AT&T Center at night 2013.
TOM REEL, Staff / San Antonio Express-News On Friday, July 2, an anonymous source confirmed to Front Office Sports that AT&T is indeed ending its professional relationship with the San Antonio Spurs, thus leaving the team’s arena up for grabs.
The move means an end for the 20-year naming rights deal between AT&T and the Spurs, which expires in fall 2022.The cost of the deal was an estimated $2 million annually.
Many fans and locals have posted online about potential new sponsorship bids, some being more plausible than others.
Of the names being thrown around, Whataburger and H-E-B seem like viable options.One Twitter user’s suggestion of Spirit Halloween (the vulturous costume pop-up that sets up shop in abandoned real estate) is perhaps less likely.
3
1 of 3 Spurs Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the NBA team and manages day-to-day operations of the AT&T Center is allowing organizers to use the venue accommodations for events like alas, trade shows, funraisers and more.Areas like the arena floor (basketball or custom mode), the H-E-B Fan Zone, the Bud Light Courtyard and the grounds surroudning the arena are all now accepting inquiries for 2021 events.
Courtesy, San Antonio Spurs Show More Show Less
2 of 3 Spurs Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the NBA team and manages day-to-day operations of the AT&T Center is allowing organizers to use the venue accommodations for events like alas, trade shows, funraisers and more.
Areas like the arena floor (basketball or custom mode), the H-E-B Fan Zone, the Bud Light Courtyard and the grounds surroudning the arena are all now accepting inquiries for 2021 events.
Courtesy, San Antonio Spurs Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Below is a breakdown of local and national businesses whose logos could feasibly be gracing the exterior of the sacred San Antonio basketball building.
Potential Players
Crypto.com This one may seem like a long shot, but basketball is full of those.What on earth does crypto-currency have to do with Gregg Popovich and company? It’s well documented that crypto.com is a welcome sponsor in a number of sporting arenas.Just this Wednesday, the UFC agreed on a $175 million, 10-year deal with the crypto-currency company where their name would appear across venues and on fight kits.
Last week, the company made a similar $100 million sponsorship move with Formula 1 racing.As CNBC notes, the NBA has collaborated with crypto firms in the past.
Just last week, the Portland Trail Blazers signed a deal with StormX, and previously, the Miami Heat worked with FTX.us on an arena naming collaboration.With the Spurs suddenly without a sponsor, and the apparent push from crypto firms to be seen as accessible, it stands to reason that in 2023, you could eventually be cheering the Spurs on at the Crypto Dome.
H-E-B The San Antonio-based grocery behemoth seems to be another natural choice.
Clocking in at No.9 on Forbes list of the largest private American companies, it’s clear the company has the funds.
However, could they replace AT&T and make the H-E-B Center reality?
Well, the thing is an H-E-B Center already exists in Cedar Park , Texas.Even so, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t take the naming sponsorship and go with a title to differentiate the two like H-E-B Stadium or H-E-B Arena.
Already, the company is a Platinum Partner of Spurs Sports and Entertainment.Plus it has a longstanding community relationship with the group, manifesting in award-winning ads (who can forget the warm and fuzzy feeling elicited by the Ginobili, Parker, and Duncan’s H-E-B commercials?) A naming sponsorship deal is allegedly one of the cheapest sponsorship deals in sports, and one the grocery chain could easily shoulder.
Whataburger Whataburger is another fan favorite to become the Spurs’ new stadium sponsor.The renowned Texas fast-food chain, also headquartered in San Antonio, is immediately a natural fit.When you consider the corporate history with sports sponsorships, (in 2020, Whataburger became the Official Burger of the Dallas Cowboys) a future Whataburger Center becomes all the more plausible.
Not to mention, like H-E-B and other contenders on this list, they are already a Spurs Platinum Partner.
RELATED: San Antonio Spurs’ home to be renamed after AT&T chooses not to renew deal
Valero Like H-E-B and Whataburger, the oil and gas company is already an official partner of the basketball team.A Valero Arena could help the Spurs continue to run like a well-oiled machine.
And like H-E-B and Whataburger, Valero is also headquartered in the Alamo City.If the team is to remain in San Antonio, which it should, then a company invested in the city makes sense.
This is especially true when you consider that telecommunications giant AT&T was originally based in San Antonio, before moving to Dallas in 2008.
Frost Bank Just like the others, Frost Bank too is based in San Antonio and already has a relationship with the team.
In 2018, they became their first Jersey Sponsor.Plus, doesn’t “Frost Center” have a nice ring to it?
Dell The Round Rock-based computer company could be in the running for a naming deal, especially after company CEO billionaire Michael Dell became a stakeholder in the Spurs back in June.Some fear Dell’s involvement could be seen as a precursor to the team’s relocation to Austin, but for now, Dell likely wants a stronger business presence in the city, so a Dell Arena could make a lot of sense.
True long shots Fred’s Fish Fry While many have memed the decades-old fried fish institution logo over the venue, there is basically no chance this will happen.
Rumors have circulated for years that the South and West Side chain is a drug front (what some claim to be the only explanation for the apparent lack of cars in the parking lot) however this rumor has been dispelled .A name like the Fred’s Fish Fry Center might be misleading for a venue that hosts professional basketball, but maybe they could sponsor in another way, like putting a fish ‘n’ chips stand in the building, so fans can enjoy court side.
Alright San Antonio, who’s gonna sponsor the Spurs stadium next?! ?” pic.twitter.com/Bs4Zb4T8ZZ
— Badussy (@nessamazingg) July 4, 2021
The zoo Okay, this one could maybe work.We already know the San Antonio Zoo is interested, at least on a surface level, because they memed themselves onto the exterior of the building.A name like San Antonio Zoo Stadium? No way in hell that could work.The deal would never be cut.Like Fred’s Fish Fry, the name would be too distracting.
If they were to sponsor, they could make other arrangements.“Timothy Center” wouldn’t offend.
RELATED: Texas billionaire and tech giant Michael Dell named new Spurs investor
Toyota While Toyota has a factory in San Antonio and its North American headquarters in Texas, a naming rights pact simply would never materialize.San Antonio FC, the city’s minor-league soccer team, already proudly kicks off home games at Toyota Stadium..
