SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The JMA Wireless Dome is ready for basketball now, but can transform into a concert venue easily.
“Those spaces that they occupy during the season, it’s a temporary thing,” said Pete Sala, who is the Vice President, Chief Facility Officer and Managing Director of the JMA Wireless Dome. “They bring their equipment down before the game and they take the student athletes’ gear in and out. Back to Manley to their home.”
Sala said it also helps that the basketball, football and lacrosse programs aren’t at the Dome full time. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the latest group booked, joining a long list of performers. But the dome wasn’t always attractive.
“The minute we tell people the building wasn’t air conditioned we wouldn’t hear from the act again,” Sala recalled.
They’ve made those air conditioning upgrades and enhanced what they can offer with power. You can call it a winning combination which also includes their relationship with Live Nation as well as having the space to host big names like Elton John and Paul McCartney.
“The most attractive thing to our venue is we’re an outside building with a roof,” Sala explained. “We’re an outdoor capacity. We are stadium tour, but we are stadium tour with a roof. And we’re stadium tour with air conditioning.”
Those big concerts they’ve booked in the past have shown them how to improve the fan experience and Sala said that’s something they’re constantly working on.
“We struggled a little bit with some movement at one of the concerns. We’ve made some huge changes and I think some people noticed that they came to football immediately. We shut down some concession stands, some merch stands,” Sala said.
So who else would he like to perform here?
“I’ve been getting beat up pretty bad about Taylor Swift, but again, that’s a tough show to get. I’d love someday to try to work that out,” Sala said.
Sala plans to make an announcement about another concert at the dome this week.
