Looking for tickets to the Syracuse football home game against Notre Dame in late November?
The wonderful "Fine Mess" tailgate group is auctioning off three sets of ticket packages - and for a terrific cause - to SU's 2026 regular-season finale, when the Orange will host the mighty Fighting Irish on Saturday, Nov. 28, at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The kick-off time for this non-conference contest is to be determined; Notre Dame, an independent in football, looks to be a contender yet again for a bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff, as the Fighting Irish is No. 5 in the preseason Coaches' top-25 poll.
Each package includes four tickets to the late November tilt against Notre Dame, as well as four complimentary passes to the legendary "Fine Mess" tailgate in the Henry Street lot.
A longtime tailgate group is auctioning off tickets to the Syracuse football-Notre Dame game for a great cause.
According to SU alum Mark Cupelo, a founder of the "Fine Mess" tailgate, one set of four tickets came via a winning bid from a silent auction at the recent Syracuse men's soccer golf tournament, known as the Henry E. Glies Orange Open.
Additionally, Cupelo says that he connected with John Lally, a former Syracuse football offensive lineman, and his wife, Laura, who together run the Lally Foundation. The Lallys have donated two sets of four tickets that will be located in the "Lally Zone," which is in Section 128.
Cupelo says that the other ticket package will be upper sideline seats in the B or C level. All bids for these ticket packages have to be submitted via syracusefan.com, under the thread "Fine Mess fundraiser - Notre Dame tickets." Here's the link to it.
The opening bid for each ticket package is $200, and the auction plans to close on Friday, Nov. 20, at 4:00 pm EST. The tickets to the Notre Dame encounter are digital and will be sent to the winning bidder(s) 24 to 48 hours prior to the game on November 28.
Proceeds from the auction will be split in half and go toward two things, Cupelo says: The tailgate's equipment fund and the 'Cuse Athletics Fund's Athletics Competitive Excellence giving option, which was launched in 2025 "to maximize revenue-sharing opportunities for Syracuse University student-athletes and strengthen our athletic programs’ ability to recruit, retain and develop elite talent to build championship-caliber programs," according to SU Athletics.
The "Fine Mess" tailgate began informally in the late 1990s. It officially commenced in 2007. A ticket to the tailgate calls for a $25 donation per person, and you pay upon arrival. It is an all-you-can-eat-and-drink tailgate.
"The spreads are ridiculous," Cupelo says, adding that there are adult beverages such as craft beers, including the famous "Fine Mess" pilsner brewed by Meier's Creek, seltzers and a margarita machine.
You can RSVP for the tailgate here, and the thread to register is usually posted the Sunday or Monday before each home game. The tailgate closes out its RSVPs once it has reached its capacity, which is generally between 175 and 200 people, Cupelo says.
He tells me that there is also a 50-50 raffle that helps to fund the tailgate's equipment purchases and supports local charities, including an ongoing partnership with the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, a division of the U.S. Army based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
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