The Utica University Nexus Center has been a years-long project that finally came to fruition almost two years ago. The sports complex is for mainly hockey, soccer and lacrosse, serving people all across New York state and beyond.

Officials say their expectations have been exceeded when it comes to the economic impact that this multi-million dollar sports complex has brought to the Utica area. 

“We know that when we have these large-scale events that come though this building, well it’s just going to overflow into the hotels and the restaurants and whatever else may be in the county that people can go to,” said Keith Veronesi, chief revenue officer for Mohawk Valley Garden, which owns and operates a number of businesses, including restaurants, sports teams and entertainment venues.

Veronesi says part of his job is to find large foot traffic events that will give back to what’s going on around the Nexus Center. 

“People want to come here. This building is a fantastic building. You’ve got everything you need. You can drop your kids off in the morning, if you’re a parent. You can eat here, you can watch the games, you can go to a restaurant close by, you can come back for your night game,” said Veronesi.  

The Nexus Center has expanded beyond New York state. 

“We’ve done two world events in six months, whether it was the women’s world's event in April, the box lacrosse championships in September. This building has been on the world stage in six months,” said Veronesi. 

“The women’s worlds was the highest attended game held in the United States since over the time they’ve held them. Nearly 70,000 people at 29 games,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente. 

“We have these teams coming in on the weekend for tournaments. We recognize that there’s parents, there’s other siblings that come along for the ride. More entertainment for kids and adults to do in the area. Do we need another hotel? Probably,” said Picente. 

Oneida County Tourism says they’ve seen a measurable boost in Oneida County’s Tourism economy, including growth in hotel occupancy from 58% in 2022 to 61% in 2024.