Syracuse’s dome reseating leaves fans anxious about tradition: ‘It’s going to be a tough process’

Syracuse, N.Y. — Greg Snell’s father and grandfather picked their family seats in Section 245 of the JMA Wireless Dome when the building first opened in 1980.

When Snell’s father began to struggle with mobility, Section 245 helped him navigate from his wheelchair to his seat. When the family held his wake in 2019, one member of Section 245 attended simply because she recognized the photo in his obituary.

This past fall, Snell, a 45-year-old from Camillus, sat in the same section with his son, the fifth generation of his family to be raised a diehard Syracuse football fan.

Come next year, though, Snell worries he might be forced off the family plot in the dome.

The school will perform the first reseating in school history, uprooting every season-ticket holder and requiring them to find a new seat.

The reseating is a necessity because of the school’s choice to replace its hard silver benches with modern individual seats that are wider and have chairbacks.

Progress, though, comes with collateral damage.

Rather than having the opportunity to renew their current seats this year, Syracuse season-ticket holders in football and men’s basketball will be assigned a ranking by the school and select their seats in that order.

The ranking shows which fans have been most generous to the school. Those with higher rankings have traditionally been rewarded with benefits like parking, access to NCAA Tournament tickets and special events.

Now those fans will get first crack at picking their seat.

Fans buying tickets for the first time could jump long-time ticket holders if they pay enough. The school is prioritizing the amount fans give to the school’s general athletics fund between Oct. 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024. That amount is the biggest factor in determining a donor’s rank.

If Snell is lucky, no one with a better ranking will have snapped up his seats by the time his opportunity comes. And if he’s unlucky, the feeling of community and tradition he’s created will be sacrificed.

“We built, maybe family isn’t the right word, but there’s a chemistry among those of us in that section,” Snell said. “We care about each other.”

Syracuse Deputy Athletics Director for Business Development Torrey Ball said the process could be emotional but the addition of the seats will be a net positive for fans.

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

Syracuse has encouraged fans to buy their tickets before May 1, when its rankings will be finalized for seat selection. Additional donations to the school or athletic department before then will allow them to boost their ranking.

Football season-ticket holders will begin picking seats on May 21. Basketball season-ticket holders will begin picking seats on July 9. Fans who buy individual tickets will not be impacted.

Fans purchasing season tickets will have to do so without knowing exactly what seats they will have. There is no plan in place if fans who have already paid are unhappy with their seat options. That was the most frequent concern of fans who spoke to Syracuse.com.

Ball said he doesn’t believe fans will be unable to find a satisfactory seat. He said he trusts the school can work things out with them if it happens.

While Syracuse is performing its reseating by necessity, many schools reseat regularly by choice. It’s a way to make sure they are rewarding customers that pay them the most.

In the worst cases, the process unfolds like it did at Texas A&M in 2015 when, following a renovation, fans who had been promised premium seats for life in exchange for a substantial donation actually sued the school’s athletic fundraising arm, The 12th Man Foundation, when they were bypassed.

Even when done well, experts say, disappointment and frustration is inevitable.

“No matter what the system is, someone is going to be upset when it comes to reseating,” said Nels Popp, an associate professor of sport administration at North Carolina. “Fans will complain about it, development will have to deal with it but, at the end of the day, most fans will keep giving and keep donating.”

Popp and Chad McEvoy, a former sports management professor at Syracuse University, said communication with fans during the process is critical. McEvoy said holding events like open forums with season-ticket holders to answer questions are often helpful.

Ball said Syracuse has the biggest ticket staff it’s ever had. He said fans with questions can contact their ticket representatives or call 1-888-DOME-TIX.

To create its ranking, Syracuse will sort fans into eight levels based on how much money they give to the school’s general fund.

At Syracuse every season ticket for football and men’s basketball — and every season ticket with reserved seats for women’s basketball — includes a donation to that fund (named the ‘Cuse Athletics Fund).

Once fans are assigned a tier, they are ranked within those tiers by “priority points.”

The school will award one point for every $100 given to any current athletic fund, for every $1,000 of lifetime giving to an athletic fund and $5,000 of lifetime giving to the school. It will also give five points for every season that a fan has held season tickets in football and basketball (up to 20 seasons for each).

“We want to make sure it’s about rewarding loyalty to a place that has been so special for so many people,” said Michael Paulus, who was a senior associate athletic director and executive director of the ‘Cuse Athletics Fund during much of the planning. “We want to make sure we clearly communicate that this is how we’re going to reward that and this is the actual formula for how we’re going to do it.

“You are trying to factor in everything to be equitable.”

Still, the process has caused confusion among some fans, and concern at the possibility that traditions could be lost.

Ryan O’Donnell, a 35-year-old from Clay, has held his two seats in Section 322 for nine years. Last year his row had three seats in it. Next year it will have one.

In his best-case scenario, he said he will have to move back a row and pay $25 more per seat, a price increase he considers reasonable.

A Cicero-North Syracuse graduate, the tickets were one of the first purchases O’Donnell made when he returned to the area after college. The fan who sits in front of him bought Syracuse gear for his baby when he became a first-time father. He has a group of about 10 friends that have all bought seats in his section.

He took wedding photos outside the gate where they meet before each game. He would love to pass down the seats — or the closest thing he can — to his children.

“It was our little slice of real estate,” O’Donnell said.

With this year’s uncertainty, O’Donnell said, his friends are trying to determine the best way for them to stay together.

They might look at who has the best ranking and have that person buy tickets for the entire group. They might try to pool money together for a donation in order to boost their leading rank.

“I don’t know if that’s gaming the system or what,” O’Donnell said.

Snell, meanwhile, worries some of his family history, which dates back to Archbold Stadium, is being erased.

His tickets were kept in his father’s name until he died. Snell said he’s been told by his ticket representative that those years of fandom can’t be factored into his loyalty points.

Ball was unaware of Snell’s specific case. When the details were recounted by a reporter, he said the school wants to respect those types of family history.

“We understand there is some nuance,” Ball said. “We understand some of those things might happen. There is no tried and true blueprint for how to handle every situation.”

Popp noted each school’s formula is different and can be tweaked to reward things beyond giving and longevity.

Some schools give points to alumni and former athletes. Schools with strong football programs might give more points to fans who buy basketball tickets. Others reward fans who buy season tickets to Olympic sports. Some collect attendance data and reward the fans who show up the most.

“Just about all schools reward size of donation,” Popp said. “Each school weighs these elements differently. ... At the end of the day, money is probably going to trump loyalty. No one wants to say that out loud but that’s reality.”

Syracuse’s conventional method of seating fans has allowed them to build traditions, but it is viewed by experts in sports business as old-fashioned. It doesn’t reward the biggest spenders in an industry where money dictates which schools can pay for the best coaches, support staff and provide other benefits to athletes.

Purdue men’s basketball reseats the Mackey Dome every five years. Brigham Young football reseats the most expensive seats on its sideline annually but the cheaper end zone seats only occasionally. James Madison alternates reseating for football and men’s basketball every two years.

Ball said Syracuse has no plans to do another reseating but could not say how long the current round will last.

“For Syracuse this kind of presents an opportunity because there is no choice,” McEvoy said. “You can look at it as an opportunity to realign incentives and modernize. But there will be angst. No matter what you do, there is going to be frustration.”

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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