Hey, look! A news drop that isn’t playoffs-related. The Spurs have announced that they will be playing two regular season games overseas for the 2026-27 season, both against the New Orleans Pelicans. The first will be in Paris, France at Accor Arena on January 14, 2027, and the second will be at Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England on January 17.
“It’s an incredible honor to make our return to France and play our first-ever game in England, given the strong embrace we’ve felt from the community and fans across Europe,” said San Antonio Spurs CEO RC Buford. “Bringing world-class basketball, community impact engagements and compelling fan activations to a European market, alongside the league, aligns directly with our organization’s vision to unite our global audience through unforgettable experiences and a shared love of sports.”
The Spurs have a unique history engaging with international basketball since joining the NBA in 1976. More than 50 international players have suited up for the franchise, including seven from France, and the team welcomed the NBA’s first-ever French jersey patch partner, Ledger, in 2025. The Spurs have made a purposeful effort to enhance the cross-cultural exchange between NBA basketball and international fans as part of the organization and league’s long-term commitment to growing the game globally, most recently hosting “Spurs Week Paris” in February 2026 and a Playoff watch party in Paris in April 2026. The January 2027 games will mark the Spurs sixth regular-season game in France and first regular-season game in England, in addition to seven preseason games played across Europe.
In addition to the games, the NBA, the Spurs and the Pelicans will conduct NBA Cares social impact programming focused on health, wellness and sustainability, coach and referee development programming and interactive fan activities that will bring the NBA experience to fans in Paris and Manchester. The Spurs will continue their work with Ledger to bring youth basketball programming and court renovation efforts across the two cities throughout the team’s time in market and will build upon their existing global programs such as Play Paris and Spurs Community Leadership Institute (SCLI) to maximize impact.
This will be Victor Wembanyama’s second time playing in his home country with the Spurs, with the first being last season in two games against the Indiana Pacers. The two teams traded blowouts, with Wemby looking good in their win and okay in their loss amidst a tough month of January for him, although we learn just a couple of weeks later that his struggles were due to deep vein thrombosis, which ended his season during the All-Star break. Hopefully he will be healthy in his return to Paris next season. He will definitely be on another level as a player and have some more hardware to show off compared to last year.
The Pelicans finished a distant 11th in the West with a 26-52 record this season despite getting 62 games from Zion Williamson — the second most of his career — but he wasn’t quite the game-changer he has been in the past (when healthy). However, they did not have former Spur Dejounte Murray most of the season after he suffered a ruptured Achilles in Janaury 2025, but he was good in the 14 games he did play towards the end of the season. They also recently hired former Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who has plenty of young talent to work with and develop — a noted strength of his.
There is certainly room for the Pelicans to improve and jump at least into the play-in next season if they stay healthy. It is often a tense match-up with the Spurs regardless of where the teams are in the standings, so it should be a good series for our overseas friends to experience.
