Victor Wembanyama mania gets real in San Antonio as Spurs season ticket sales soar

San Antonio has scored big since being designated with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, with the ticket office taking more than 2,500 season ticket orders in the hours after the lottery ended.

The Spurs are in pole position to select the league’s next star Victor Wembanyama – a seven-foot-three prospect from France, tipped to be the consensus first overall pick.

The last two times San Antonio picked first, they chose David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997). The Spurs – led by Gregg Popovich, the coaching wins leader in the history of basketball – also hold a special relation with France, drafting the likes and talents of NBA champions Tony Parker, of course, and Boris Diaw.

‘I’m excited for the city, for the franchise,’ Spurs GM Brian Wright said. ‘(The lottery) was a great start. It’s the beginning, not the end. There is still a lot of work to do.’

Indeed, the organization’s staff members have been working around the clock since the lottery ended, with many Spurs fans excited about the team drafting ‘Wemby’ on  June 22. 

Spurs fans are excited at the prospect of Victor Wembanyama playing in San Antonio in the fall

The Spurs’ ticket office took over 2.5 season ticket orders in the hours after the lottery ended

‘We were here until midnight last night working the phones and making sure people’s deposits, the website was working properly and everybody was back at it at 7:30 am’ Frank Miceli – chief revenue officer of Spurs Sports & Entertainment – told KSAT.

‘We’re projecting by the end of today (Wednesday), so a full 24 hours, we’ll have over 2,500 deposits.’

Spurs officials observed the amount of web traffic soaring 10 times higher than usual and downloads for the team’s official mobile app have also had a significant boost. 

‘People want to know how many games they can get,’ Lindsay Beale, associate vice president of business development, told KSAT of questions and requests growing by the hundreds. 

Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt (L) after San Antonio won the first pick in the NBA draft

‘We have a 10-game plan, so it’s a really manageable amount of games to come in a year payment plan. We don’t charge any interest. They can spread their payments up to 10 months,’ she added. 

Spurs officials reassured fans who’ve already placed a $100 deposit to potentially see Wemby play at AT&T Center next season by telling them that they’ll get a shot at select seating this Saturday and next Thursday, depending on their place in line.

Miceli said next season could be one of the most lucrative in Spurs ticket sales history.

‘Until we really go through that process, it’s really difficult to project that, but we’re expecting it to be record-breaking,’ he said. 

According to San Antonio Express-News, partial season ticket plans to watch the Spurs play start at $47 per month, ‘which range from 10 to 20 games or can be bundled into 30 games.’