news release<\/a> dated June 28, 2007, the Holt family purchased the Austin Toros. The Toros became the Spurs\u2019 official NBA Developmental League team. <\/p>\nThe Austin Toros were renamed the Austin Spurs seven years later. <\/p>\n
In a wide-ranging interview with KSAT 12\u2019s RJ Marquez, Spurs governor Peter J. Holt reflected on the franchise\u2019s roots in San Antonio while simultaneously expanding its influence in the Lone Star State, Mexico and beyond. <\/p>\n
Watch KSAT\u2019s full interview with Peter J. Holt in the video player below.<\/p>\n
\u2018A global organization\u2019<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Players like Argentina\u2019s Manu Gin\u00f3bili, Australian guard Patty Mills, Brazilian big man Tiago Splitter \u2014 along with France natives Tony Parker and Boris Diaw \u2014 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe strongly that the Spurs are really a global organization,\u201d Holt told KSAT. \u201cWe have a global fan base, and that\u2019s really special, especially not coming from a big market.\u201d <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they were so enamored by the tacos, it was like they couldn\u2019t even get past the colors and the parades,\u201d Holt said. \u201cBut no, I think that, you know, that one of the most common threads of people that visit San Antonio is the people. That\u2019s probably the first feedback that I get. \u2018People 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.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Expanding the footprint in Austin, elsewhere<\/p>\n
In addition to owning the Austin Spurs, San Antonio\u2019s G League team, the organization recently completed its third consecutive season playing multiple games in the state capital. <\/p>\n
During the latest edition of \u201cThe I-35 Series\u201d in 2024-25, San Antonio faced Texas-ex Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in the Longhorns\u2019 NBA return to Austin and went toe-to-toe with the playoff-bound Detroit Pistons on the very next night. <\/p>\n
While the prospect of losing home games to Austin and Paris turned some fans\u2019 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis regional concept is, I think, a really important piece of that \u2014 to enable fans to know us, to feel us, to be part of us, not just in San Antonio,\u201d Holt said. \u201cBut the other thing I think (that) has been really cool is how many people, as we\u2019ve (done) for now a decade-plus, have been in Mexico City. We do things in Laredo. We\u2019ve done things in the (Rio Grande) Valley, in Austin. We went to Paris.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2018Home\u2019 is where San Antonio is<\/p>\n
Holt left nothing to chance during the interview. He said he desires to keep the team in the Alamo City long-term. <\/p>\n
\u201cSan Antonio is our home,\u201d Holt said. \u201cWe just built this $100 million-plus performance campus (The Rock at La Cantera), and it\u2019s 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 \u2014 that these projects, these investments, these focus areas. They\u2019re not competing; they\u2019re complementary. We absolutely know and believe that San Antonio is our home base. And we want to invest in it and thrive in it. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want our players, our coaches, our fans to know this is home. We also want to make sure that we\u2019re extending our brand, and we\u2019re extending San Antonio\u2019s brand. And we\u2019re being more inclusive. And so, we think that the focus points are super complementary. They\u2019re not competing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Beyond the franchise, Holt shared additional reasons why his family is keeping the franchise in town. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince the Holt family has been involved in the Spurs, the controlling owner in the mid-90s, 26 of the 30 teams have changed ownership,\u201d Holt said. \u201cThe Holt family is incredibly invested in San Antonio. We\u2019re incredibly invested in the Spurs. We want to make sure that the positive impact is lasting. It\u2019s decades and decades. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur other family business has been around for 92 years and is headquartered here in San Antonio. We really believe in long-term positive impact.\u201d <\/p>\n
More coverage of KSAT\u2019s interview with Spurs governor Peter J. Holt: <\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 It has become a touchy subject for some Spurs fans: the City of Austin. Long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,6,3383,969,474,4075,4074,534],"class_list":{"0":"post-111900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-peter-j-holt","11":"tag-san-antonio","12":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","13":"tag-sanantonio","14":"tag-sanantoniospurs","15":"tag-spurs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114715377434365203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}