How the San Antonio Spurs Built a Winning Content Game Plan

The Spurs legacy on and off the court

The San Antonio Spurs are a five-time NBA champion with a proud history of excellence both on the hardwood and in the community. As part of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, they also operate the Austin Spurs, San Antonio FC, and the Frost Bank Center. With such a broad scope and decades of history, the organization needed a smarter way to manage, protect, and share its growing archive of photos. 

The challenge: Organizing decades of visual history

Ben Zuber, Senior Coordinator of Content Operations, spends his days managing the Spurs’ photo library and ensuring staff, partners, and stakeholders can access whatever they need. His role requires balancing daily requests with preserving historic content. Without a centralized, searchable system, locating assets took far too long; partners couldn’t find what they needed on their own, and there was no straightforward process for featuring fan content.

Key challenges included:

• No easy way to find historic photos. “One of my first tasks here was writing metadata on old photos dating back to the 70s,” said Zuber. Without standards in place, decades of important content were difficult to find and often overlooked.
• Scattered content across disconnected platforms. The team juggled Getty Images, Box folders, and other storage spaces. “There were a lot of old Box folders that had random photos in them,” Zuber explained, making consistent access nearly impossible.
• Box doesn’t have search or partner-friendly tools. Locating specific signage or sponsored assets in Box was a struggle. As Zuber noted, “If someone took 200 pictures of specific signage, you couldn’t search for that in Box. You wouldn’t get the exact thing you’re looking for.”
• No formal process for fan or community submissions. The Spurs had occasionally solicited photos on Instagram, but lacked a proper user-generated content (UGC) system. “There wasn’t any formal process where people could upload photos to a specific link so we could look through them,” Zuber said.

“We didn’t have that metadata on the older images, and a lot of that was falling by the wayside. There wasn’t much in the way of best practices for photos.”

Ben Zuber, Senior Coordinator of Content Operations, San Antonio Spurs

The solution: Creating a simple, easy content playbook

Before PhotoShelter, the Spurs were stuck with disconnected systems and time-consuming content requests. After team photographer Reggie Thomas recommended PhotoShelter to the organization, they now operate with a streamlined, searchable library that empowers every member of their team. 

Here’s how PhotoShelter changed the game:

• Metadata standards make content instantly searchable. The team applied consistent tagging across the archive, led by their team photographer to set a new standard. “We’ve been a lot more rigid and very strict on metadata standards,” Zuber explained, “which makes it really easy to search our library, and that also extends to our freelancers as well.”
• Invited users self-serve from curated galleries. With 200+ invited users, staff, partners, and sponsors can quickly find what they need. “Instead of people saying, ‘I need a picture of this,’ I usually direct them to PhotoShelter,” said Zuber. “They search for themselves, and they can find what they need.”
• Granular permissions protect sensitive content. The team assigns specific access to groups like PR, social, and partners. Zuber points out, “In PhotoShelter, you can really hone in on a specific gallery to find what you’re looking for.” Historic photos stay secure while campaign assets remain shareable.

UGC tools unlock authentic fan-driven content

Around the NBA Draft, the Spurs tested PhotoShelter UGC using QR codes online and at in-person events. Fans were invited to share how they were watching by uploading photos through a branded PhotoShelter UGC page that were later shared by the team.

With Marketing Manager Morgan Wuebben leading the project, PhotoShelter UGC was up and running just in time for the Draft, playing a key role in the marketing department’s early data collection efforts. The team promoted links on social media, too, making it easy to capture real-time fan reactions without relying on hashtags or DMs. Fans’ photos had a direct path from upload to spotlight.

Now, the Spurs see UGC as a way to generate authentic content for social and even build partnership assets.

“Once we got our legal details squared away and it was all set up, it was really easy to go through and put the QR codes live and get some content rolling in. And our team ended up posting some of those photos a couple days later. And there’s definitely more to come. Our marketing department was interested in using it for a bunch of different purposes.”

Ben Zuber, Senior Coordinator of Content Operations, San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs run on PhotoShelter

With PhotoShelter, the Spurs no longer spend hours chasing files or fielding requests. Instead, their team focuses on creating and sharing the moments that matter most. Faster workflows mean stronger partnerships, richer fan connections, and more opportunities to tell the Spurs story at scale.

“Having all the photos in one place is definitely good for the entire organization. There’s not a week that goes by when I’m not adding somebody new into the platform. So it’s super helpful, especially when there are higher-ups in there who can see and access whatever they need, from historic photos to partnership content. They’re all there! Now, nobody needs to ask for specific photos – they can look for them on their own. And that’s definitely gonna be a time saver for a lot of people.”

Ben Zuber, Senior Coordinator of Content Operations, San Antonio Spurs