SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San Antonio Spurs owner Peter J. Holt on Tuesday told fans not to worry: The team isn’t going anywhere.
A plan to have the Spurs play a few games in Austin, 80 miles away, had raised some local anxiety that the owners may be considering moving the team.
“I want to reassure you that the Spurs are in San Antonio to stay,” Holt said in a message posted on Twitter.
“My family became involved in the Spurs in the 90s because there was a real threat the team would be moved. We would not let that happen then and we will not let that happen now,” Holt said. “There are no Spurs without the city and the people of San Antonio.”
Bexar County owns AT&T Stadium where the Spurs play home games. County commissioners last week raised concerns about the team’s request to play two homes games in Austin’s new Moody Center, which will host University of Texas games. A team official told the commission the franchise is simply trying to expand its brand.
Austin’s soaring popularity and an influx of large corporations who could be major team sponsors have made San Antonio officials nervous that Texas’ capital city could lure away the Spurs. San Antonio was stung a few years ago when Major League Soccer opted to expand in Austin instead of the Alamo City.
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