Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill opened in earnest in 2022 with its Warehouse Hotel and Champion Mill Conference Center.
The sports side of the 1.2 million-square-foot complex that bisects North B Street west of the Great Miami River opened near the end of 2022.
“I think the impression I’ve always had in Hamilton is one of community,” he said. “I think the idea of community and recognizing people in the community and being connected to that (is) really what drives the health of the city and a lot of the energy that comes along.”
Beiler spoke to Hamilton City Council last week to provide them an update on what has happened at the facility and what’s to come. While the parking lot will be more empty this time of year “far more often than I’d prefer,” it got a lot of use through September, he said. The 1 million mark was a goal after year one, but construction and litigation problems caused delays. Beiler said there are opportunities for growth in the coming years, however.
The original Spooky Nook location in Lancaster, Pennsylvania only has two or three weekends “that are quiet,” according to Beiler. In Hamilton, though, the North B Street facility has about 15 to 20 quiet weekends.
“It’ll take another two years or so to fill those in,” he said, adding the sports side of the business slows at the end of August.
Their next focus will be high school wrestling events, Beiler said.
“This year has been pretty good for us. Through August, we had a really good year, really solid performance in terms of number of events and number of attendees that were coming,” he said.
Through September 2024, more than 627,400 people had attended an event at Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill. Through September this year, the country’s largest indoor sports facility has seen more than 978,800 attendees.
Beiler said the nearly 350,000-attendee increase is largely attributed to events that saw 600 to 700 people and contributed to some 2,000-hotel-room nights.
“Those are the kinds of impacts we’re excited to bring to Hamilton,” Beiler said. “It’s good for us, it’s good for the city.”
One of the largest impacts came this past July. From July 10 to 14, people from 47 states and Alberta Canada were in Hamilton, and the following weekend from July 18 to 21, people from all 50 states and British Columbia, Canada were in Butler County’s county seat.
In addition to sports tournaments, Beiler said Spooky Nook hosted events for P&G and GE. GE Aviation will have an event in 2026.
People will also see some work done at Spooky Nook, specifically at what’s called “the white house,” the large white stone building facing the Black Street bridge. That building is currently being used as Spooky Nook’s administrative offices, but all curbs and gutters are being replaced, as well as new fencing and some concrete work.
Beiler said that work should be done by Nov. 15.
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