SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs are proposing playing regular season home games away from the AT&T Center over the next two regular seasons, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff confirmed to KSAT 12 News on Monday.
According to a proposal that will be voted by Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday, the Spurs would likely play two international regular season games as the home team. The games could be played in Mexico City and in Monterrey, according to Wolff. The Spurs previously played in Mexico City in 2019.
“It would be Mexico City or Monterrey. That’s close to us. The theory is that if they can get out and broaden their network, get sponsors, get people to buy seats, get fans to come here, that it would bring them up,” Wolff said.
Another part of the proposal is for the Spurs to play at least two home games within a 100-mile radius from San Antonio. Wolff said those games could be played in the Alamodome, Austin, or possibly San Marcos. But Wolff was fairly certain Austin would be the site of one of those games. UT-Austin recently opened the new Moody Center.
“They (Spurs) want to go to Austin and have a game. I know that,” Wolff said. “They figure that they can draw more people down there if they did that.”
The two-year plan would start at the beginning of the 2022-23 regular season, which would be the 50th season since the Spurs franchise relocated from Dallas to San Antonio.
R.C. Buford, CEO of Spurs Sports & Entertainment released the following statement regarding the proposal:
“From day one, we’ve received amazing support from Spurs fans in San Antonio and across South and Central Texas. We are committed to finding new, creative ways to purposefully engage and celebrate our fans from Mexico to Austin, continuing to expand our regional fanbase. We believe San Antonio is uniquely positioned from a cultural, geographic and economic standpoint to serve as the anchor for this region. San Antonio has been home for five decades and the organization will continue to innovate, positioning the Spurs to thrive in San Antonio for the next 50 years.”
Action regarding a non-relocation agreement is on the agenda for Tuesday’s commissioners meeting. However, Wolff said a final decision would not likely be made on Tuesday.
“We still may have to come back for one more vote because of the contract to finish it up. Then they would go to the NBA and they would try to work out what that schedule might be,” Wolff said.
In recent years, Spurs Sports and Entertainment has concentrated on expanding the team’s fan base up the Interstate 35 corridor and south to Mexico City. The Spurs G-League affiliate currently play their home games in Austin. In June 2021, Austin-based billionaire Michael Dell joined the Spurs as an investor and strategic partner.
There has been some concern over the future of the Spurs in San Antonio, but despite this news, Wolff is confident the franchise will not move anytime soon.
“A team just can’t get up and leave, there are substantial penalties to begin with. Second, the NBA has to agree to it. Third, there’s been very few NBA teams moved around,” Wolff said.
Wolff added the team has a non-relocation agreement that goes through the 2031–2032 season under penalties of $84M-130M, depending on the year.
The franchise also recently broke ground on its new team training facility and human performance campus on the far Northwest Side called the Rock at La Cantera.
We will have more information on this developing story when it becomes available.