Syracuse sets new ticket prices for football and men’s basketball, timeline for Dome reseating

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse University announced new prices on season-tickets for football and men’s basketball that will coincide with the arrivals of new seats with chairbacks and a re-seating effort that will require season-ticket holders throughout the stadium to pick a new spot to sit.

The stadium reseating is necessary before next season because of the addition of chairback seating, which will shrink the number of seats that exist in the Dome. Most season-ticket holders will see a price increase.

The school also provided a more detailed timeline of how the reseating process will play out for current season-ticket holders.

“What we’re going through right now, it’s going to be a tough process for everybody,” Syracuse Deputy Athletics Director for Business Development Torrey Ball said. “I think we’ve prepared really well for it.”

The Dome’s new seats will reduce capacity for football by 7,000 seats and basketball by 5,000 seats. The school said the majority of the lost seats will be in the 100 level, the prime area closest to the football field and basketball court.

Ball said he recognized the reseating could be difficult for those who have grown attached to their seats but emphasized that it is happening to improve the overall experience for fans. He said seats with chairbacks were one of the main requests from fans about how their experience could be improved.

“Our fans wanted air conditioning, which we’ve addressed,” Ball said. “They wanted increased connectivity, which we’re working on. ... and they wanted chairbacks. That’s how we’ve gotten to where we are. Our fanbase asked us for those three things. The reseating is necessary because of the chairbacks.”

In football the most expensive seats at the 50-yard-line seats will go up in price from $650 to $725 in 2024. The most expensive publicly-available seats in men’s basketball are going up in price from $1,340 to $2,200.

Ball said he did not know exactly what percentage of seats or sections had price increases and decreases.

Syracuse will lower the price on its least expensive men’s basketball ticket from $250 to $200 next season, while maintaining its $99 price for the cheapest tickets for the football team. Ball said those are among the lowest entry prices in the ACC.

Ball said he believes Syracuse will have enough season-ticket inventory for all fans who prefer the cheapest option to be able to purchase a ticket in those areas.

“I believe there will be enough inventory for anyone who wants to buy a $99 ticket to buy a $99 ticket,” Ball said. “We tried to match up inventory with demand. I think if you want a $99 ticket, I can sell it to you.”

Some of the building’s best seats will be tied to access to special sections of the Dome including the front rows near the home 50-yard-line for football (The Sideline Club) and the first rows behind end zone an mid-court for basketball (Club 44).

Those areas will have padded orange chairbacks, as well as all-inclusive food and additional beverage choices.

This will be the first year since the Dome opened where current season-ticket holders won’t be able to simply purchase the same seats for the following season. Instead, Syracuse will give every season-ticket holder a rank and fans will select their seats in order of that ranking.

The rank will be determined by a combination of how much money fans spend on SU athletics, how much money they have given to the school and how many years they have been season ticket-holders.

Some fans will be able to stay in almost the exact same spot if they want. Others could have their seats bought out from them by fans with better rankings.

Seats in the lower level will have arm rests, while those in the upper-level will not. The initial plan for the seats has been changed and they will not have cupholders.

Syracuse is also moving and expanding its student section for football and moving the school’s band to the opposite end zone. The school’s student section was one of the bright spots in attendance last season, regularly showing up in large numbers and making an impact during a middling season for the football team.

Syracuse said that it will begin selling football season tickets on Feb. 1 and basketball season tickets on Feb. 20. Those who purchase tickets at that point will not know what seat they will have.

The school will send messages to football season-ticket holders on May 13 providing them a timeslot when they will be able to pick their seat online. The selection process will play out from May 21 to July 1.

The school will provide timeslots for men’s basketball season-ticket holders on July 1, with seat selection taking place between July 9 and August 1.

Ball said he did not know how the school would handle a scenario if fans who had already purchased tickets were not satisfied with their seat choices when their turn to pick a seat arrived. He said he expected the school would be able to work with customers to find a solution.

Syracuse declined to say how many season-ticket holders it has for football and men’s basketball.

Ball said Syracuse fans with questions about that season-ticket process should contact their ticket representative or 1-888-DOME-TIX.

“The map is going to change, the seating is going to change, the capacity is going to change,” Ball said. “All that is true. We know that to do that we have to communicate really, really well. We have to have really good customer service. We have to make sure our team is prepared with the most information they can so they can help our customers.”

Note: We’d like to hear how your season-ticket prices have been impacted by the changes this year and what questions you’d like to have answered about re-seating. Please email Chris Carlson at ccarlson@syracuse.com.

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