Syracuse on Saturday wraps up its deal to play some home football games at MetLife Stadium, but it is "not out of the realm of possibility" for the school to return in the future, according to Nate Mink of the Syracuse POST-STANDARD. The initial deal signed in '09 was "met with some resistance from local fans who feel cheated out of an opportunity to see a traditional power play at the Carrier Dome." The contract awarded as much as a $5M "payout to Syracuse per game." Former Syracuse AD Daryl Gross said, "I asked high, and they accommodated it. I don't think they would ever do that deal again." Gross said it was the "largest deal that was ever signed that wasn't a bowl game." Mink noted the additional revenue "provided a windfall of cash that helped fund various football-related projects." But its impact is "impossible to measure in hard data, mostly because of myriad variables in recruiting," Syracuse used the MetLife games as a "recruiting hook." The branding of Syracuse as "New York's College Team" led to the "Syracuse block 'S' on cabs and buses" throughout N.Y. Gross: "The hope was to put us on a platform where you could play at 8 o'clock at night or in a game that had national attention and really brand the program." But with money no longer being as "dire a need as it was just seven years ago, the scheduling philosophy could shift" under new AD John Wildhack (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 9/29).
RAISE THE ROOF? Syracuse VP & Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala on Thursday said that the school "still has no set timetable to renovate the Carrier Dome and that it is currently working with architecture firm Populous on finalizing the design for the roof." Sala earlier this month said that Syracuse is "breaking the Carrier Dome renovation into three projects in order to price them out: the roof, the interior improvements and the exterior improvements" (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 9/30).
