Spurs excitement is showing up on the tab at San Antonio bars and restaurants, and at McIntyre’s Southtown it is showing up in sales.
“These are unprecedented numbers,” said David Nelson, general manager of McIntyre’s Southtown.
“It’s huge. We’ve never seen numbers quite like this,” Nelson said. “It’s brought a lot of people out, people I’ve never seen before. It’s helped the business.”
Fans said game nights fill up the city’s gathering spots.
“All the bars are going to be packed, all the restaurants, anywhere you can watch the games at,” Spurs fan Ashley Ventura said.
One tab at one bar is only part of the picture. David Gonzalez of Visit San Antonio said out-of-town fans account for a share of the crowd at every home game.
“On average, 10%-20% of the seats at Frost Bank Center are booked by visitors,” Gonzalez said.
Those trips can include more than a game: a hotel room, a meal and time spent exploring the city.
“It benefits everybody to have the Spurs winning,” Gonzalez said.
Spurs fan Nicolas Ventura said the visitors are part of the appeal.
“Most importantly, it gets tourists to come in. In the playoffs we had people here from Minnesota and of course all the New York fans were here,” he said. “It’s really cool to see people come here that aren’t from here and they get to experience local places like this.”
For fans at the bar, the season itself is reason enough.
“It was a heartbreaker at the end of the season, so we’re excited to be back. Can’t wait,” Spurs fan Joey Rea said.
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