San Antonio Spurs declare victory on vote to use public funds for downtown arena

The Spurs' Peter Holt speaks to reporters after the team declared victory on Prop B. The Spurs’ Peter Holt speaks to reporters after the team declared victory on Prop B. Credit: Sanford Nowlin

San Antonio Spurs officials declared victory Tuesday night in the vote to approve using money collected from Bexar County’s visitor tax to partially fund a new downtown arena at Hemisfair.

With around two-thirds of the vote counted at press time, Proposition B, which clears the use of $311 million in hotel and rental-car tax dollars to help fund the $1.3 billion basketball facility, had 52.99% support to 47.1% opposition.

The less-controversial proposition A would pump $192 million into turning the Frost Bank Center, which the NBA team will vacate for the new downtown site, and surrounding facilities into year-round rodeo grounds. That proposal had 57.27%-42.73% approval at press time.

“This is something really special,” Spurs Managing Partner Peter Holt said of the vote the Spurs’ watch party. “It’s going to help the Spurs, it’s going to help the rodeo, it’s going to help all sectors of the community, and it’s going to be right in the heart of our city.”

Holt said it’s too early to say how quickly the project can move forward. He added that the team looks forward to working with all stakeholders, including Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, who argued in favor of pushing back the proposal to conduct more research and negotiate a more complete deal.

As early vote totals projected onto big-screen TVs at River North Icehouse showed Prop B with a slim victory margin, Spurs fans packed into the watch party broke into applause and cheers

Indeed, from the beginning of the night, the gathering had the upbeat feeling of a victory celebration.

At least two people wore silver-and-black luchador masks, and one bearded fan in Viking attire sounded blasts from a cow horn between leading cheers for the team. Hip-hop thudded from the speakers as revelers posed for photo ops with local demi-celebrity Spurs Jesus and the team’s five championship trophies.

Former Mayors Ron Nirenberg and Henry Cisneros, Spurs brass and city council members mingled with the crowd. Current Mayor Jones made a brief appearance early in the night but didn’t speak publicly or address reporters.

Props A and B asked voters to raise the county’s visitor tax a total of 2% to help finance both the new arena and the rodeo-ground upgrades. In August, San Antonio City Council voted 7-3 to contribute $489 million toward the Spurs arena project.

Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg speaks to members of the media at the Spurs watch party. Credit: Sanford Nowlin

The city’s contribution to the proposed sports facility will be paid for by a spider web of public financing using sales and property tax dollars at and around Hemisfair via a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and a Project Finance Zone.

The Spurs will also give $500 million and cover any cost overruns.

The Spurs-aligned Win Together PAC spent at least $7 million on its campaign to get the arena proposal across the finish line, relying heavily on paid social media advertisements in recent weeks. The PAC also participated in shoe giveaways and bought residents free groceries in publicity stunts aimed at getting supporters to the polls.

Indeed, the Spurs were eager enough to close the deal that team General Counsel Bobby Perez appeared in the parking lot of the Lions Field voting site Tuesday afternoon. He spoke to voters approaching the poll and urged them to support arena project.

One voter told the Current that she was going to vote yes, but ultimately cast a ballot against Prop B because Perez approached her too aggressively about closing the deal.

Spurs super-fans the Jackals cheer onstage at the team’s watch party. Credit: Sanford Nowlin

Meanwhile, community watchdog group COPS/Metro and its Defending Public Money for the Public Good PAC spent only a little more than $200,000 on efforts to shut down Prop B. The nonprofit primarily relied on canvassing and grassroots organizing.

Opponents of the arena deal questioned the haste with which it was rushed before voters and whether the city could have reached a better agreement with the NBA franchise, which is ranked as one of the most profitable in the league.

Critics also questioned whether the jobs and economic development city leaders promised as part of the arena deal and its accompanying Project Marvel sports-and-entertainment district will actually materialize.

They pointed to similar sales pitches made about the team’s East Side arena, which never brought a business boom to the area, and the Alamodome, which failed to attract the football team backers such as then-Mayor Cisneros promised.

“Promises of all this private investment, all too often in cases like this and without a serious contractual agreement up front, just don’t materialize,” said prominent Prop B critic Heywood Sanders, a UT-San Antonio professor emeritus of public policy.

Sanders also pens the Current’s CityScrapes column.

Indicative of the level of opposition Prop B faced, Tuesday’s vote was far closer than the county’s 1999 vote to fund the Spurs’ current home, the Frost Bank Center, which was approved 61%-39%.

During COPS/Metro’s watch party at Southtown’s Friendly Spot, organizer Father Jimmy Drennan said Tuesday’s vote, although a win for the Spurs, is a clear sign the public is growing tired of subsidizing projects for the rich.

“With the amount of people that came out to vote, they’ve helped articulate a vision that says affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, long-term job training with high paying jobs, safety and security in our communities, that these issues are absolutely essential,” Drennan said.

COPS/Metro organizer Father Jimmy Drennan, center, speaks to reporters from his organization’s watch party at the Friendly Spot. Credit: Michael Karlis

Drennan added that regardless of the vote’s outcome, COPS/Metro will continue to work with City Council and Bexar County Commissioners Court to ensure the poor and working class aren’t left behind.

In comments to reporters at the Spurs watch party, Holt acknowledged that there would be more negotiation before the arena becomes reality.

“We’re excited about next steps, and we think the framework is incredibly mutually beneficial for all parties,” he said. “And that’s what we’re going to focus on as we work with the city staff, the city leadership and the county and all the other steps forward to get this done — the UTSA, the Rodeo. The fact is everybody’s got to win in this.”

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San Antonio Spurs declare victory on vote to use public funds for downtown arena

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