:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51048663/20422154-mmmain-2.0.0.jpg)
The Pita Pit? Varsity Stadium? Dunkin’ Donuts Dome?
All three are potential new names for the current Carrier Dome, as Syracuse University is in negotiations for naming rights for the upcoming renovated stadium. The school is reportedly asking for more money from Carrier Corporation if the company wants to keep its name on Syracuse’s famous domed stadium, according to Bloomberg News.
“Negotiations are happening now,” Pete Sala, Syracuse’s chief facilities officer said. “We asked Carrier to be a player.”
Syracuse and Carrier originally agreed in 1979 on a one-time payment of $2.75 million in return for the naming rights. The deal is widely viewed as one of the biggest bargains in college football (for Carrier at least), as the value of stadium-naming rights has soared since then.
While the deal has been viewed as a “lifetime agreement”, the upcoming Carrier Dome renovations – which will include a new roof, air condition and other upgrades – has created an opportunity for Syracuse to renegotiate the current deal, or allow for the school to escape its contract with Carrier altogether, Bloomberg News explains.
“If Syracuse and Carrier can’t reach an agreement, the university could attempt to buy out the original contract. The school could also go to court to make the argument that the original deal should be scrapped, because when the dome is renovated, it will be radically different from the venue (Carrier) sponsored.”
Once renovations are complete, Syracuse could theoretically receive at least $2 million annually from a new naming rights-deal, Jeff Knapple, chief executive officer of Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment, told Bloomberg News.
In the school’s original deal with Carrier, the one-time payment of $2.75 million translates to roughly $76,000 annually.
Obviously if Syracuse is preparing to spend more than $200 million in renovations, the school would hope to acquire a more lucrative naming-rights deal. Only time will tell just how lucrative that deal will be.
***
Do you think the Carrier Dome will soon be replaced by a new name? If so, what are you hoping Syracuse’s new stadium name will be? Leave a comment below.