The Syracuse Orange take on Colgate in the first football game of the season Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The JMA Wireless Dome is undergoing a transformation with new railings and ramps to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and new sprinklers on the concourse for updated building codes. Seat installation, replacing bench seating with chair backs, is expected to begin in April to be ready for the 2024 football season.
Syracuse University Chief Facilities Officer Pete Sala said the capacity change will go from roughly 49,000 seats to between 42 to 43 thousand seats — depending on the types of seats put in.
"The width of the aisles definitely made it a little bit more difficult," Sala said. "It dropped us about three seats per row."
Changes fans could expect to see throughout this season: a light show through the Cuse app and a fan rewards program.
A mobile wireless network enhancing the capabilities of sharing on social media, downloading mobile tickets, or checking stats online will be implemented later this fall.
"The system's fully installed," Andy Adams, chief operating officer of JMA said. "It's ready to go."
Adams said they took a "Super Bowl" level approach saying with more than 300 antennas and 500 radios to support the latest 5G capabilities, the Dome will have more capacity than most NFL stadiums.
"We're just working with the carriers to connect up at this point, and we're excited to wait it up soon," Adams said. "Verizon should be on by mid-October with AT&T and T-Mobile following that."
Other reminders ahead of the first home game of the season: a clear bag policy is in place and all sales at the dome are cashless.
Head Coach Dino Babers said many new members of the team are excited to play in the venue for the first time.
"We're looking forward to getting back in the Dome in front of our fans, seeing how crazy they can be this year, because we definitely need our 12th man if we're going to be able to get the things done that we want to get accomplished this year."
Kickoff for the Orange is 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for the game are available for purchase here.
