<P> Carrier Dome is a 49,250 - seat domed sports stadium located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York . It is home to the Syracuse Orange football, basketball, and lacrosse teams . The Syracuse Orange men's basketball team drew the highest average home attendance in college basketball in 2015 - 16, with an average of 26,253 . In 2006--07, the women's basketball team began playing home games in the Dome . New York high school football state championships as well as the annual New York State Field Band Conference championships are held in the stadium, as are occasional concerts . </P> <P> The Carrier Dome is the largest domed stadium of any college campus, and the largest domed stadium in the Northeastern United States . It is also the largest on - campus basketball arena in the nation, with a listed capacity of 33,000; however, this limit has been exceeded several times . </P> <P> Toward the end of the 1970s, Syracuse University was under pressure to improve its football facilities in order to remain a Division I-A football school . Its small concrete stadium, Archbold Stadium, was 70 years old and not up to the standards of other schools . The stadium could not be expanded; earlier in the decade it had been reduced from 40,000 seats to 26,000 due to fire codes . Therefore, Syracuse University decided to build a new stadium on the site of Archbold, which, appropriately for Syracuse's often cold weather, was to have a domed Teflon - coated, fiberglass inflatable roof . While the Dome was being built during the 1979 season, Syracuse played "home" games at three different locations--Giants Stadium, home of the NFL's New York Giants; New Era Field (then known as Rich Stadium), home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills; and Schoellkopf Field, home of the Cornell Big Red . When it opened in September 1980, it was made clear just how loud it was inside; that night the Dome's famous nickname, "the Loud House", was coined . The inflatable roof causes the sound produced to echo many times, multiplying the loudness produced inside . It would also serve as the home for the men's basketball team, as a replacement for Manley Field House . </P> <P> Syracuse University's men's basketball per - game and single - season attendance numbers are annual contenders for the top rank in the nation . Lacrosse crowds are not as large, but the venue allows Syracuse's lacrosse teams to play home games throughout the February--May regular season . </P>

Where did syracuse play before the carrier dome
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