In Appreciation of Peter Holt

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74165826TL026_Game_4_San_AnThe presumed net worth of Peter Holt, CEO and owner of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, is around $80 million, making him one of the least wealthy owners in the NBA. Mr. Holt’s wealth derives from HOLT CAT, the nation’s largest authorized dealer of caterpillar machines, of which he is also CEO. Given the housing crisis that the United States has been experiencing since the fall of 2008, it’s safe to assume these are unnerving times for a man whose livelihood is based on the sale of construction equipment.

(I was unable to find financial data on HOLT CAT but the stock price for Caterpillar Inc., a company to which HOLT CAT’s fortunes are closely aligned, has fallen by nearly half since September 2008.)

Considering the financial pressure Holt is currently under, he did something brave yesterday: He allowed R.C. Buford to send the Spurs at least $10 million over the luxury tax line.

With a collective salary of $72,054,727, the Spurs were already $2.13 million dollars over the tax line (set by the NBA yesterday at $69.9 million) before they signed Antonio McDyess, Marcus Haislip, and Malik Hairston.

For every dollar the Spurs spend over the line, they must pay a one dollar tax to the league. By signing McDyess to the full Mid-Level Exception and Haislip to the full Bi-Annual Exception (most likely), the Spurs are now a solid $10 million over the line. In that number I have yet to include the recently signed contract of Malik Hairtson (the details which are unknown), and the still unnegotiated contracts of DeJuan Blair and Jack McClinton. In short, the Spurs just committed themselves to paying anywhere from $12 to $15 million worth of luxury tax dollars this upcoming season.

Peter Holt took a serious financial hit yesterday and he did so for the good of the franchise you love.

It’s hard to feel sympathy for a man whose net worth is counted not just in millions but in tens of millions, but compare Holt’s situation to Mark Cuban’s, whose net worth is presumed to be north of $2 billion, and you begin to recognize the commitment Holt is making to the franchise. When the Mavericks head into the luxury tax, Cuban hardly feels the prick of a pin. Holt and the rest of the Spurs ownership group commit a significant fraction of the franchise’s net worth to the team’s success.

Mr. Holt’s financial commitment to the team is significant to no one more than the 3 individuals we adore most: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. Whether by only requesting reasonable contracts or restructuring their contracts to allow the team to acquire the necessary supporting cast, over the last several years the big three have done their part to ensure the Spurs are in a position to compete for championships. By allowing the front office to take the steps they took today, Holt has kept up his end of the bargain.

In 2008, the median income of a household in San Antonio was $39,140. Over the last 12 months, that figure has surely gone down. I have just begun graduate school and am now neck deep in student loans. For all intents and purposes, you could say my net worth is zero. Given that most sports-related financial figures exist in millions, not thousands, it’s hard to feel like you can affect the life of a man like Mr. Holt. But you can.

Buy a ticket. Buy season tickets. Hell, buy a backhoe for all I care. You alone may speak the language of thousands, not millions. But there are over 2 million people in the greater San Antonio metropolitan area. We speak in millions. Fans have been known to organize financial boycotts of their favorite franchises when they disapprove of the ownership (see Cincinnati Bengals Fans for a simultaneously righteous and hilarious example). We can express approval with our wallets as well.

And remember, the franchise consists of more than just the Spurs. Go to Austin Toros games. Go to Silver Stars games. The franchise is deeply committed to the success of those two teams as well.

In many people’s opinion, the Spurs were teetering on the edge of irrelevance. By giving R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich the necessary freedom, he has helped bring them back to the center of the contender debate. And he has done so during a time of great financial uncertainty. For this, Mr. Holt, we are deeply appreciative.

  • 00

    Looking forward to next year’s rooster, what would a Ginobili contract look like? With all the current moves, with the Spurs still be able to afford him? If so, at what hit to the luxury tax? I saw some estimates at multi-year $7 million per, but that seems light to me, if he comes back at full strength. Could we get outbid? I remember his recruiting trip to Denver before the last extension. Hopefully we don’t have to suffer through that uncertainty again. With all the positives right now, we need to keep our heart and soul.

  • Matt Steele

    Good stuff and as a native of Cincinnati, it’s amazing how stark the difference is between owners who really want to win and are willing to make a small sacrifice to do it and those who just care about making more money and running the franchise further into the ground

  • TDzilla

    Thank you Mr. Holt! This is what the Spurs attitude represent, sacrificing one’s personal gain for the benefit of the whole organization.

  • StreetBalla

    Compare this with Robert Sarver. I live in Austin and as a graduate student used to go to Spurs games with my roommate. I completely understand the financial pinch u feel :). We spent $250 for a seat in the last row of the stands for 2005 NBA Finals Game 7 and enjoyed every moment of it screaming ourselves hoarse as Peter Holt said we will do this again and again and again. Glad to see he is walking the talk!! It is awesome to see the Spurs going all in to win now.

  • Rodrigo

    There are no words to describe the appreciation we all have worldwide for such a classy owner. Thanks Mr. Holt

  • therealkman

    Henry Abott of Truehoop did a piece yesterday that indicates that each NBA franchise should recoup about 6 million from an escrow account and when you couple that with the share of the 2008/09 penalty pool which is in the 2 million range, it adds up to a net lose of 12 million on these season for Mr. Holt. Thank you Mr. Holt for sacrificing in behalf of the players (TD in particular) and the fans.

  • Shu Zhi

    Can’t agree more! I never know Spurs offseason could be like this! Thanks Peter!

  • NL

    Agreed. I’m from PA, live in DC and have never been to San Antonio. Plan to make the trip this year.

    I know one of you covered this in a previous post, but is there any general estimate of the revenue the Spurs would collect from 10 home playoff games?

  • John

    Technically the Spurs still get a tax payment from last season (which is what Henry Abbott was talking about) - they were under the luxury tax line last year.

    It’s next year at about this time that we’ll find out exactly how much the Spurs will owe in luxury tax. Each year teams don’t find out where the tax line actually is until after the season.

  • idahospur

    I have also never been to SA but I hope the whole town appreciates what this man has done. He’s brought in a winning office and basketball team for the purpose of entertaining fans of the Spurs.

  • LasEspuelas

    For those Spurs fans outside San Antonio and the US, is purchasing memorabilia a good way to help the Spurs and their owner. Or those that money go to something else entirely?

  • Alamobro

    Very interest factoid, and nice sleuth work Tim. This kind of work only helps to make the Spurs Organization more personable to the true fans.

    Thank you Mr.Holt

  • Big50

    Great read and better points. We the consumer can express our gratitude to the Holt ownership group by supporting this team.

    I go to SA many times a year, my in-laws live there, and I know that these off season moves will excite the city and area. I plan to get to a few more games this year and buy some more Spurs gear.

  • Tim

    Peter Holt is a die hard avid Spur’s fan-atic. There have been several articles written about him. One talked about the affect that close play off games have on him. When the games get tight he leaves his floor seat and goes and stands in the tunnels so that he doesn’t have to watch the game with his own eyes and one of the staff comes out and gives him updates. This is akin to the Spur’s fan who can’t watch the game at home due to anxiety and flips back and forth every couple of minutes to see how the team is doing.

    Some of the other articles discussed his personal history to include his service in Vietnam and his fight with alcoholism. I think this humanizes him more and lets us see that he’s just like us inside.

  • rikiddo

    Awesome points. Now, I wonder if the ownership group gets anything out of summer league tickets. I live in Phoenix and will be heading up to Vegas for one of the games next week. It’s not much, I know… but it’s what I can do to help. Well, that and buy merch.

  • BlaseE

    My friend and I thought about getting season tickets and priced them at the end of the season and sort of decided they were too much money. After the Richard Jefferson trade, we brought it up again.

    Basically, our FO is going all in financially. Tim Duncan is the youngest you can ever see him play again (obviously). Manu is on a contract year and there is always a chance he gets injured or gets an insane offer or even traded. Odds are he will be back, but nothing is certain. Tony Parker is peaking as a star. George Hill, Roger Mason, Ian Mahinmi and Malik Hairston are all exciting developing Spurs. Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair, Marcus Haislip, and Jack McClinton are the most exciting offseason additions we’ve had in a long time (possibly since Duncan, Manu and Tony were unknown quantities by the general fan when they were drafted).

    The economy is horrible right now, but maybe it’s worth it to get on board with the FO and bite the bullet for this upcoming season. If I wait until I don’t have to really budget for tickets, the Duncan window might have passed and I may regret not seeing one of the best Spurs rosters ever.

    At the end of the season (over 2 months ago), I wrote a post on PTR about playoff contributors (players who give 10+ minutes per game and played in over half the playoff games) for the Spurs (http://www.poundingtherock.com/2009/5/6/867158/playoff-minutes-and-roster-changes). I made some obvious guesses about Gooden and Udoka and Manu, but here is what I see now.

    Playoff Contributors (minutes per playoff game predictions)
    -Carry-Overs:
    Duncan (30+)
    Tony (30+)
    Mason (20-25)
    Finley (down to 10-20)
    Bonner (10-15 or non-contributor)
    Hill (15-25 range depending on development)

    -Losses (Fab and JV don’t even qualify):
    Bowen (26)
    Udoka (21)
    Thomas (16)
    Gooden (18)

    -Additions
    Manu (25-30+)
    RJ (30+)
    Antonio McDyess (25-30+)
    DeJuan Blair (10-20)
    Haislip (10-20)

    That is 11 contributors already. You add in if Ian, McClinton, Hairston, or Williams steps up or someone like Austin Nichols gets signed to the vet. minimum to fill out the roster, and this team is absolutely exploding with improvement.

    From my conclusions post in the comments of that link:

    “Pau played almost 40 minutes per game last season in the playoffs. Who guards him for all those minutes? With Bynum in with him? With either in for the whole game?

    We have no chance of getting a 40+ minute guy (if Pop would even let someone play those minutes). We need a big that can take 30+ minutes along with Duncan.”

    McDyess is that 30+ minute guy.

    “Even Horry and Finley as veterans have thrown in 27 and 32 mpg playoffs for us. It seems like we win championships when we add aggressive offensive pieces to a solid defensive foundation. First young TD, then young TP , Manu and Capt. Jack, then Capt Jack gets replaced with Barry and Horry while Parker and Manu only get better. In 07, we had a hungry Finley who had played 32 mpg the year before and playoffs and threw in a great 27 mpg that year. I think Mason and Hill shore up our guards/small forward offense. We just need defensive guys at PF/C and SF to complete the team. And ideally one of those PF/C can play 35 mpg against the Lakers in the playoffs. I don’t really see a committee including Bonner and KT being able to get it done.”

    I think RJ is that SF. McDyess/Blair/Ian/Haislip is that PF/C.

    Basically, we were in a dire place (first round exit), and our FO pulled some magic to change our team’s fate this offseason. If our new pieces commit to team defense and Pop philosophy, we are the top title contender in my (biased) mind. I wrote all of that but here is the one sentence that you really have to read: We added everything our team was missing last season and we won 54 games last season. Finley and Bonner who we desperately depended on are now 1-2 and 3-5 spots deeper on the bench respectively compared to their starting roles.

    I (boldly) predict 63 wins next season and a Boston/Spurs finals with us winning in 7 at home. Go Spurs Go!!!

    (If you read all that, thanks.)

  • Krista

    Going into my 14th season as a season ticket holder, I can tell you the front office does think of the fans. This past season, going into the time when we had to decide whether to buy playoff tickets, the Spurs changed their policy. In all previous seasons, fans had to buy all 16 (or previously 15) possible home games in one payment, several months before the playoffs began. This past year, they allowed us the option of being billed for only home games played, AFTER the round was over. So, instead of 16 games upfront, I only had to pay for 3 after round 1.

    Usually, we wouldn’t get our money back from unused playoff tickets until they were applied to our unpaid portion of the next years season tickets, or refunded the money after the next season began. The Spurs lost a ton of interest on all that money they normally got to hang on to for 5 or more months.

    One thing I appreciate is that the Spurs recognize that Tim only has a few years left, and have shown their committment to going all out and staying competitive for the duration.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    LasEspuelas,

    That is an excellent question that, interestingly enough, few people can answer for you.

    The NBA has numerous revenue streams: Ticket sales, concession sales, apparel sales, broadcast agreements. But the league actively obfuscates our ability to understand how that revenue is divided.

    I can’t go into a lot of detail but, suffice it to say, there is a group of us working on giving you a very thorough answer.

  • Jordan

    So, with some of us living outside the area of SA what’s the best way to show some appreciation? I can’t make it to watch a Spurs home game, low finances combines with high airline tickets, so I was wondering what can I purchase that will help the FO from up in Idaho? Do they get a portion of profit from NBATV?

  • BlaseE

    The official Spurs fan shop has to be a good place to start.

    http://www.spursfanshop.com/

    I have no idea how much NBA.com takes from theirs and how much the team actually sees.

  • Matt Steele

    I have also never been to SA (though I’m hoping too soon) and live in DC. If there’s any way I can do anything like buy merchandise or something that will benefit the team, let me know

  • manufan

    If you buy any new Spurs merchandise in any store it will help the team. Jerseys are my personal favorite. After this offseason I have to have at least three freshly inprinted home jerseys.

  • agutierrez

    I think all of us who have kept up with Spurs basketball over the years recognize what a great owner (and more importantly, person) Peter Holt is. Now, maybe the rest of the world does to. I can’t help but believe that the organization also looked at the difference in revenue this year with a first round exit, last year with a Western division finals exit and the year before with a championship and compared revenues. With respect to Manu, I think they clearly recognize that an All-Star caliber Latino player is gold in a city that is over 60% Latino (not to mention the entire South Texas region which is well over 75% Hispanic, and those folks happily drive to SA to see him and the Spurs play). That’s what Tony meant when he said: “…he even speaks Spanish.” I can’t imagine them letting him go next year unless his injuries recur and appear to be career-ending (see Yao Ming).

  • MexicanLucas

    (First off congrats on the site Mr. Gordian and Mr. Varner, best Spurs site on the net. Just discovered it this week via the True Hoop Network. Was writing this reply for the previous article, but now feel it more accurately fits your new post. Sorry for the length, can’t hide the excitement!)

    Wow. That’s all I can say. I won’t go as far as saying the Spurs will win the Championship, far from it (now even the Mavs look capable of providing a playoff scare). But they are in the ballpark. As a fan it’s all you want. Being from Mexico that’s the prevailing theme my friends and I point out when discussing the lame and lackadaisical approach our Soccer Federation takes towards OUR National Team. The least they could do is try!

    As a sports fan nothing is guaranteed to us. In exchange for the loyalty we provide and the hard earned money (and time) we spend following our different teams, all we ask of owners and front offices is that they try. And boy have Peter Holt, R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich tried. Yes, sports teams belong to individuals who bought them with THEIR hard earned money and technically are free to do with them what they please (see Sterling, Donald), but altruistically most of us feel there is something more to owning a sports franchise. Most notably one never refers to a company, be it Coca-Cola or Nestle as us, but when our team or our country does something we call it US or WE.

    Although it is not the entirely the case, one can argue that luck played a big role in US getting The Admiral, Timmy, Manu and Tony. But this, this a whole different animal. The Spurs where as good as dead. A playoff team for sure, but nothing more. Prior to the draft, Bill Simmons (ESPN’s Sports Guy) even went as far as suggesting WE trade Parker to Minnesota for Randy Foye, the No. 6 pick and Brian Cardinal’s expiring contract. This, in a last ditch effort to provide Duncan with the slimmest of shots at a fifth title. Not privy to the exact details of the Spurs Contracts, I was even starting to believe in his hypothesis. In essence that Duncan was untradeable, Ginobili an injury liability with limited trade value and most of all, that the biggest mistake teams on the downswing make is not having the guts to at least provide their star with a realistic shot of winning it all. That teams needed to do this by getting rid of one of their assets while they still had value. Both to give their main star (and their fans) a realistic shot at a title, and to rebuild all at the same time. See: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090522/part2&sportCat=nba

    Well Mr. Simmons, the Spurs one upped you on this one. First off Peter Holt paying the luxury tax, I must imagine, took everyone by surprise (although I suspect Pop and R.C. are not done on this front, more on this later). Secondly, hats off to R.C. and Pop for having the savvy to structure all 15 of their contracts in such a way as to provide the team with the flexibility to do the Jefferson deal. Most everyone is mad as hell that the the Spurs got RJ for 3 players that essentially amounted to scrap (on the playing side, as human beings, three of the classiest). But all they did was find a trading partner that was hampered by the economy and looking to shed a big contract (albeit a 2 year one). As my college counselor once told me, luck happens when opportunity meets preparation, and this my friends was just the case.

    The Spurs had prepared for this years in advance. As Mr. Varner states in his previous post they are not resting on their laurels. Now doing the same thing for the Summer of 2012 (not 10). Why waste a year, when Duncan’s window is now, and rapidly closing. Every year counts. Over the long run I would have preferred they sign Marvin Williams at 8 million a Pop as opposed to Jefferson at 15 per, but doing so would have required a 1 year wait and would not have rid us of the three contracts sent to Milwaukee. Plus RJ is a player for the now, his experience gives Duncan the best shot at winning THIS year. In a field of dreams here’s to hoping Marvin plays on his one year tender, and next year considers the Spurs overtures to join their deep squad. I know they where looking at Childress, but Williams has more upside and I believe is better defensively with corner range.

    This is where I have a feeling the Spurs might not be done. Not that they’re going to add Williams, but something just doesn’t feel right regarding the Mason/Finley/Bonner trifecta (you can add MARCUS Williams to the mix). I have a feeling something is going to happen with some of them before the trade deadline. Either to minimize the tax hit or to further enhance their roster for now and for coming years. Bonner’s the most likely candidate to leave. He just doesn’t fit the Spurs system all to well. Heading into the season, if Manu is healthy and McClinton proves he can be the third guy off the bench at the 2 position (behind Finley and Ginobili), don’t be surprised to see Mason (or Finley) dealt. Although I don’t exactly understand Finley’s trade restrictions, but have a feeling the Spurs secretly did not want him to sign his player option.

    As per next year, seems like a lock Splitter is joining the squad. Again minor miracle if he does it this season, with the rumors that Unicaja his Spanish team is in a bit of a financial bind. Very well set cap wise for the 2 years after this, main dilemma being Ginobili’s new contract and Tony’s extension. We’ll see how this year plays out and go from there, but I sure hope R.C. and Pop reward Manu for previously signing an undervalued deal, for willingly coming off the bench and for all the excitement and championships he has helped US win. As per the three players let go, wouldn’t be surprised if Oberto comes back. He’s getting some free money from Detroit, might be willing to fit somewhere in the 10-15th man range. Providing some true center relief for when we face the really big bodied centers, and just in case we lose someone to injury. Most likely scenario is that Gist gets this role once Bonner is off the books, though he’s not a center. Just one more PF to add to the mix. Bowen’s most likely return, after the sigining of Hairston, would be as an assistant coach specializing on wing defense. This once he’s done giving it his all, and for our sake, hopefullly not for a contender.

    Again, congrats and many thanks to Mr. Holt, Pop and RC. Looking forward to next year like I never imagined, Go Spurs Go!

  • Bentley

    It’s funny because all I really cared about were the Spurs winning championships and getting the palyers we needed to win that championship. I thought the owners were just people who just own whatever our team happens to do. But now I’m starting to realize that had it not been for great ownership, on the part of Peter Holt’s dedication to his team, and for the great work of our front office, the Spurs may have still been a team without a championship

  • Latin_D

    Well, I’ll be getting courtside seats if at all possible when I travel next year, so I’ll do my best to chip in.

    Great writing as always, Graydon.

  • SAJKinBigD

    I just wanted to say that Holt represents all that is right about Fan-Owners!
    Living in Dallas, I have to put up with the petulant and immature Cuban day-in, day-out. Ugh. Cuban’s worth 25 times Holt, money-wise, but he constantly overpays for players that aren’t worth their salt like their issue with Dampier right now. The dude’s worth more as a trade piece than he is on the floor. Sad.
    The Marion signing for Dallas is possibly troublesome for the Spurs, but we’ll have to see how things play out in the season. Marion’s never wanted to be a PIECE, he’s always wanted to be THE MAN. Not gonna happen in Dallas, so we’ll see if he ends up working out or turning into an Iverson-esque attitude issue. Meanwhile, I’m still hearing people say, “The Spurs made some nice moves, but not enough.” We’ll see; we’ll see!
    In the end, Thank you, Mr. Holt, RC and Pop! You’ve kept the window open for TD’s fifth (maybe sixth) title as well as ensured viability into the future!

  • DanielB

    Thank you Mr. Holt, RC, and Pop! (Our Big 3).

  • movingpicture

    Excellent write up. We’re all pretty lucky to be Spurs fans. I really want to make it out to SA and watch a game.

  • este

    What a difference a year makes. I don’t know if any Spurs fans were excited about the coming season last year at this time. We were dealing with injured Manu, and were simply getting older and less athletic. None of our overseas or Toro’s prospects were paying dividends all that couple with the resurgence of the evil Laker empire. Of course we didn’t know what an absolute steal in FA that Mason, Jr. would turn out to be or how promising and talented G. Hill would be.

    I know I didn’t feel this way at this time last year but I can’t wait for Nov. to roll around and see this group in action.

  • Juan

    Thank you Mr. Holt. Thanks to the FO people and thank you Graydon and Tim. This is the most involved I have ever been as a Spurs fan. I’m from Mexico so it’s hard for me to follow the NBA as much as I want or at all because of non-existing coverage from local or national networks. I have the occasional cable ESPN game to watch and sometimes not even that. I heard NBA League Pass will be available through the Internet without being a full TV customer, which is not available here (at least legally) so I will definitely look into that. So far it has only been partially available (a few games a week) on selected satellite services and it costs almost as much as the real thing. Is there a cheaper one-team version of it?

    I’ll try to convince my wife of getting personalized jerseys for both of us and help out 😀

  • Mike

    I live in the LA area, am a die-hard Laker fan and want to congratulate your team on the savvy acquisitions it has made.

    Although I have a lot of confidence in my team (as a healthy Bynum will be a *beast* that we didn’t have in this year’s playoffs, and Kobe and the whole team will learn to work off of Artest’s defense in amazing ways), the Spurs will provide serious competition to the Lakers in the playoffs and I look forward to a classic Western Conference Finals between them next spring.

    In some ways, it would be really fun to put the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Celtics, Cavs and Magic into a six team round robin for a few weeks nest spring and see which two arose to play for the title. But since that can’t happen, I’d be content to see us play you guys in the playoffs and settle the ‘team of the decade +’ argument going back to 1998-1999 through 2009-2010…..

  • Rey

    I read Peter Holt’s (short) biography in Wikipedia, and hell, this guy’s not just a businessman, but he’s one heck of a guy. I’m a Spurs fan primarily because of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, but after reading the owner’s story (yeah, I’m that slow), I think I fell in love with the franchise more.

    I don’t live in San Antonio - heck, I don’t even live in the United States, but my good friend and former bandmate lives there and I encourage her and her husband to attend Spurs games and send me pictures of the Spurs when they do attend.

    I wish I could help the Spurs and Peter Holt in whatever way I can. Being there and buying tickets are out of the question, and I’m not really sure if demanding my local basketball channel to show more Spurs games would count, but hey Peter Holt, in case you need a physician outside the US (but I hope you don’t coz we’re praying you’d stay healthy and OK), you can always reach me.

    Maybe the Spurs can put out a website where fans could download or get stuffs for a small fee? Kinda like iTunes or something, except that instead of songs, we could download Spurs games, videos and other exclusive Spurs merchandise, or maybe have a monthly bid for special products (autographed jerseys, balls, the 2010 NBA Finals champion banner with everyone in the Spurs organization’s signature, etc).

  • SpursfanSteve

    I did my part. 80$ in merchandise from the spurs fan shop. Including a Tim Duncan mug. pretty nifty. you should go buy one.

  • David

    Thanks, Mr. Holt.

    And expect more money next year, cause Splitter is coming, man!!

  • LiverSpursFan

    why doesn’t Mr. Holt bring on a second financial partner? Why doesn’t Mr. Holt promote the Spurs sales of merchandise the way Mark Cuban does for the lousy Mavericks?

    I’ve always thought that selling stock to the citizens of San Antonio would be a sure fire way of keeping the team in the city forever, much the way the Green Bay Packers do. Why is this not an option for the citizens of San Antonio?

    I know the big fear in selling the Spurs, or bringing on a majority owner, with cash, is that they will be relocated to a bigger city. Is that really a concern anymore, I mean I think the Spurs are synonymous with two things, winning and San Antonio.

    Peter Holt may be a good man, but it may be the reality that he’s just not that good of a business man. Luckily for him, and the rest of San Antonio, he’s not actually making basketball decisions, unlike our lousy neighbors to the north. :)

    I may live in Dallas but I’ll never be a Mav’s fan!!!!!

  • bduran

    I have always been a huge admirer of Peter Holt. I’ve long thought that even though he’s not near as rich as most other owners, he’s been committed to doing what it takes to win. On top of that, the guy is a highly decorated vet, having been awarded 3 bronze stars and a silver star. One of the things that I love about this organization is that we have great character, from the top down.

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  • Mike

    Thank you Mr. Holt for the sacrifice that you have made this offseason to make our beloved Spurs a contender for another ring. I am confident your investment will reap a great reward for the city of San Antonio and theSpur fans around the world. When I lived in San Antonio I really enjoyed attending the games in the Hemisphere Arena and Alamodome. Since moving to Memphis, Tn. in 1997, I still get my Spurs fix by making my annual trek to “First City” of roundball in Texas. Hopefully this year will be no different. I will, out of gratitude to your effort to make the team better, purchase my tickets for my family as soon as the schedule is released. I really don’t mind traveling 735 miles to see a team that is about winning championships and not just pitching pennies.

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  • krista

    LiverSpursFan… Holt is one of the owners. There is an ownership group. (David Robinson is one of the minority owners.). And the Spurs do push merchandise. Living in Dallas you may not see it but it is done. And I would not question Holts business acumen when he’s built his fortune, unlike Cuban who got lucky by selling a good business at the right time (just before the dot com bust).

  • Michael

    Thanks Peter Holt!!! You are truly a great owner! I am a SA Native who went to college in Dallas, and boy was it good to rub in their faces our 4 championships over their… how many is it agian….. oh yeah BIG FAT 0!!!!! haha…. anyways… its your commitment to pop, r.c., and the rest of the guys and the city of SA that has kept our team GREAT!!!! THANKS!

  • Gr8 Scott

    Although I am a lifelong Laker fan who moved to San Antonio almost ten years ago, the Spurs ownership group is to be commended for their tireless efforts to keep the Spurs around and relevant. It’s a shame that they don’t have a downtown arena (the SBC/AT&T arena is horrible and no one sticks around after the games), but hopefully in 20 years Holt & Co. can get that right with a second chance. Next year should be fun for Spurs fans and they may get another chance to see their team tangle with the Purple and Gold Gods from LA.

  • a buckner

    Is there a way a die hard Spurs fan can show appreciation by just mailing money to the Spurs directly. I’m military and live out of state, but I’ve been a fan since the days of the David Robinson draft; I can only get back for a couple of games a season at most. Can the Spurs sell phantom tickets to a “wish I were there” section with unlimited seating? I would certainly send a hundred-sort of like the days of Charlie Finnley and his “own a piece of a Jock” campaign. Give me a website and I’d contribute today. Thats a legal way to show support for political causes that someone I won’t mention recently utilized sucessfully.

  • LiverSpursFan

    Krista . . . . . . i’ll be honest i didn’t know there was an ownership group and i really didn’t mean to question Holt’s business acumen. but let’s be honest, have we not, in the past, been victim to the lack of spending in this organization?

    this has been the case pre-Holt, and in some ways has remained the case during his ownership. i’m old enough to remember the heart ache of watching Robinson toil in obscurity achieving so much with so little. don’t get me wrong, all of that changed once Holt bought the Spurs.

    my point is simply this, don’t spend exorbitantly on players the media deem worthy, but spend enough money to keep your team competitive. this is the case in any sport in any league around the world. i think Holt needs to trust his leadership in place more and spend more money on players Pop deems necessary.

    i think this is why we are all really shocked at this season’s spending. we recognize Holt’s commitment to winning this season. all i am saying is, we need this commitment every season.

    with respect . . . . .

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  • http://www.facebook.com/priceperhead1 Jake Richards

    Totally agree that Holt has made a difference … a huge difference between the common good and the good of oneself only. It’s exemplary. Excellent site and great summary.