The Nationals defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in a deciding seventh game at home to win the 1954–55 NBA Championship.

[11] The 1977 film Slap Shot included the War Memorial among the various arenas used as shooting locations for in-game action.

The Onondaga County War Memorial was home to the annual NYSPHSAA wrestling tournament in 1968, from 1970 to 1972, and then for 29-straight years, 1974–2003.

Shortly after completion of filming of the WCW-produced film Ready to Rumble, actor David Arquette won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship title on April 26, 2000, in a taping of the company's weekly Thunder broadcast, which is often cited as being the first legitimate sign of the demise of WCW.

The American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch have hosted the AHL All-Star Classic twice (1998, 2016) and reached the Calder Cup Finals in 2013 and 2017.

[18] It is also a prominent concert venue in the region, which includes various Queen, KISS, Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead, Phish and Aerosmith shows among numerous others over the years.