Why Spurs Week in Austin is Critical to the Team's Global Expansion

AUSTIN - As the Spurs and the alien at the helm work toward world domination, San Antonio's plan to expand their influence globally grows out of their efforts just up I-35.

For the fourth year in a row the San Antonio Spurs are heading to Austin for a week of events built around a pair of games at the Moody Center. Their recent focus on engaging the nearby and fast-growing state capital is already showing measurable returns, to the point where the team is applying the lessons learned here to markets an ocean away from central Texas.

"This is an important, key initiative for our organization, and something we're immensely proud of," Spurs VP of Strategic Growth Brandon James said in a recent interview with the Silver & Black Coffee Hour. "When we got to Austin... one of our main things to do was to really learn and understand what the community of Austin needed from an NBA basketball team and to meet them where they are."

There are plenty of activations surrounding the games, from retail pop ups and freebies to community concerts and court renovations. This year the team has taken over 918 Congress Avenue, just steps from the State Capitol, for events and free coffee all week long. On the court, the Spurs will host the Suns on Thursday and the Kings on Saturday. A full schedule of events can be found here.

"We've done it all, and we've seen a lot of success, especially for understanding that not everyone can make it to the Moody Center for a game," James said. "How can we meet the fans where they're at and allow them to feel and touch our brand in an authentic way?"

It's only year four of this initiative, but the Spurs are already seeing some early returns on investing in this booming market just up the road. According to James, fan club signups and event attendance numbers show that the effort to turn Austin into a Spurs city is bearing fruit.

"I had an appreciation for appetite of NBA basketball here in Austin, but I didn't really have an appreciation for the Spurs avidity and fandom here in Austin, and that is on full display during that week," James said. "It's really cool to interact with our fans and get to see them interact and be up close with our players, with our Coyote, with our hype squad team, with our executives who come to town the entire week."

It certainly helps that the team's efforts to engage Austin coincide with San Antonio's rapid rise toward the top of the Western Conference.

"More fans are coming to our games in San Antonio," James said. "Obviously the team is performing better, but I think people are starting to build more community here in Austin, and coming down to our games, we've launched a bus program this year, beta version, and that's been very well received... it's a palpable sort of feeling that fans are now having towards our group and our organization."

Austin is the biggest Texas city without an NBA team, it's closest to San Antonio, and the Spurs' G League affiliate has lived here for 20 years. The organization has worked hard to claim this territory as a Spurs city, for both fans and corporate partnerships.

"There's a ton of companies here in Austin and trying to sort of learn from them on what is important to them, and allow the Spurs to help them accomplish the things that they're trying to achieve," James said. "Sports has the ability to bring together unique audiences, and I think companies are starting to see that they can use us as a vehicle to do that, not only in San Antonio, not only in Austin, but globally."

These games help break up the annual Rodeo Road Trip, and act as a sort of homecoming for the many players and members of the coaching staff who have fond memories of cutting their teeth here.

"I had the privilege of playing in front of great fans in Austin," said Keldon Johnson, now the longest-tenured Spur, who spent most of his rookie season up here.

"Being able to come back and put on show for this fanbase down here is very important to me. It means a lot to me, because this is where it all started for me. This is where I got to build my confidence and become a professional basketball player and really, really lock in on good habits and grow up as a young teenager."

“This is where it all started for me.”

Mitch Johnson and Keldon Johnson both have fond memories of starting their Spurs careers here in Austin. pic.twitter.com/5HrMAfjkWm
— Silver & Black Coffee Hour (@SlvrBlkCoffeeHr) February 19, 2026

"I think I grew, probably, as a coach in Austin more than I ever have in terms of a three year period," said Mitch Johnson, who also got his start here. "The D League/G League allows players and staff to learn on the job and make mistakes and get an opportunity right away, and probably don't have some of the same circumstances in terms of based on results, so you get to be that much more freer in terms of having some real growth periods."

The Spurs have been using Austin to help develop players and basketball operations staff for two decades, and now the same logic is being applied to the business side of things. UT Austin's motto, 'What Happens Here Changes the World,' certainly applies to the Spurs as they work to grow their brand in big markets much further away from home base in San Antonio.

"In our globalization efforts, we're essentially taking a similar template that we've built here in Austin globally. We're taking Spurs Week to Paris this year," James said.

San Antonio played a pair of regular season games in Paris last season. This time around the basketball team is staying stateside, but the marketing team is putting on a week of events culminating with a watch party for the matinee Knicks game on March 1, which will be primetime in Paris at the headquarters of the team's jersey patch sponsor, Ledger.

"It's just a way for us to celebrate Spurs basketball and our French heritage," James said. "We're really excited to sort of see that come to life. The team here in Austin and back in San Antonio has spent a lot of time making sure that Spurs Week Austin and Spurs Week Paris is reflective of all the things that we're doing in San Antonio for fans that may not be able to make it to San Antonio."

The team knows how fortunate they are to have Victor Wembanyama, who is coming off an All-Star Weekend that seemed to center around his influence and "Face of the League" status. He's the perfect centerpiece for an organization that has been preparing for years to maximize their success, on and off the court.

"I think Victor himself is must see TV, whether you whether you like sports or not, he is just that much of an athlete, of a specimen, that it's just really cool to see," James said. "These are things that we definitely got lucky with, some ping pong ball bounces. But we've been working towards this for a long time, organizationally and bringing together our global expansion."