Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at an event alongside Buc-ee the Beaver. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Larry D. Moore
The San Antonio Spurs’ “Vote Yes” campaign is trying a new strategy, this one targeting Bexar County’s progressive voters.
Text messages the campaign fired off Wednesday warned local voters that casting a ballot against public funding for NBA team’s proposed downtown arena is a vote for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans.
“Bexar County, vote YES on Prop A and B to keep tourist dollars here at home, not in the hands of Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick,” the message states. “We can seize the opportunity to reinvest into our community, or we can allow the money generated here to slip away.”
Wednesday’s text messages signal a shift in the Spurs’ campaign rhetoric around the upcoming vote, which so far has been apolitical.
The texts went out the same day a new UT-San Antonio poll found that 46% of likely Bexar County voters plan to vote against using public funds for the new facility when they cast ballots in the Nov. 4 election.
Some Bexar County voters received this text message from the “Vote Yes” campaign this week. Credit: Screenshot
The Spurs’ text message appears to refer to San Antonio’s Project Finance Zone (PFZ), which was approved by the state legislature in 2023.
As part of that deal, the state is allowing San Antonio to keep revenue generated by hotel occupancy, sales and mixed beverages taxes collected within a three-mile radius of Hemisfair to use for a new arena.
The funds are kept in a closed account, and San Antonio has until 2028 to claim the money before the state dissolves the account and keeps the cash for itself.
In other words, even if the arena vote fails on Nov. 4, San Antonio still has three years to reach a deal with the Spurs, so it wold be quite some time before Abbott or any other state officials get their paws on the money.
The PFZ funding is one of several mechanisms proposed to help finance the Silver and Black’s new arena. The project also would be financed by a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) and ground leases, neither of which involve money that could go to the state.
What’s at stake in the November election is whether Bexar County voters will approve raising the county’s visitor tax to 2% to offer an additional cut of funding for the facility.
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