Orange fans took to social media to voice their frustration about a recent statement by an Orange staff member, but it all makes sense.
New Syracuse men's basketball coach Gerry McNamara is likely to coach against his former school, Siena, this fall when the Orange travel to take on the Saints in exhibition action.
McNamara left Siena after two seasons to take the job at Syracuse. He replaces Adrian Autry, who was fired after three campaigns and no NCAA Tournament berths.
As our Brady Farkas points out, the game between two Upstate New York schools has not been the only discussion for fans. In an article posted by Syracuse.com, Donna Ditota noted that:
"None of SU’s exhibition games will be held in the JMA Wireless Dome. The basketball program has to pay the university to play in the dome and because of low attendance for those exhibitions, it winds up being financially unsound."
Social media reaction to Dome quote
Orange fans were quick to voice their displeasure with this business decision.
Central New York sports media personality Brian Higgins said the following on "X."
"This is pretty wild from @DitotaDonn45775 this morning. Cuse not playing an exhibition game the Dome due to cost is a YIKES situation. "
@Itsme_DRB also commented:
"The Dome has hosted how many scrimmages since 1980? But NOW it’s financially unsound. Sure. Maybe the university charging its teams rent is unsound. This isn’t that complicated, but penny pinching rules the world up there. Always has, always will."
On Tuesday, I was co-hosting the Levack and Goz show on Fox Sports Radio 95.9 and brought the topic of sports athletic budgeting and arena renting to my radio partner Jeff Levack. Not only is Levack a sports talk radio host but over the past five years, he served as the President of the Arena Football League's Albany Firebirds.
Levack offered his unique insight on what some fans and media members may not realize when it comes to teams partnering with local venues.
Levack said
"You really charge the basketball program some inordinate amount of money to play a game?! Like we (Albany Firebirds) rent when we play at MVP Arena (venue for home games for the Firebirds), it is our home but we rent it. So it is a little different. I would like to believe that an on-campus facility would work with you. That is kind of crazy"
Levack, like others, was surprised by the lack of partnership between the venue and university after decades of working together.
You can here that full conversation on Apple and Spotify
Here's why no exhibition games at JMA Wireless Dome is the right call
Why would Syracuse want to spend money when they do not have to? The value of exhibition games to Orange fans is not as valuable as it is to other fanbases.
In the case involving Siena, the Saints are likely to use that game to raise the MAAC banner and honor the Orange players who were on the Siena team the previous season. That ceremony will likely honor McNamara and his coaching staff as well.
Other fans across New York state (Rochester, Albany, Geneva, Penn Yan, Buffalo) may see these exhibition games as a chance to see the team play in person rather than commuting across New York for a regular season home game.
If the Orange play in a venue in one of those respective cities, the fans are happy and Syracuse is not required to pay a fee. Syracuse played Buffalo in Buffalo just last exhibition season.
Lastly, if the Orange can save money and reallocate those funds to other spots within the program, fans should be happy. If more savings leads to bigger recruiting and NIL budgets, then it's a win for the program and the fans.
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