Syracuse Orange: Dome naming-rights deal touted for key recruiting edge

The new JMA Wireless Dome will prove an important recruiting advantage for Syracuse Orange sports moving forward, officials with Syracuse University and Syracuse-based JMA Wireless said at a press conference on Thursday.

The university and innovative technology company JMA Wireless officially announced their 10-year, naming-rights partnership on Thursday, thus closing the books on the Carrier Dome and ushering in the JMA Wireless Dome, which SU officials say will be referred to as the JMA Dome.

Personally, I’m excited that my alma mater has inked this agreement to bring in what I assume will be substantially more revenue from its naming-rights partnership with JMA Wireless than it generated from its 40-year partnership with Carrier, but the sentimentalist in me is also saddened to say so long to the Carrier Dome.

I was a student at Syracuse University from 1996 to 2000, and the Carrier Dome was all I ever knew as it pertains to this iconic collegiate facility.

However, naming-rights deals are extremely lucrative, and SU leaders had to forge a new partnership in this arena. At the press conference, Chancellor Kent Syverud called the new deal with JMA Wireless a “historic moment for Syracuse University” and the greater community, and he said it’s “a day that’s been in the making for quite some time.”

With JMA Wireless as its partner, the Syracuse Orange will have a leg up in recruiting, officials say.

JMA Wireless is a global leader in 5G wireless technology, and the implementation of its technology within the Dome will not only result in faster speeds, but also smarter communications in general, said John Mezzalingua, the company’s founder and CEO.

He, along with Syracuse University officials, says that the Dome will possess the most advanced 5G network of any collegiate stadium, providing ‘Cuse fans with a tremendous experience, while also greatly benefiting SU coaches, staff members and student-athletes.

From a recruiting standpoint, officials said that this 5G network and the enhanced communications that it will bring with it will help inform Syracuse Orange coaches better.

It can assist with injury prevention and accelerate the learning curve of student-athletes, particularly as they enter their freshmen years on the Hill.

"From a cuse.com press release, Mezzalingua was quoted as saying, “It will also enable powerful new augmented reality training systems, advanced coaching tools and sensor-based performance optimization to attract elite athletes and help Syracuse win.”"

This partnership with JMA Wireless, coupled with all of the renovations and upgrades that the ‘Cuse has been making to the Dome of late, sends a message that the Orange is deeply committed to its athletics programs, improving its fan experience and competing at the highest level in the Atlantic Coast Conference and on a national scale, said Syracuse Orange athletic director John Wildhack.

Syverud said something that I hope will ultimately ring true, when he noted that with this naming-rights partnership, “new history will be made here.”