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Have noticed it too
When watching the Spurs away games on the Tele, there seem to be a lot of Spurs fans all over the place. Have you guys noticed the Spurs becoming a bigger draw away from home? How do the Spurs compare against other teams. I know it used to be bad but the eye test seems to be changing. Any thoughts?
Have noticed it too
Well, as a Spurs fan since 1990 who's never lived in Texas, let alone San Antonio (though I've been to visit and have seen games there), I've seen most live games at Oakland and Sacramento and the latter has always had plenty of Spurs fans but the amount has grown since Kawhi came aboard. People have told me Kawhi has given the team more excitement although true Spurs fans know about Pop's switch from the 4 down days came before Kawhi's arrival and that's what ignited this "excitement" mainstream fans bring up. As for the Warrior games, there used to be a lot of Spurs fans mainly on the strength of Latinos supporting Manu but as of 2014, I feel like I'm the only Spurs fan left when I go there.
I'm sure it's improved, but there are lots of factors.
- bad teams have other teams fans come to their home games, because you can usually get tickets cheaper and also better seating in general.
- also, if both teams are good, opposing fans want to be there just to gloat if their team wins on their rivals home floor.
- big market teams, if they are decent or have a history (like Celtics/Lakers) always have so-called fans come to their away games. I always hated going to the Alamodome or the Hemisfair Arena and seeing all those Laker jerseys.
- the international affect - we have players representing their countries not to mention the Spurs.
- The Spurs in the last 3 or so years, especially after dismantling the Heat in the finals with the "beautiful game" have gained fans nationwide.
The beautiful game effect tbh
I've seen far more Spurs games in Houston and Dallas than I have in San Antonio. If the Spurs were a draw, you'd never hear about it from ESPN, but if they didn't actually have a decent-sized fanbase, ESPN wouldn't go to so much trouble to troll them.
I went to away games in 4 different cities last season and there were tons of Spurs fans & Spurs player fans at those arenas. The largest turnout I saw was at the Miami game in March. I didn't realize so many people from Argentina lived in Miami. But I think that had alot to do with the fact that the Spurs were the champs in 2014 & the Miami crowd was all about showcasing pride for a fellow countrymen who had helped demolished the home team in the previous finals.
The 2014 le fattened the Spurs bandwagon like . They quit being known as the boring team that just dumps the ball into Duncan (though they haven't played like that in ages).
Bandwagon gots them
Yeah it's the bandwagon effect. Spurs have been winning 60 games a season for awhile now (rarely going below that) and have been a top offensive team nearly every year since 2011. Being in the Finals back to back years, very nearly winning then CRUSHING the hated LeBron Heat team. . .then getting Aldridge and West this offseason and Kawhi turning into a solid star player. . .people are bandwagoning like atm.
The Spurs are 19th in the league in road attendance this year. Not sure that means much except the Lakers, Cavs and Thunder are numbers 1, 2 and 3. The Warriors are sixth. But I do see a lot of Spurs fans in the stands at most road games.
There was one possession when we played Detroit, that we were moving the ball like we did in the 2014 finals. I actually heard Detroit fans cheering at that. And we didn't even score on that possession.
most of their road games this season have been against crap teams
I once ran into a dude in a Spurs' Dejuan Blair jersey in a subway in Kharkov, Ukraine. Dude was from Senegal. Spurs fandom is very international too.
Fans come mostly to see all-stars play. That's the draw.
You can just head over to stubhub and compare the prices for the Spurs vs a team with stars like the Cavs, OKC, Clippers etc. Spurs does not command high prices and this is an indication of weaker demand.
However, there are ton of Spurs fans everywhere. They do come to watch the game and at times dominate the stadium of the home team.
KL and LMA
I got a lot of chatter about my Spurs hat last year in Paris and Italy too--them Parker/Diaw, Belli fans. There's definitely an international fan base (which only makes sense).
amazing
WTF? Don't you know they send a lot of unwanted clothing to Africa to be resold?
So like T-shirts proclaim Spurs at the 2013 NBA Champions... you can find that in Africa.
It has grown the last 4-5 years... I've been attending road games in the NE since '03 and it's night and day... lots more Spurs fans now, probably the continued success has a lot to do with that.
It was a nice jersey not some cheap t-shirt. If I had to guess the Senegalese guy may have been a fan because of Boris's Senegalese roots. (Though why he had a blair jersey then, I don't know).
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