San Antonio City Council rejects mayor’s motion for re-vote on Spurs arena deal

The Spurs’ new arena deal cleared its latest hurdle Monday, when the San Antonio City Council denied a motion to reopen the funding to a public vote.

The team will build a $1.3 billion downtown arena, which will be paid for in part by $489 million in public funding through municipal bonds. That plan was approved by the city council when county voters approved a $311 million contribution through tourism taxes last November, with the Spurs committing to fund the final $500 million and any cost overruns.

But San Antonio mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (D) campaigned for a new vote on the upcoming November ballot to allow San Antonio residents to weigh in on the $489 million package that was only approved by the council. However, the motion was denied Monday, allowing the arena project to continue as planned.

The overall municipal bond issuance that includes the funding for the Spurs’ arena still needs to be voted on by the general public, according to the term sheet for the arena deal, but the structure of that vote is not expected to be determined until September.

Spurs CEO RC Buford spoke to the city council Monday during public comments before voting, then issued a statement after the Spurs won the vote.

“Today’s decision allows San Antonio to move forward on a path that was established through years of work, public discussion, City and County action and last year’s vote,” the statement read. “We can now turn our full attention to delivering on that shared vision and the transformational opportunity ahead for our city. We are grateful to the community, business and civic leaders, Spurs fans and residents who have taken the time to learn the facts and make their voices heard. There is still a great deal of work ahead, and we are ready for it. We remain committed to working alongside our public and community partners to deliver a downtown arena and district that strengthens San Antonio for generations to come.”

The Spurs play in one of the NBA’s oldest arenas, Frost Bank Center, which is located in a quiet part of East San Antonio that is surrounded by a golf course, a manufacturing area and a residential neighborhood. The hopes for the area surrounding the current arena to evolve into a culturally vibrant entertainment zone never materialized. Last year, the Spurs campaigned for public funding to support developing a new arena downtown, near the Alamodome, in the middle of the city’s main commercial and tourism zone.

The $1.3 billion arena is part of a larger Project Marvel downtown revitalization that will modernize the Alamodome, expand the nearby convention center and develop more hotels. It is San Antonio’s attempt to build a true sports and entertainment district in the middle of the city, to capitalize on newer high-end hotels opening in the area and the increased population growth over the past several years. Previous projected timelines have aimed for arena construction to break ground in 2029, with the Spurs playing games there in time for the start of the 2032-33 season.

Completing this arena is widely viewed as a necessity to keep the Spurs in San Antonio, as their presence in Austin has increased in recent years. The Spurs play the first two games after February’s All-Star break in Austin every year, but they have added a third against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on Austin’s F1 weekend on Oct. 23 in an attempt to strengthen their presence in front of the Austin fanbase and both regional and global business partner targets.

The team has maintained that its aim is to build a superregional fanbase and become a larger-market team, because Austin and San Antonio combined would be the 10th-largest market in the NBA. The emergence of Victor Wembanyama has dramatically increased the Spurs’ profile nationally and internationally, making this the ideal time for the franchise to lock in a new arena.