SAN ANTONIO – It has become a touchy subject for some Spurs fans: the City of Austin.
Long before San Antonio’s NBA franchise stepped onto a basketball court in Texas’ capital city, the Spurs had held a minor league stake in Austin for nearly two decades.
The team originated in Columbus, Georgia, as the Columbus Riverdragons before they were sold and relocated to Austin in 2005.
In 2007, two weeks after the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals for their fourth title, the organization celebrated another milestone. According to a news release dated June 28, 2007, the Holt family purchased the Austin Toros. The Toros became the Spurs’ official NBA Developmental League team.
The Austin Toros were renamed the Austin Spurs seven years later.
In a wide-ranging interview with KSAT 12’s RJ Marquez, Spurs governor Peter J. Holt reflected on the franchise’s roots in San Antonio while simultaneously expanding its influence in the Lone Star State, Mexico and beyond.
Watch KSAT’s full interview with Peter J. Holt in the video player below.
‘A global organization’
In addition to contending for NBA titles, a hallmark of Spurs basketball over the last quarter-century has been its ability to discover and develop international talent.
Players like Argentina’s Manu Ginóbili, Australian guard Patty Mills, Brazilian big man Tiago Splitter — along with France natives Tony Parker and Boris Diaw — are some of the foreign Spurs who became fan favorites and NBA champions. They opened up the franchise to untold numbers of basketball fans worldwide.
“We believe strongly that the Spurs are really a global organization,” Holt told KSAT. “We have a global fan base, and that’s really special, especially not coming from a big market.”
The 2023 arrival of Victor Wembanyama, another French national, in San Antonio has also helped the franchise and the city in the boardroom. In 2024-25, the Spurs went across the Atlantic Ocean to face the Indiana Pacers for two games in Paris.
Holt shared an anecdote when more than two dozen business leaders from France visited San Antonio, watched a Spurs game and stayed a bit longer to experience Fiesta for the first time.
“I think they were so enamored by the tacos, it was like they couldn’t even get past the colors and the parades,” Holt said. “But no, I think that, you know, that one of the most common threads of people that visit San Antonio is the people. That’s probably the first feedback that I get. ‘People are so nice and so welcoming. And they want me to have a good time and a good experience, and they want to show me something.’”
Expanding the footprint in Austin, elsewhere
In addition to owning the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League team, the organization recently completed its third consecutive season playing multiple games in the state capital.
During the latest edition of “The I-35 Series” in 2024-25, San Antonio faced Texas-ex Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in the Longhorns’ NBA return to Austin and went toe-to-toe with the playoff-bound Detroit Pistons on the very next night.
While the prospect of losing home games to Austin and Paris turned some fans’ stomachs, Holt insisted the games were not about taking something away from San Antonio, but instead giving non-residents the chance to experience something uniquely San Antonio.
“This regional concept is, I think, a really important piece of that — to enable fans to know us, to feel us, to be part of us, not just in San Antonio,” Holt said. “But the other thing I think (that) has been really cool is how many people, as we’ve (done) for now a decade-plus, have been in Mexico City. We do things in Laredo. We’ve done things in the (Rio Grande) Valley, in Austin. We went to Paris.”
‘Home’ is where San Antonio is
Holt left nothing to chance during the interview. He said he desires to keep the team in the Alamo City long-term.
“San Antonio is our home,” Holt said. “We just built this $100 million-plus performance campus (The Rock at La Cantera), and it’s the best in the NBA. I would argue one of the best in the world. We want to continue to invest in San Antonio. And we believe also in abundance — that these projects, these investments, these focus areas. They’re not competing; they’re complementary. We absolutely know and believe that San Antonio is our home base. And we want to invest in it and thrive in it.
“We want our players, our coaches, our fans to know this is home. We also want to make sure that we’re extending our brand, and we’re extending San Antonio’s brand. And we’re being more inclusive. And so, we think that the focus points are super complementary. They’re not competing.”
Beyond the franchise, Holt shared additional reasons why his family is keeping the franchise in town.
“Since the Holt family has been involved in the Spurs, the controlling owner in the mid-90s, 26 of the 30 teams have changed ownership,” Holt said. “The Holt family is incredibly invested in San Antonio. We’re incredibly invested in the Spurs. We want to make sure that the positive impact is lasting. It’s decades and decades.
“Our other family business has been around for 92 years and is headquartered here in San Antonio. We really believe in long-term positive impact.”
More coverage of KSAT’s interview with Spurs governor Peter J. Holt:
