Two 18-wheelers were already idling at the Frost Bank Center loading dock in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, getting ready to haul the entire Spurs home-court operation 77 miles up Interstate 35. That’s right, bags, equipment, hardware, and all 250 individual hardwood panels that make up their home court were on the move just after their season-opening loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. By Friday morning, the whole show was reassembled at Moody Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin, with the Spurs set to face the Houston Rockets.
A “Unique” Early Season Detour
This move isn’t completely new for the Spurs. They have played in Austin every season since 2022-23, eight times in total, at the Moody Center. But get this: they have never done it in October. “Austin’s been great to us over the years,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said, “It feels a little unique being here this early.” Unique is an understatement when you’re packing up your entire court after your first home game of the season. This early-season detour wasn’t some last-minute scramble, either. It was a calculated move.
Chasing the “Huge Stage”
So, why the big move and the early-season road trip for a home game? It’s all about sharing the spotlight. Formula 1 is rolling into Austin for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, and the Texas Longhorns are battling Mississippi on Saturday. Austin is a madhouse of sports this weekend, and the Spurs wanted in. The club actually petitioned the NBA to get a spot on Austin’s crowded calendar. “It’s a huge stage,” said Tim Salier, vice president of business development for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. He’s not wrong. F1 alone pulls in over 400,000 fans from all over the globe to Austin. The Spurs want to get in front of some of those fans, not to mention the corporate sponsors flooding Central Texas. The organization has been working on expanding its fanbase along the Interstate 35 corridor for years, with Salier noting the strategy is about “Keeping San Antonio as the center point, but looking from Austin to Mexico and every point in between.” Last season, Spurs games in San Antonio drew fans from an incredible 96 countries. They are clearly hoping to catch some of Formula 1’s global reach. “They are a massive global brand,” Salier explained. “It’s a different kind of platform.”
This weekend, with the team facing the Houston Rockets, the basketball might feel secondary to the bigger business play. But for a team hoping to expand its international footprint and snag some high-profile attention, playing their second home game of the season on a neutral court, even if it’s “less than” ideal from a pure basketball standpoint, is a sacrifice they’re making to reach that “huge stage.”
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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