Syracuse SYRACUSE, NY – OCTOBER 24: Syracuse Orange runs onto the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers on October 24, 2015 at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

When Syracuse University opened its brand new indoor football and basketball stadium in 1980, it opened with the name “Carrier Dome” after the Carrier Corporation. At the time, the naming rights deal may have looked smart. 36 years later, it’s one of the worst in sports history.

The Carrier Corporation is a heating-and-cooling company that used to be a massive company in Syracuse, New York. Now, the company barely exists in the city minus the name of the Carrier Dome. On top of that, the Carrier Dome doesn’t have air conditioning despite being named after a company that provides air conditioning.

But enough of that because that’s not why SU is tired of its naming rights deal.

Back in 1980 when the stadium opened, the CEO of Carrier, Mel Holm, signed a deal in which he gave $2.75 million to Syracuse University in exchange for naming rights to the stadium in perpetuity.

What does that mean exactly? Well while other stadiums are opening around the country with massive naming rights deals for a handful of years, the Carrier Dome and Syracuse University is left out. Because the deal was signed in perpetuity, that means the Carrier Dome naming rights deal cost Carrier Corp $2.75 million and that’s it. Oh and the naming rights deal is set to last… forever.

Another issue for Syracuse is “The Carrier Dome” is synonymous with Syracuse Basketball. As a Syracuse grad, nearly once a month I educate people (editor’s note: including myself, just an hour ago) that the dome wasn’t named after a person. Instead, it was named after a company that got one heck of a steal.

Syracuse University has realized how big of a deal it was for Carrier and is trying to fix the issue.

“Negotiations are happening now,” Pete Sala, SU’s chief facilities officer, said. “We asked Carrier to be a player.”

Neither the Foley & Lardner Partner Irwin Raij, who is representing Syracuse in negotiations, or Carrier spokeswoman Michelle Caldwell responded with a comment to Bloomberg.

Syracuse University recently announced a $255 million campus upgrade that includes improvements to the Carrier Dome where the team’s football, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams play. The stadium is outdated both inside and out and is in desperate need of upgrades.

A new naming-rights deal could go a long way. Instead of the one-time $2.75 million naming rights deal Carrier signed, Jeff Knapple, CEO of Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment, told Bloomberg he believes Syracuse could bring in at least $2 million A YEAR in a new naming-rights deal.

For example, the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union paid the University of Houston $15 million to name its football stadium TDECU Stadium. That means Houston will bring in more than $10 million more than Syracuse for a ten-year stadium rights deal compared to SU’s 36-year deal.

Syracuse has a long road to travel before its contract can be revised. Two options proposed are:

1. Syracuse could buy out the original contract. It’s uncertain how much this would cost the school, but it would be worth it in the long run.

2. Wait for the renovations to be complete and then go to court arguing the deal should be thrown out. This may work because a renovated stadium would be different than the one Carrier originally signed on to sponsor in 1980.

It will be interesting to see what Syracuse does going forward. The name “Carrier Dome” is synonymous with basketball in Central New York. While fans may still call it the “Carrier Dome” even with a new naming rights deal, the whole purpose of changing the name is for SU to not get fans to call it something different, but to get out of one of the worst naming-rights deals ever.

[Bloomberg]

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.