syracuse will begin work later this spring with some of it scheduled to be complete as early as the September, the school said. The university’s announcement didn’t include a cost estimate for the additional interior renovation work, but recent media reports indicated the newly approved New York State budget included $20 million for the project.

Specifically, the renovation work will include a transition from bench seating to individual/fixed seating inside the venue.

The new seating will not only “improve comfort” but will also “enhance accessibility for patrons with disabilities,” the university contended. Syracuse plans to make the Dome’s existing bench-style seating freely available to high school stadiums and venues across New York.

Syracuse University also plans to build an on-site and publicly accessible event facility. The school will design and construct a roughly 25,000-square-foot addition on the east end of the Dome to infill the space between the Dome and the Barnes Center at The Arch.

The new space will provide an improved fan experience, expanded event and gathering space, and upgraded accessibility. The addition will make the Dome “more competitive with other peer venues” across the U.S., Syracuse contends.

The university also plans to upgrade the Dome’s digital infrastructure, improving connectivity offerings for fans and other users of the Dome.