In 2014, the city of Syracuse should expect to see the same number of fans attending sporting events — some will just be wearing different colors.

When Syracuse University makes the move from the Big East conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, it will be the end of an era for the city and the school. SU was one of the founding members of the Big East, which came into existence more than 32 years ago.

Back in 1979, there were only seven teams in the Big East. Now it is a 16-team conference with deep-seeded rivalries between SU and Villanova University, the University of Connecticut and Georgetown University, among others. But the face of the conference is about to change.

Ryan McMahon, a Syracuse common councilor and a member of the Economic Development, Downtown and Metropolitan Planning Committee, said he has lived in Syracuse since he was one year old and has been watching Big East sports for almost as long. When he first heard about the news, he was very upset, but then put it in perspective.

‘If you look at where the mega-conferences are going as far as the people they’re talking about recruiting to the Big East now, like East Carolina and Navy, they’re really subpar Division-I schools,’ McMahon said. ‘So if that’s the future of the Big East, then Syracuse made the right move in getting out.’

From an economic standpoint, McMahon said they expect to see the same amount of visiting team fans coming to the city for games.

‘These teams travel well, so I think you’ll see the same type of economic development,’ he said.

But McMahon said he hopes that the ACC has the conference tournaments on a ‘rotating basis’ so Syracuse and New York City have a chance to host.

As for the Big East traditional rivalries, McMahon said he hopes they will continue to add Georgetown, Villanova and St. John’s into the SU basketball schedule. That way, McMahon said, SU will have both new rivals and traditional rivals to combine for a great schedule.

Bill Nester, store manager for Manny’s on Marshall Street, said that he also thinks it was the right move for SU, but it might be hard to let go of the Big East.

‘I think it was probably the right move to make,’ Nester said. ‘On the other hand, I love the Big East. I’m a big fan, but all things considered, they probably made the right move.’

Nester said that no matter what conference SU is in, they will not be changing anything. He said they still plan to sell their apparel for SU and visiting team fans. However, he said that the move to the ACC is still more than two years away, so official plans haven’t been put in place yet.

‘Things aren’t going to change,’ he said. ‘We’re still going to do our game day shirts, they’ll just look a little different. It’s exciting, but it’s still a ways off, so you can’t get too excited just yet.’

As for local restaurants and bars, Diana Hester, manager of Varsity Pizza, said she expects it to be business as usual regardless of what conference SU is in.

‘They always find out about us somehow,’ Hester said with a laugh.

She also said the business doesn’t expect to do anything differently as far as advertising or marketing for new visiting teams and fans to the area.

‘I think we will be just as busy come 2014,’ Hester said. ‘It’s a tradition for people to come here.’

hawentz@syr.edu

 

Published on September 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm