Account
Report: Spurs Selling Minority Ownership Stake; '100% Committed' to San Antonio
April 30, 2020
The San Antonio Spurs are selling a minority ownership stake in the franchise but ensured fans they will not be leaving their city.
"As an ownership group we remain 100 percent committed to the city of San Antonio," chairman Peter J. Holt said in a statement, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. "Every day we celebrate the amazing relationship that exists between our community, our fans and our Spurs. San Antonio is home and will remain home."
Scott Soshnick of Sportico noted the Spurs retained Guggenheim Partners—who count Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter as their CEO—to manage the sale. The Holt family purchased the Spurs in 1996 for approximately $76 million.
In February, Forbes released its rankings of the most valuable franchises in the NBA and listed the Spurs at 14th with a valuation of $1.8 billion. The New York Knicks were first with a valuation of $4.6 billion.
San Antonio has become that valuable during a run of head-turning success. It entered the 2019-20 campaign with 22 straight playoff appearances and won five championships and reached another NBA Finals during that span.
Head coach Gregg Popovich is widely considered to be an all-time great, and notable players such as Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and David Robinson, among others, helped to build such a streak of success and increased the team's popularity in San Antonio.
That playoff streak was in serious jeopardy when the 2019-20 season was suspended because of COVID-19 concerns.
The Spurs are 27-36 and four games back of the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference.