Spurs name Mindy Corr new AT&T Center GM (2024)

Mindy Corr’s first job out of college changed her career trajectory.

She initially imagined a career in sports marketing, but after taking a job at her alma mater’s arena, the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Corr encountered Nancy Beauchamp, that arena’s general manager.

Working for her, Corr said, “sparked what could be. I had no idea what went into a basketball game, a hockey game, a concert.” Seeing a woman in the role “was a trailblazing moment … a new North Star.”

Since then, Corr has been blazing her own trail as a woman in arena management, and Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) this month promoted her to general manager of the AT&T Center, in charge of the overall management, profitability, promotion and operation of the arena and its events. She previously served as associate vice president and assistant general manager, overseeing day-to-day operations and a team of more than 400.

Corr got her start with Spurs Sports & Entertainment in 2015, just before the arena underwent more than $100 million in renovations and upgrades.

Her promotion comes at a time when the AT&T Center is once again in the news, as behind-closed-doors talks of creating a downtown arena district have spilled out into the open. Those discussions have both reopened old wounds around the arena’s unfulfilled promise to spur development on the city’s East Side and launched a city-wide parlor game of where a new arena and baseball stadium might go, and who would pay for it.

First known as the SBC Center, the arena was built in 2002 for roughly $193 million. Bexar County voters approved using a tax on hotel rooms and car rentals to raise $175 million to build the stadium in 1999; the election happened to be on the same day the Spurs received their first NBA Championship rings.

The arena is owned by Bexar County, which leases it to SS&E, not just for Spurs games but also concerts and other special events.

The Spurs would go on to win four more championships at the arena, renamed the AT&T Center after SBC Communications acquired AT&T in 2005 and changed its name. The company moved its headquarters from San Antonio to Dallas in 2008, eventually selling its stake in the team and letting its naming rights deal lapse in 2021.

The Spurs announced it would seek a new buyer for the naming rights, then extended its agreement with AT&T through the 2022-23 season, and said it would keep looking for a new naming rights partner. A spokeswoman for SS&E said Friday there was no update on naming rights for next season.

The Spurs’ lease doesn’t end until 2032, so whatever plans materialize, they will be years away.

As Corr takes the helm, she does so at a moment of global attention on the team and its No. 1 draft pick, French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who has reignited San Antonians’ passionate allegiance to their team.

The best part about Wembanyama joining the team has been “the excitement of not only the community, but our staff, too,” said Corr.

Despite an expected uptick in ticket sales, Corr said most of her team’s day-to-day work won’t change.

“We just want to make sure we put our best foot forward, but that’s what we do,” she said.

Corr said she visits many other arenas as part of her efforts to maintain operational and “fan experience” excellence.

“Fans and their expectations are always changing,” and they differ from city to city, and even arena to arena, she said. “We think through the fans’ journey from the moment they decide to buy a ticket in their home to when they leave their arena to get back home. It’s something that we are constantly evaluating and making sure that we are delivering the best versions of ourselves.”

Before joining SS&E, Corr served as director of operations of the 16,000-seat XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to that she worked as director of operations for the Chesapeake Energy Arena, now the Paycom Center and home to the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

Corr joined SS&E as director of event services and soon earned “senior” in front of that title, directing daily activities for the event services and operations departments.

As GM, she will continue to report to Casey Heverling, senior vice president of facilities for SS&E.

“We are excited to elevate Mindy into this new leadership role as she is an accomplished trailblazer with a broad background in venue operations,” Heverling said in a statement. “As one of the few women holding this prestigious position nationwide, Mindy embodies our core values of integrity, success and caring.”

Heverling estimated that fewer than 20% of NBA- and NHL-affiliated arenas have general managers who are women.