Syracuse, N.Y -- They call it The Loud House. They call it the Dome. But Syracuse University does not call its football stadium the Carrier Dome even once in its football media guide for the 2019 season, part of a systemic effort to eradicate the name of the company from the program’s literature for the coming season.

The school reduced the number of references to the Carrier Dome from 64 in its 2018 media guide to zero this year, even altering a quote from Dwight Freeney that it had used for five consecutive years.

The school has used a quote from Freeney praising the building in each of its media guides since at least 2014.

“There’s no place like the Carrier Dome,” previous media guides attributed to Freeney. “It’s the loudest place. Nobody liked coming to play us there. You can talk to any of the guys in the NFL right now who played there and they’ll tell you. The Dome was the worst place to come to play.”

The 2019 version uses the same quote but has eliminated the word Carrier, a trend that carries through the entire 254-page book.

A page devoted to the Carrier Dome in the 2018 version is now dedicated to “The Loud House.” The team’s listed home field and mailing address has been changed from Carrier Dome to The Dome.

Even an entry in a historical timeline that was dedicated to the construction of the Carrier Dome, a project to which the company contributed $2.75 million of the $26.85 million construction costs in 1979, has been adjusted to eliminate the previous mention of Carrier.

Syracuse has adjusted the historical timeline in its football media guide to eliminate a reference to Carrier.

Many additional sections in the 2018 media guide appear word for word in the 2019 version, with the only change the removal of the name Carrier.

“We will be contacting the university to discuss further,” Carrier Senior Director of Communications Ashley Barrie said in a statement.

While the current media guide eliminates Carrier, the name does still appear on the building itself and in older entries on the Syracuse Athletics website.

The university’s formal announcements regarding the future of the building since a $118 million renovation was announced in May 2018 have avoided use of the word dome, opting for stadium instead. The school also has emphasized the phrase “new stadium experience” in updates.

News Channel 9 reporter Andrew Donovan noted earlier this week that Syracuse treated its 2019 season-ticket mailings similarly to the media guide, avoiding any mention of the Carrier brand.

When asked in April if limiting the use of “Carrier” was intended to send a message to the company, Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack told a reporter from The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com that it was not.

“I think our fans, you know, they ask, ‘Are you going to the Dome today?” Wildhack told Syracuse.com in April. “I’ve been a fan for 30-plus years. I’m an alumni. They say, ‘I’m going back to Syracuse, we’re going to the Dome for a game.'”

So there’s no intention to send a message to Carrier, the AD was asked.

”No,” Wildhack responded.

Syracuse changed the entry in its football media guides this season to praise The Loud House, rather than the Carrier Dome.

The elimination of Carrier from the school’s literature comes at a time when the school is currently in a naming rights agreement with the company that has aged incredibly poorly.

In 1979, Syracuse chancellor Melvin Eggers and Carrier CEO Melvin Holm agreed that Carrier would name the building in exchange for a portion of the construction costs.

The agreement is considered by many to be the first naming rights agreement in college sports. Prior to that, buildings on college campus were generally named after prominent alumni and individual donors, and the agreement was protested by students at the time for its commercialization.

Since that era, however, naming rights agreements on stadiums have become big business. Industry experts expect the naming rights on the Carrier Dome would be worth more than $1 million annually on an open market. Because of the deal it struck with Carrier, Syracuse has been unable to capitalize on that revenue stream.

While the exact wording of the contract hasn’t been made public by either side – and is likely critically important – it has frequently been reported that the naming rights were granted “in perpetuity” and that it was a “lifetime” agreement.”

“Carrier and Syracuse University have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial partnership dating back to 1979, when Carrier provided the crucial final leg of funding to make the Carrier Dome a reality,” Barrie said in her statement from Carrier Corporation. “In return, the University legally granted the company the right to name its stadium the Carrier Dome in perpetuity. The language in the agreement is clear: Carrier has the right, ‘To officially name the stadium facility the ’Carrier Dome.’ Syracuse University officials have made public statements recognizing that the agreement remains in force in a 2009 amendment and again with a marketing agreement in 2018.”

Syracuse University did not address the elimination of the word “Carrier” from its media guide or its naming rights agreement when asked about both subjects, providing an e-mailed statement.

“We are excited about the new fan experience we are working to create at the Dome,” Syracuse Senior Associate Vice President for Communications Sarah Scalese wrote. “Our $118 million investment will change the face and footprint of the Dome, providing a game-day environment unlike anything our campus community, student-athletes, fans and visitors have had before.”

Syracuse officials have largely tried to avoid discussing the subject in depth with reporters. The school’s most detailed comments on the issue came in 2016, when Syracuse University Vice President & Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala told Bloomberg that negotiations for naming rights were occurring.

The Bloomberg article stated that "if Syracuse and Carrier can't reach an agreement, the university could attempt to buy out the original contract. The school could also go to court to make the argument that the original deal should be scrapped, because when the dome is renovated, it will be radically different from the venue (former Carrier chief executive officer (Melvin) Holm sponsored."

Both Syracuse and Carrier were asked whether those negotiations were currently occurring but did not address the question in their statements.

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