Aug. 18, 2009

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Syracuse University Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross and CEO of New Meadowlands Stadium Company Mark Lamping announced today that the New Meadowlands Stadium will host select Syracuse University football games in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Syracuse will play the University of Southern California on September 8, 2012 and will face Notre Dame twice, including September 27, 2014 and September 3, 2016. The Orange will be the home team for all three games at the new stadium.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Syracuse University to be associated with the New Meadowlands,” Gross said. “We embrace the opportunity to play in the New York metropolitan area, which boasts our most popular alumni base, to enhance our football program and University objectives. As the only BCS team in the state of New York, we feel it is our responsibility to represent this region successfully. The national exposure and playing these traditional college football programs are exciting for us as we look forward to re-establishing our own football tradition. The timing of this is perfect as we begin a new era in our history with head coach Doug Marrone, who grew up in this area and served as Jets offensive line coach from 2002 to 2005. The stadium is absolutely fabulous and we thank everyone at the New Meadowlands who helped make this opportunity come to fruition. We look forward to this great partnership.”

“We designed New Meadowlands Stadium to accommodate a variety of games, sporting events and concerts,” Lamping said. “We are thrilled to host Syracuse University, a school with rich and time-honored athletic tradition, and we likewise welcome the Orange to be a part of New Meadowlands history.”

Syracuse Football first visited the Meadowlands in 1979, playing two `home’ games, vs. Penn State and vs. West Virginia, when the Carrier Dome was under construction. The Orange have a 5-3 record in the Meadowlands, including three victories against Rutgers and wins against Wisconsin and West Virginia.

The series against Notre Dame is tied, 3-3. The Orange beat the Fighting Irish, 24-23, in 2008 in South Bend. Syracuse and USC have played twice, the most recent being the 1990 Kickoff Classic in the Meadowlands.

“It’s great for us to have the opportunity to play in a tremendous venue that gives us terrific exposure as a University and helps the program in a lot of ways, including recruiting,” said Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone. “We have a strong alumni presence in the metropolitan area and, hopefully, our fans here in Syracuse will join us for the trip. Our fans do a great job supporting the basketball team when we play for the BIG EAST Championship in Madison Square Garden. We hope to gain that same type of support in this game.”

Syracuse will play at USC on September 17, 2011 to start the two-game series. The Orange has a four-game series against Notre Dame. Syracuse will travel to South Bend for games on November 21, 2015 and October 7, 2017.

Upon completion in 2010, New Meadowlands Stadium will seat 82,500 fans, including 9,500 club seats and 222 luxury suites. It will be the third-largest stadium in the National Football League.

“The scheduling of these highly anticipated Syracuse games versus USC and Notre Dame means the best of college football will be in the best venue for football and stadium events,” said Woody Johnson, Chairman and CEO of the New York Jets. “Local fans and alumni, as well as our premium suite and club seat holders, will have many more opportunities like this to experience in the New Meadowlands Stadium.”

“The history of college football at Meadowlands runs deep, dating back to the Garden State Bowl in the 1970s and Kickoff Classics in the 1980s,” said John Mara, co-owner of the New York Giants. “I am thrilled to continue this long-standing tradition, and to watch it grow at our new home.”

Inside the stadium, four 40-by-130-foot HD video replay boards will hang from each corner of the upper deck. Outside the stadium, fans will be treated to a 350,000-square-foot outdoor plaza filled with fan-centric activities and pregame entertainment zones. A signature amenity of the stadium will be the brand new rail line that will drop off passengers less than 100 feet from the stadium — the total trip from New York’s Penn Station will take less than 20 minutes.

The new stadium will have numerous restaurants, wider concourses and more HD square footage than any other stadium in North America. For more information about the new stadium, visit www.Giants.com or www.NYJets.com.

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