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Message: [QUOTE="sutomcat, post: 2337011, member: 27"] [IMG]http://dailyorange.com/resize/800/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/09234349/100917_PaulSchlesinger.jpg[/IMG] [B][URL="http://dailyorange.com/2017/10/syracuse-remains-wed-carrier-college-naming-rights-industry-takes-off/"]Syracuse remains wed to Carrier as college naming rights industry takes off[/URL] (DO; Gutierrez)[/B] [I]One morning in February 1979, then-Syracuse University Chancellor Mel Eggers stood at a podium in Drumlins Country Club and announced a charitable gift that would alter the course of Syracuse sports history. It was believed to be a needed donation to finance construction of the new stadium on campus, but with it came unintended consequences. “It is most gratifying,” Eggers said that day, “that the keystone for this project — a major investment in central New York and a vote of confidence in SU — comes from Carrier, a most wonderful neighbor to everyone in the community.” With those words, Eggers set in motion a $2.75 million agreement between Syracuse and Carrier Corp., then the world’s largest manufacturer of air conditioning units and heaters. It was not a naming rights deal but a one-time gift, which contributed to keeping Dome construction on time. Now, over 38 years later, the Dome is a fixture of central New York but leaves SU with an untapped source of revenue: a naming rights deal. Last fall, Syracuse was attempting to end its deal with Carrier, according to Bloomberg. By not getting out of its current agreement, Syracuse University is missing out on about $1.5 million per year in naming rights for the Dome, according to experts. Based on industry trends, renovations could tie into a name change as part of a wider rebranding. The university has said it will make significant upgrades to the Dome, including the installation of an air conditioning system and new roof. A timetable has not been announced. Syracuse University and Carrier Corp. did not reply to requests for comment on this story. In the months before Eggers stood at Drumlins, Syracuse needed to raise $9 million over an 18-month period to meet the September 1980 deadline. The university was searching for a private business to make a gift, and SU could not find any bidders until Carrier’s pledge. As a courtesy, Syracuse named the facility after the firm. Members of the SU Athletic Policy Board, which influenced the university’s decision to construct the Dome, said they believe Eggers made a phone call with Carrier Corp. sometime after New York state gave SU $15 million to start the project. Then, without much conversation with colleagues, Eggers inked the agreement with Carrier Corp. “We got a hell of a deal from the state on that,” said Ronald Cavanagh, a former professor at SU and member of the Athletic Policy Board. “Why Mel turned around and did what he did with Carrier on the naming is beyond me.” Melvin Holm, former Carrier Corp. chairman, promised his gift would lessen fears that Carrier, headquartered in Syracuse and the city’s largest employer, would leave the area. Yet, in 2004, the company closed the two manufacturing plants in East Syracuse, laying off 1,200 workers and moving those operations to Asia and the South. Throughout the 2000s, as Carrier’s footprint in the region faded, there were still discussions between SU and Carrier. In 2009, SU named the field at the Dome “Ernie Davis Legends Field,” in honor of SU’s 1961 Heisman Trophy running back. While most fans interviewed by The Daily Orange said they refer to the facility as just “The Dome” or “Carrier Dome,” there had been backlash for why the facility was not named in Davis’ honor in the first place. Dr. Jake Crouthamel, the athletic director at the time, said the deal with Carrier seemed necessary. The deadline to finance the Dome was looming. Buried in chapter 7 of a Syracuse sports stadium feasibility study from April 1976 are several paragraphs detailing how the cost to build large new stadiums spiked, somewhere between $5 million and $30 million. The Dome, a first-of-its-kind venue on a college campus, cost $31 million, according to SU tax documents. Meanwhile, bond interest rates had risen while ticket prices stagnated. As a result, revenue per seat had not risen as fast as the cost of providing the seat. The problem of financing a stadium had become difficult, especially for a private university like Syracuse that gets no state or federal funding for its operations. “The donation was better than nothing and nothing was what we were dealing with,” Crouthamel said. “In retrospect from a purely financial standpoint it was not a good deal, but it was the only deal out there and that to us was sure better than nothing.” ...[/I] [/QUOTE]

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