VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Syracuse Coach Adrian Autry connects with fans at Apex Entertainment
Jack Watson: On a typical weekday, you don’t normally see much traffic inside the countless stores that Destiny USA has to offer. But for Apex Entertainment, their main attraction wasn’t the flashing lights of an arcade game or knocking down all ten bowling pins. It was their special guest. Head Syracuse basketball coach Adrian Autry.
Adrian Autry: All kinds of families, right? Like your personal family or your work family. And to have a place to come together, have great food, activities, TVs. It’s a great place to spend some time with friends and family.
Watson: These events, hosted by Apex, are offered before every major Syracuse sports season, bringing in players and coaches alike. Apex Entertainment’s senior director of marketing Rob Luzzi calls these Ambassador Spotlight events.
Rob Luzzi: Really using them as brand ambassadors to help bring awareness to everything that Apex has to offer here.
Watson: Athletes and coaches who come to connect with fans give Apex and Syracuse Athletics a distinct business partnership providing athletes with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities while also giving Apex Entertainment a leg up over the competition.
Luzzi: We want to see people come in, have fun and we’re using the athletes as part of that to help market our location.
Watson: While events like these give Apex a unique business opportunity, it’s not just about that. It’s about connecting players and coaches with the fans who cheer them on the most.
Nick Apergis: They’re just a competitive bunch. They’re awesome and super friendly to people as well. When fans come in and ask for pictures and photographs, they’re always there for them.
Watson: For Syracuse high schooler and longtime fan of the basketball program Niko, meeting Coach Autry brings him closer to the team he loves most.
Niko: I think it’s very cool. After going to so many basketball games, finally being able to meet him, it’s pretty cool.
Watson: For people like Niko, excitement is building as the Syracuse basketball team’s highly anticipated season starts Nov. 3, when the Orange take on Binghamton inside the JMA Wireless Dome. Reporting from Apex Entertainment in Destiny USA, Jack Watson, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — On a normal weekday, the sound of bowling pins and arcade games echoes faintly through the vast halls of Destiny USA. But inside Apex Entertainment, the usual buzz had a different energy. One powered by Orange pride.
Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry was the main attraction Wedenesday evening as fans, families and students gathered for a chance to meet the coach ahead of the team’s upcoming season.
“All kinds of families, right. Like your personal family or your work family,” Autry said. “To have a place to come together, have great food, activities, TVs. It’s a great place to spend some time with friends and family.”
The event was part of Apex Entertainment’s ongoing Brand Ambassador Spotlight Series, a partnership between the entertainment venue and Syracuse Athletics that brings players and coaches into the community before every major sports season. The goal is to connect fans with the people they cheer for, and showcase everything Apex has to offer.
“We’re really using them as brand ambassadors to help bring awareness to everything that Apex has here,” said Rob Luzzi, Apex Entertainment’s senior director of marketing. “We want to see people come in, have fun and we’re using the athletes as part of that to help market our location,”
The partnership also serves as a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunity for athletes and coaches, allowing them to engage with fans while promoting a local business. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Apex gains visibility among Syracuse’s sports base, while players and coaches build their personal brands off the court.
For fans, though, the excitement isn’t about business. It’s about connection.
“They’re just a competitive bunch,” said Nick Apergis, an Apex employee who helped organize the event. “They’re awesome and super friendly to people. When fans come in and ask for pictures or autographs, they’re always there for them.”
Among those fans was Niko, a Syracuse high schooler and lifelong Syracuse basketball supporter. Meeting Coach Autry, he said, felt like more than just a meet-and-greet. It was a moment that deepened his passion for the team.
“I think it’s very cool,” he said. “After going to so many basketball games, finally being able to meet him was pretty cool.”
As anticipation builds, Autry and the Orange are gearing up to open their season on Nov. 3 as they take on the Binghamton Bearcats in the JMA Wireless Dome. And for fans like Niko, the countdown has already begun.