SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County commissioners have taken the next step towards helping finance a new stadium for the San Antonio Spurs in downtown.
On Tuesday during commissioners court, commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between them, the City of San Antonio, and San Antonio Spurs Holdings L.L.C.
The MOU enables all parties to begin talks and get on the same page regarding the finances of a new Spurs arena.
The arena is part of the much larger “Project Marvel” that the city has planned as a way to redevelop and reimagine downtown San Antonio.
This MOH now needs to be approved by the city and the Spurs. The city council will discuss it on Wednesday during B-session, and potentially approve it in A-session on Thursday.
Ultimately, the financial contribution from the city will be determined by the county taxpayers and voters. They are the ones who will vote on a potential raise in the venue tax from 1.75% to 2% or a re-distribution of how that tax is used.
The venue tax affects mainly tourists who rent cars and sleep in the cities hotels. Some municipalities call it a “hotel/motel” tax.
County Judge Peter Sakai said this could potentially make it onto the November 2025 ballot, but that all options are open to him and he doesn’t mind waiting until May 2026 to send this to the voters.
“We are working on things,” Sakai said. “We have consultants, and we hope to have a presentation sooner than later, well before this November election, so the taxpayer, the voters, understand what this county venue tax is all about.”
Sakai made clear numerous times that putting this on the backs of County taxpayers is a non starter for him.
“For me to continue to have the county be invested, no homeowner property tax,” he said. “It cannot fall on the seniors. It cannot fall under disabled. It cannot fall on the veterans who are on fixed income. That’s that’s a deal breaker for me.”
During the meeting, commissioners also received a presentation on how much it will cost the County to continue to renovate and bring up to code the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum.
According to the numbers, the Frost Bank Center could need more $244 million in renovations over the next 20 years. That money also comes out of the venue tax.
“We’re going to take care of the Frost Bank center, the Freeman Coliseum, and the Coliseum grounds and commit to the redevelopment around that county investment,” Sakai said. “Which obviously was promised when the Spurs moved from the Alamodome to the AT&T Center, which is now the Frost Bank Center.”
Sakai reiterated that it is the one of the county’s top priorities to continue to make sure that the Frost Bank Center is viable and usable as a venue whether the Spurs play there or not.
“It has to be sustainable and viable for the long term,” Sakai said. “So that’s the reason why the county needs to be at the table in these negotiations, so that I can protect the Frost Bank Center. We will have two major venues for either sporting events, concerts or whatever events are going on. Now, I got to make sure that the Frost Bank Center does not turn into the next Astrodome in Houston, Texas.”
Community partners and business leaders like the Greater San Antonio Chamber are excited about the possibility of a downtown arena.
“The synergistic value to the restaurants to the community, I think it’ll really be a great step, but you’ve still got to get to the devil in the details of how you put this together,” Jeff Webster, President and CEO of the Greater Chamber, said.
Webster said “Project Marvel” is like a 15-round championship fight and these MOU’s being signed is just something that happens in the early rounds. He said it’s all about what comes next.
“It’s easy to draw a picture, it’s harder to deliver,” he said. “And I think we’re getting into that phase. We can start putting the delivery together and figuring out what those details are. “
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