In appearance, the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio is a gigantic arena (19,000 seats) like American sport provides so many, with a big omnipresent sound system, overpriced hot dogs and a giant screen embarrassing the “bad fans” who refuse to wear the plain t-shirts offered by the Spurs for each game of these NBA play-offs. Except that on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (3:30 a.m.), during game 5 of the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, which could validate the Texans’ qualification (3-1 in the series), a surprising kop will once again stand out in the panorama.
Megaphone, drum, pre-match clapping… The eternal codes ofentertainment US are blithely flouted this season in San Antonio. The reason? The presence of 83 Spurs Jackals, standing during the entirety of each match, and regularly cheering with « There’s only one San Antonio », « Steph Castle time, never seen someone so good, so good, so good, so good » to the tune of Sweet Caroline, or from « Spurs are on fire, your defense is terrified ”, obviously on the Freed from desire gala.
A hundred motivated people on a Sunday at 7 a.m.
But how did we go from the rare “Defense, defense”, chanted lip service between two onion rings, to around ten such original songs in the United States? Don’t look too far, as for the stunning sporting success of the Spurs (2nd in the West) in 2025-2026, this beautiful curiosity is signed Victor Wembanyama. Because where the LA Clippers focused on a “university atmosphere” for the 4,500 fans placed in the “Wall” of its colossal Intuit Dome, “Wemby” wanted to bring back its European touch.
Last September, the French kingpin of 2.24 m launched his project on social networks by inviting to a mysterious hearing fans intrigued by this concept of “ultras” still unknown in the country of Donald Trump. From 7 a.m. on Sunday September 14, around a hundred motivated people gathered near the Frost Bank Center, to show their inspirations/talents to Victor Wembanyama himself.
Suddenly, “Wemby” launches a PowerPoint
Installed on a throne of ice facing the candidates, he shortly after chose his seven New Stars, promoted to captains of this new group of supporters for the entire season. What followed was a call from “Wemby” to each of them to announce their “draft” and ask them to go to Spurs training the next morning, in order to best validate his crazy idea. Problem for Peyton Janssen (28 years old) and his friend Patrick “Big Red” Carson, both selected by the Olympic vice-champion: they are then at a friend’s wedding… in Arkansas, a nine-hour drive from San Antonio.
“At that time we had absolutely no idea what was going on but we had to hit the road so as not to miss it,” remembers Peyton Janssen, “singing leader” of the group. We left the wedding at midnight, drove all night and ended up sitting in the video room at the Spurs training center. In front of us, Victor led the entire session with a PowerPoint presentation titled “Launching the NBA’s First Ultras: Creating a Cultural Movement for the San Antonio Spurs.” It was one of the most incredible moments of my life. We literally brainstormed with him for three hours. »
The songs of the PSG ultras as a major inspiration
The name “Jackals” then comes out of “Wemby’s” hat, just like the major songs of the Collectif Ultras Paris, which he shared with them, as a fervent supporter of PSG. Then it’s time for a training match to test the system, unsurprisingly hesitant at first.
« To be honest, it didn’t work at all at first, because the NBA is completely different from the atmosphere in Europe. Here, the sound system is constantly playing music and we had to fight against it to try to impose our songs. And then we are only 83 members in total, or 0.004% of the total attendance of the room. We had the impression that the people seated could no longer enjoy their beer and their food as much because of us… Nobody was used to this noisy atmosphere, it took us a while to be well perceived in the room. »
At each pre-game at the Frost Bank Center, the group continues to make itself known by rehearsing its main songs with a curious audience, and by distributing sheets with the lyrics. Often disguised in the stands, Mario Moreno (35), the other singing leader of the Jackals, talks about “a testing period from September to March”, and a cooperation in constant progress with Carter Snowden, entertainment coordinator for the Spurs.
The sound system sometimes muted to make room for them
“We talk in the middle of a match with Carter and we say to ourselves for example: ‘OK, on the next possession, we start the chant olé olé olé olé, go Spurs” (closer toIntervilles than ultra turns). You have to understand that this is completely new in American sport, whereas in Europe you have been letting the ultras run wild for decades.”
Peyton Janssen adds: “Now, if we make enough noise in sequence, the room’s sound system cuts out. The Spurs are really nice because sometimes all we hear is us. Some opposing players hallucinate and laugh when they see us, like Pascal Siakam (Indiana).” With a golden rule within the young group: never throw insults or hostile songs against an opponent. “We’re definitely not going to start booing or provoking a Steph Curry, he’s going to give us 50 pawns if we annoy him,” smiles Peyton Janssen.
The atmosphere therefore remains good-natured in this project that Victor Wembanyama continues to follow closely, despite all the demands that accompany his life as an NBA superstar. Mario Moreno recounts another long meeting in the middle of the season with his favorite player, then injured in the calf in November and stuck in San Antonio: “He contacted us so that we could have lunch with him. The idea was to share his feedback on the Jackals. He told us, “Let’s simplify the chants and try to get the arena more involved.” We really took that to heart. And sometimes Spurs still contact us saying: ‘Victor has prepared some ideas for you via SMS.’ »
“He who does not jump is not a Spur”
So many adjustments which leave room for the songs of the Jackals, and which may have contributed to the Spurs’ remarkable record at home in the regular season (32 victories and 8 defeats). “Victor’s ambition was clearly there at the start: to make San Antonio the place where it was going to be the most difficult to play in the entire NBA,” underlines Carolina Teague, journalist for the Spurfect site. We see how involved he was in this project. » The Jackals also drew inspiration from “ultra culture” by exchanging this year with the French media Trashtalk and the group Spurs Nation France, visiting Texas. With the key of “Chalalalalalala, thank you Wemby” which accompany the free throws of the best defender of the season… and even a “Who does not jump is not a Spur”, in French in the text.
“Thanks to the Jackals, the energy in the room has changed a lot in San Antonio in recent months,” says Carolina Teague. Before this season, there was a bit of noise, but it was disorganized. There, the Jackals’ chants created a constant energy from the regular season onwards. And now that we are in the play-offs, everyone is singing the group chants again. I find it fair to say that today the Spurs have one of the best NBA audiences. »
With our creator as golden-boy 22 years old, how could it be otherwise? “Victor immediately really encouraged the whole room to follow us,” appreciates Peyton Janssen. And depending on whether it’s Victor or me asking San Antonio fans something, the reactions will be very different, believe me. » For suuuuuuure.
Fair play and “friendship bracelets”
So, is San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center for good the place to be on these play-offs, for any fan of big atmospheres? Mario Moreno: “The Spurs have one of the most vocal, passionate and loyal NBA fans. Even in difficult times, with these six seasons without play-offs, I remember a meeting in which the room began to humorously chant “MVP, MVP, MVP” for Dejounte Murray. Likewise, the game celebrating 50 years of the franchise at the Alamodome in January 2023 reached a record with more than 68,000 fans. Our team was trailed by 30 points to the Warriors the entire game but no one cared, we all had a great time. That says a lot about Spurs fans. » What continuation can we imagine in the European mutation of fanbase in San Antonio?
« All of this hasn’t fully taken hold in the room yet because people don’t really understand what we’re singing about, given the overall noise. We want to be ultras but we are not yet. It’s a long process to convince people to join us, we hope to approach 200 members next season. The Jackals are like a baby to Victor: he gives us carte blanche, he trusts us but he stays there to watch over us. His support has been exceptional from the start. It’s still incredible that the face of the NBA even thought about launching this project. He’s now my favorite athlete of all time, sorry Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili… »
In the middle of a “waking dream” for their first year of existence, the Jackals continue above all to have fun, with crazy disguises and an inflatable alien that looks like a mascot paying tribute to “Wemby”, without thinking too much about the prospect of a first championship ring since 2014.
Our file on Victor Wembanyama
Carolina Teague particularly appreciates another initiative by the Jackals “to bring Spurs fans closer together”: the distribution of “friendship bracelets”. This shows that these astonishing US-style ultras remain closer to the “Swifties” than to the kops of Partizan Belgrade and Olympiakos.
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