April 12, 2010
AT&T Center (Capacity: 5,212)
San Antonio, TX
San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Final Score: 133 – 111
* The arena was renamed to Frost Bank Center
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While in Texas for a wedding in the Austin area, we added a few days to the trip to take the short drive down I-35 for a visit to the beautiful city of San Antonio. Located in south-central Texas, the city is the seventh largest in the country, yet only has the 28th biggest metropolitan area as it is not sprawling with suburbs. This is probably the nicest downtown area that we have visited and the RiverWalk is the main reason for that. There’s a lot of history here as well, dating back to the days of the Alamo. The city’s only professional sports team is the highly-successful Spurs, who have won four NBA Championships, all within the last 12 years. They are on a remarkably good stretch in their history as the win on this night’s game that we say gave them their 11th consecutive 50-win season and 13th straight playoff year. The team started in the ABA before the merger with the NBA and the franchise spent their first few decades playing in the boisterous HemisFair Park Arena. Following a ten-year stint in the AlamoDome, the team got their own true basketball arena in 2002 at then named SBC Center. The arena shows a ton of San Antonio flair and has a lot of amenities, along with great sightlines.
Prestige Ranking: 4 out of 5
Location
We really enjoyed our time in the city, checking out a lot of the downtown attractions including the RiverWalk. This 2.5 mile section along the San Antonio River meanders underneath the city as the canal-like waterway is the glue that ties everything together. The stroll is scenic and there are plenty of restaurants and shops to check out. We also visited The Alamo (smaller than you think), went up the Tower of the Americas and down into the Natural Bridge Caverns. The AT&T Center is about 3 miles from downtown and in a city with top-notch attractions, there unfortunately really isn’t much to check out near the arena. A golf course sits across the street, while the rest of the vicinity is a mix between industry and business park. One interesting note are the buildings right next to the arena, which is otherwise surrounded by parking lot. Adjacent to AT&T is the Freeman Coliseum, a wonderfully old mid-sized venue that hosts concerts and rodeos, but stopped having sporting events a decade ago. To the north of the arena, are many storage buildings, used during the Livestock Expo.
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Getting here is a breeze, thanks to its proximity to major Interstates 35 and 10. We came from I-35 and the arena even has its own parkway that leads right to the facility. Signs were very clear and they coordinate the in/out to the arena’s abundant parking lots very well.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 8 out of 8
Exterior
The building has a square-ish appearance and features a mix of silver metal and red brick. The silver reminds me of the nearby livestock buildings. Though not clearly visible when facing directly in front of the main entrance, there is an awning that juts out. Overall, the outside didn’t appeal to my tastes, but I can certainly appreciate where one might like this look. Above the main entrance is a large “AT&T Center” sign near the top of the building and a good deal of landscaping completes the front.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
Never before have I seen a concourse so well created and designed to incorporate the feeling of the city. There are bright colors everywhere and in some spots, Christmas-like lights were draped from the ceiling to draw from the famous Fiesta Week on the RiverWalk. Several displays can be found too, including a section devoted to Spurs history (see Displays). This was also the first arena concourse that I’ve seen where the main entrance features a look into the arena seating bowl. After passing by wonderful art work on the walls, some tucked-away escalators bring fans upstairs to a second concourse, which is just a bit smaller in surface area. There were video games and Wii games up here. Space all around was adequate and only in a few brief spots did it feel cramped.
Concourse Ranking: 5 out of 5
Food
Two restaurants are located inside the concourses and there is also an area called the HEB Fan Zone (more on that later). Food is very good and plentiful with a ton of options, Tex-Mex being the most popular. A number of barbeque items were also available, along with the Texas chain: Whataburger. Great variety and local touch in food. Beer and alcohol choices were aplenty as well.
Food Ranking: 8 out of 8
Interior
The arena design clearly had basketball in mind with the way the seating is set up. There are two levels and it is built in the shape of an octagon. However, within that octagon, there is no uniformity in the sections as it is split into many different segments. It almost seemed like there was too much open space and stairways between seating sections. One issue I had is that some of these separated sections were suites within the actual seating bowl. This non-traditional placement disrupts potentially available seats for the public. Otherwise, most suites are in between the two levels and these suites are joined by clubs and an overlooking restaurant. The seats are mostly black and they are probably the most comfortable ones I’ve been in as they have that cushy feel. Mixed in with the black seats are a few brightly-colored ones, that was intended to look like confetti. A unique feature was the incorporation of the HEB Fan Zone in the upper-deck. This completely spans one of the ends and is a huge bar/restaurant with TVs, games, food, drinks and tables overlooking the action. It’s a cool design element.
Interior Ranking: 9.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The center scoreboard at the AT&T Center was not over the top and featured four large video screens with a basic box score above that. Six screens at the top either displayed advertisements or additional stats. Not too flashy and outside of maybe wanting a bigger screen, it got the job done. The same game stats on the top panels are shown in video screens at the corners of the building and there is the new standard, ribbon video surrounding the side seating.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4
Displays
The main concourse on the first level includes a section full of glass cases that showcase the Spurs’ history in words and memorabilia. I particularly enjoyed seeing their NBA championships and the San Antonio Express News headlines. In front of the rather large team store, is a bull decked out in basketball gear and sporting a 2003 NBA Champions jersey. Inside, San Antonio displays their banners beautifully. Their four NBA championships are the biggest ones and have an image of the trophy on them. I’m always a fan when a team makes their title banners stand out. They also have smaller black banners for each division and conference title with the year on them. Six retired jerseys hang up as well (Silas, Gervin, Johnny Moore, Robinson, Elliott & Avery Johnson). I’m sure Duncan, Ginobili and Parker will join them after retirement. Accomplishments acknowledged also include those of the WNBA Silver Stars and the National Rodeo.
Displays Ranking: 5 out of 6
Cost
Ticket prices are moderately high as the average season ticket in ’08 – ’09 was $56.39 (#10 in the NBA). Upper-deck seats can be had for $30 or less though and they are not necessarily nosebleeds either. Food prices were average and with the relatively cheap parking (starting at $8 for furthest away lots) and programs ($5), it balanced out, making the overall cost tolerable.
Cost Ranking: 6 out of 8
Fan Support
After consistently ranking in the top 5 for attendance (percent per capacity), the Spurs have slipped the last two years to #13 and #10. However, they still typically average at least 18,000 and between 95-100% capacity. Our game was close to that range and though there were some empty seats, the building was mostly full. That’s impressive given that it was a Monday Night and playoff seeding was mostly figured out. Overall fan support has been decent (winning helps too) and given that this is the city’s only team in the Big Four, it garners full attention once football season ends in Texas.
Fan Support Ranking: 7 out of 8
Atmosphere
The noise inside the AT&T Center is pretty good. Though never at full-throat, it was loud at critical stretches of the game and I saw some mini standing O’s in the lower seats as the Spurs pulled away early. Fans were pretty knowledgeable and the building generated noise well. “Go Spurs Go” was the main chant and Manu Ginobili pulled in most of the cheers. The one thing I didn’t like was how many people were hanging around the concourse. I understand there are plenty of spots to enjoy including the HEB Fan Zone, but if you’re at the game, at least look at what’s on the court every once in a while. I am willing to give the benefit of doubt since the game was getting out of hand score-wise anyway. Otherwise, the atmosphere was typical of the NBA, lots of pop music, games and fan entertainment.
Atmosphere Ranking: 10 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Spurs have a unique arena history and it started at HemisFair, which was one of the loudest places in the league. Then in 1993, they moved to the AlamoDome, which produced a completely different atmosphere. It was a football stadium, built to accommodate basketball and though it fit a ton of people, it wasn’t a true basketball home. The Spurs finally got that in 2002….During the 90s, the Spurs went with a funky fiesta color scheme before returning to silver and black…..In February each year, the AT&T Center hosts the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This is a huge event that forces the Spurs to take an extended road trip. The show is quite a big deal both locally and nationally…..On a personal note, my wife and I have been to 43 different stadiums together. Despite my annoyance of the screaming T-Shirt Toss, I finally caught one for her, ending years of ridicule.
Game
The game was an expected blowout. The Spurs were on the way to their 13th straight playoff appearance and Minnesota came in with a 15-65 record and a 12-game losing streak to San Antonio. The T-Wolves kept it close in the first quarter, even taking a 12-point lead. However, the Spurs systematically took them apart and were up by 22 at the half. San Antonio almost put up 100 points by the fourth quarter and most of the starters were out of the game then. Tim Duncan had 16 points as the Spurs shot 58% with eight guys in double figures.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
