The Carrier Dome Renaming Thread...

[Chip]

Personally, I like that we chose a sponsor who won't skip town (I should hope).

 

[OttoMets]

If it's a gift, then give the gift back. With interest. Then there no aggrieved party.

If it's naming rights for a stadium and lost free advertising in perpetuity, then it doesn't seem to be a gift.

Exactly. Great points that I'm sure both parties are thinking of.

And in my opinion this shows the weakness of SU's position and why they're resorting to this PR/name removal stuff rather than just settling with Carrier and putting naming rights on the market:

There's no market.

Bookmark this and bump it when some corporation steps in with $10+ million over ten years and proves me wrong. Because I don't believe there's anyone out there who will make it worth SU's while in cash consideration; this is why they want Carrier to provide equipment and services.

In a world where Nationals Park, surrounded by Fortune 500 companies in a major metropolitan area, can't get a naming sponsor over 11 years of its life, Syracuse University faces an uphill battle getting someone to pony up decent cash a) in an area with a moribund economy b) for a building with a 40-year name associated with it.

 

[Jake]

SU has put Carrier on the clock. Agree to a new deal before the end of basketball season or the Dome will be lacking all things “Carrier” by the start of the 2020 football season.

This doesn’t sound like someone who is guessing what is going on. Just my .02.

 

[NKR1978]

Exactly. Great points that I'm sure both parties are thinking of.

And in my opinion this shows the weakness of SU's position and why they're resorting to this PR/name removal stuff rather than just settling with Carrier and putting naming rights on the market:

There's no market.

Bookmark this and bump it when some corporation steps in with $10+ million over ten years and proves me wrong. Because I don't believe there's anyone out there who will make it worth SU's while in cash consideration; this is why they want Carrier to provide equipment and services.

In a world where Nationals Park, surrounded by Fortune 500 companies in a major metropolitan area, can't get a naming sponsor over 11 years of its life, Syracuse University faces an uphill battle getting someone to pony up decent cash a) in an area with a moribund economy b) for a building with a 40-year name associated with it.

Maybe, but Rutgers is getting stadium deals and they are almost never on national TV (not counting the BTN like wouldn't count ACCN). SU is unique in that your name will play across two seasons and the arena will be on ESPN and ESPN2 regularly; and ABC and CBS occasionally. It'll also be in the NCAA tournament every few years.

The bad part might be timing as we're drifting into an economic downturn.

Hopefully they'll be able to get Carrier to pony up something.

 

[sutomcat]

Maybe, but Rutgers is getting stadium deals and they are almost never on national TV (not counting the BTN like wouldn't count ACCN). SU is unique in that your name will play across two seasons and the arena will be on ESPN and ESPN2 regularly; and ABC and CBS occasionally. It'll also be in the NCAA tournament every few years.

The bad part might be timing as we're drifting into an economic downturn.

Hopefully they'll be able to get Carrier to pony up something.

Rutgers got a 7 year deal that pays them escalating numbers from $1.25 million to $1.85 million over the life of the contract for naming rights to their stadium.

OttoMets is right that the economy in CNY is not great and there aren't many Fortune 500 companies located close by.

But I think everyone can agree that the dome is featured on national broadcasts more than any other on campus college facility in the country. Between football, men's and women's basketball and men's and women's lacrosse, it gets a lot of air play nationally.

And all of these programs are very strong, proven winners a company would like to be associated with.

The question is whether a company that does not necessarily have strong national ties to CNY would be interested in getting a piece of this action.

Rutgers is getting roughly 1.5 million a year for 6 or 7 football games and maybe a lacrosse game once in a blue moon.

If you have a company based in the ACC footprint, I think you might be interested in a naming gift for the Syracuse facility. I think someone is going to pay at least a million dollars a year. Might be Carrier. Might be someone else. That is Carrier's decision. It might not be for 10 years but I am confident it will happen.
I think the only thing holding a deal from happening is that the university wants to do right by Carrier and is bending over backwards to try and retain them as a big sponsor for SU athletics.

Time will tell.

 

[Bayside44]

Rutgers stadium signage also gets a million cars or whatever a week on I95.

 

[OttoMets]

Rutgers got a 7 year deal that pays them escalating numbers from $1.25 million to $1.85 million over the life of the contract for naming rights to their stadium.

OttoMets is right that the economy in CNY is not great and there aren't many Fortune 500 companies located close by.

But I think everyone can agree that the dome is featured on national broadcasts more than any other on campus college facility in the country. Between football, men's and women's basketball and men's and women's lacrosse, it gets a lot of air play nationally.

And all of these programs are very strong, proven winners a company would like to be associated with.

The question is whether a company that does not necessarily have strong national ties to CNY would be interested in getting a piece of this action.

Rutgers is getting roughly 1.5 million a year for 6 or 7 football games and maybe a lacrosse game once in a blue moon.

If you have a company based in the ACC footprint, I think you might be interested in a naming gift for the Syracuse facility. I think someone is going to pay at least a million dollars a year. Might be Carrier. Might be someone else. That is Carrier's decision. It might not be for 10 years but I am confident it will happen.
I think the only thing holding a deal from happening is that the university wants to do right by Carrier and is bending over backwards to try and retain them as a big sponsor for SU athletics.

Time will tell.

I should add that not only did I not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I also have no background in naming rights marketing or negotiations. So mine's purely an outsider's perspective.

My general understanding is that geographic market matters more than TV exposure. Obviously it only takes one prospective buyer to make it happen, though. (But again, the skeptic in me notes that that buyer hasn't stepped up in all the years that SU's made it known that it's looking for more revenue.)

 

[FrancoPizza]

If the amp can get a modest naming deal then I’m sure the dome will attract suitors.

 

[sutomcat]

I should add that not only did I not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I also have no background in naming rights marketing or negotiations. So mine's purely an outsider's perspective.

My general understanding is that geographic market matters more than TV exposure. Obviously it only takes one prospective buyer to make it happen, though. (But again, the skeptic in me notes that that buyer hasn't stepped up in all the years that SU's made it known that it's looking for more revenue.)

I know for a fact that SU had at least one other company who wanted in on making a naming gift for the facility.

That might not be the case any longer but no question there has been strong interest from others.

 

[CusefanATL]

That is the only place you can find “carrier” anywhere. You cant change a website name overnight that everyone is used to.

you kind of can... go to "suathletics.com"

and then look at the website domain when you get there. "Cuse.com"

 

[Toga]

SU has put Carrier on the clock. Agree to a new deal before the end of basketball season or the Dome will be lacking all things “Carrier” by the start of the 2020 football season.

The year of the Natty. Bad timing Carrier!

 

[Toga]

Might the useful life of the Dome come into play from a legal perspective?

 

[JeffCuse]

I feel like at the end of the day neither side wants a protracted legal battle. I feel like this is a play by SU to get Carrier into a room to pay for the AC and revise the naming deal to at the very least the extreme low end of what is considered typical in todays market (even if its just a few hundred K a year).

 

[kirbivore]

SU need to get out of this deal the way Suge Knight got Ruthless records to release Dr. Dre.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I feel like at the end of the day neither side wants a protracted legal battle. I feel like this is a play by SU to get Carrier into a room to pay for the AC and revise the naming deal to at the very least the extreme low end of what is considered typical in todays market (even if its just a few hundred K a year).

st joseph's hospital was willing to pony up a few hundred for the amp. we should aim significantly higher.

 

[jgeorge322]

It’s been a very, very long time since I took contracts, but can’t they be voided if they’re extremely one sided? No one understood naming rights back then and Carrier has received well over $1b in advertising thanks to the prominence of the Dome on television for nearly 40 years.

I feel Syverud has a pretty good idea for how this will turn out.

Theres something called an unconscionable contract. It typically applies when the terms are unfair (substantive unconscionability) and one party had significant more bargaining power (procedural unconscionability). The typical situation is a big company trying to rip off a poor person, so unlikely su could vitiate the contract on that grounds.

I think the people wanting carrier to pay for a/c are being shortsighted. That would only kick the can down the road. What i am most interested in are what the terms of the contract say syracuse must do. Since this was a first of its kind deal, maybe syracuse really isnt obligated to refer to the dome as the carrier dome, so it actually hasnt breached its deal.

If syracuse had a strong play to get out of the contract, i have no doubt it wouldve filed suit years ago.

 

[JeffCuse]

st joseph's hospital was willing to pony up a few hundred for the amp. we should aim significantly higher.

I mean it really depends on how far both sides want to go. if Carrier truly believes it has legal footing to stay exactly where they are, they probably will push it into a courtroom rather than go to million + dollars. Similarly, if SU thinks it has legal footing, they will do the same.

If the goal here is to find a solution that keeps everyone out of the courtroom, i think its more like give us AC now, give us $500K a year for 10 years, and then let us become a free agent. If Carrier insists on what is amounting to $70K a year and falling, or SU insists on millions, I just dont see that being resolved out of court.

But again, I have no clue I am absolutely spitballing.

 

[Orijinal]

I think another viable option that Carrier might consider is receiving annual money from SU in return for SU selling naming rights to someone else. Say, SU receives $1 mil a year from Wegmans, and gives $500,000 of that to Carrier

 

[Toga]

I mean it really depends on how far both sides want to go. if Carrier truly believes it has legal footing to stay exactly where they are, they probably will push it into a courtroom rather than go to million + dollars. Similarly, if SU thinks it has legal footing, they will do the same.

If the goal here is to find a solution that keeps everyone out of the courtroom, i think its more like give us AC now, give us $500K a year for 10 years, and then let us become a free agent. If Carrier insists on what is amounting to $70K a year and falling, or SU insists on millions, I just dont see that being resolved out of court.

But again, I have no clue I am absolutely spitballing.

Pretty good spitball.

 

[DomeStranger]

I feel like at the end of the day neither side wants a protracted legal battle. I feel like this is a play by SU to get Carrier into a room to pay for the AC and revise the naming deal to at the very least the extreme low end of what is considered typical in todays market (even if its just a few hundred K a year).

Agreed. SU may be testing the waters a bit and Carrier has never been known for making quick decisions. I'm sure it takes time to decide how much they can allocate. They already have their blue ovals on the basketball court, a suite, and numerous tickets including court side so they may have to scale back on that. I don't think the equipment is an issue, and they could easily donate that but the installation costs are another factor that would be much harder for them to donate.

But as you noted at the end of the day I doubt either party wants to go to court, it's a small city and they both would be better off having each other's support as opposed to blacklisting each other.

 

[jgeorge322]

Lol at the “neither side wants to go to court” comments. Thats pure non-sense. This isnt a kevin ollie situation or an embarassing situation for either party. If either party had a strong case, papers would be filed immediately.

 

[JeffCuse]

Lol at the “neither side wants to go to court” comments. Thats pure non-sense. This isnt a kevin ollie situation or an embarassing situation for either party. If either party had a strong case, papers would be filed immediately.

What i said was that neither side wants a protracted legal battle. I stand by that. people go to court because they think they have a strong case that will be resolved in their favor hopefully relatively quickly. It doesnt always bear out, but no one aims for a lengthy court battle, but rather, a winning one.

 

[jgeorge322]

What i said was that neither side wants a protracted legal battle. I stand by that. people go to court because they think they have a strong case that will be resolved in their favor hopefully relatively quickly. It doesnt always bear out, but no one aims for a lengthy court battle, but rather, a winning one.

Why would it be protracted? Its a contract case. The people who negotiated the contract are probably dead, even assuming parole evidence could come into play.

Even if it is protracted, who cares? Syracuse has been losing out for years on a poor deal.

I don’t get that comment at all. People are using it as a cliche.

 

[rrlbees]

While paying for my bball parking today I noticed the parking map removed the word carrier from the dome whereas a few months ago the football parking map did contain carrier.

 

[Chip]

While paying for my bball parking today I noticed the parking map removed the word carrier from the dome whereas a few months ago the football parking map did contain carrier.

Erased... from existence.