The Spurs’ future in San Antonio was secured Tuesday, as local voters narrowly approved a ballot measure that would devote city and county money to fund the construction of a new downtown arena to replace the Frost Bank Center.

The proposal, Proposition B, greenlights a plan known as Project Marvel, which involves building a sports complex that includes a $1.4 billion arena next to the Alamodome and Convention Center in downtown San Antonio.

Bexar County voters approved the measure by a 128,642-118,068 vote with all vote centers reporting (a margin of about 4.3 percent). Overall turnout was just over 19.3 percent.

The Spurs promoted the proposition with a substantial campaign featuring speeches at home games, player endorsements and signage throughout the San Antonio area.

The Spurs’ lease at the Frost Bank Center expires at the start of the 2032-33 season, so it could be nearly a decade before the team moves downtown.

This decision by voters comes at a crucial time for the franchise as the team begins to ramp up its postseason pursuit around superstar Victor Wembanyama.

The team has not made the playoffs this decade, but is well positioned to contend for a title in the coming years as recent first-round picks Wembanyama, Steph Castle and Dylan Harper continue to develop into franchise cornerstones. With former All-Star De’Aaron Fox signing a new max extension this offseason, the Spurs are equipped to make another run at a dynasty around Wembanyama.

Now, they have a new arena deal to fortify their home in San Antonio and put to rest concerns of a move to the growing metropolis down the road in Austin.

What is Proposition B?

Proposition B’s passing approves around $311 million from a county venue tax bond for constructing a new Spurs arena in the downtown Hemisfair Park area, where the city’s other major venues are located. The county will increase its hotel occupancy and car rental taxes in an attempt to put the funding for this bond on visiting tourists. Additionally, the city of San Antonio will contribute around $489 million to the project, and the Spurs will provide $500 million to build the arena and cover excess costs.

This is similar to the funding structure that was used when the Spurs built the Frost Bank Center in 2002 in the early days of the Spurs’ dynasty around Tim Duncan. The hope for the Spurs and the city is that relocating back to the downtown area with a more substantial development plan will create a modern and thriving neighborhood in proximity to the arena, rather than the vast swath of parking lots surrounding the current arena far from the city center.

Project Marvel is a sprawling downtown redevelopment project centered on the Hemisfair, located within walking distance from the riverwalk. It hosts the Tower of the Americas skyscraper, Alamodome and Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

A rendering of Project Marvel, the proposed downtown redevelopment that includes a new San Antonio Spurs Arena. (Courtesy of the city of San Antonio)

This development plan will not just include a new Spurs arena, but it will also redevelop the aging Alamodome to position it for a potential NFL expansion franchise down the road. The Houston Texans were the last expansion team to enter the league in 2002.

The Alamodome hosted the Spurs from its opening in 1993 until 2002, when the Spurs moved to what is now called the Frost Bank Center east of downtown. The area around Frost Bank Center never developed into a sprawling neighborhood, which prompted concerns from opponents of Project Marvel.

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones called for further analysis of the proposal in the lead-up to the election, and former Mayor Ron Nirenberg endorsed the proposition in a San Antonio Express-News op-ed. Proponents of the deal hope Project Marvel will revitalize downtown infrastructure, attract new businesses and ensure the city’s only professional sports team remains in San Antonio permanently. Opponents, such as advocacy group COPS/Metro opposed spending public funding on a new arena, citing independent research saying sports venues across the country rarely deliver sufficient economic gains.

San Antonio often hosts the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball Final Four at the Alamodome, which seats around 68,000 fans. The next Spurs arena would likely fit slightly fewer than 20,000 fans and is not likely to be used as a Final Four venue, which typically is hosted in football stadiums that can hold larger audiences. The Alamodome renovation would give a facelift to one of the oldest major stadiums in the country, having been built in 1993.

In addition to updating the Alamodome, Project Marvel will expand the convention center and build a second hotel there. It will also turn the old courthouse into an event venue and build a land bridge connecting the heart of downtown to the Hemisfair area. Currently, pedestrians need to walk through streets and under a highway overpass to get to the hotels and restaurants on the riverwalk.

Proponents of the redevelopment project believe it would allow more housing, shopping and dining options to emerge, supporting downtown population growth in a city centered on suburban sprawl. The city proposal will use future taxes on rising property values from further real estate development to support funding Project Marvel.

The Spurs conducted a large campaign for Project Marvel through the Win Together political action committee, which raised around $7 million to support campaign efforts. TV and digital ads ran frequently in recent weeks in downtown San Antonio, and there was physical signage throughout the area.

Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt addressed the crowd at the last two Spurs home games before the election to endorse the project, reminding Spurs fans not to wear their Spurs gear to the polls despite the team’s giving out campaign shirts to the crowd. Spurs legends such as Manu Ginobili and current stars such as Wembanyama have endorsed the ballot measures on social media and recorded videos.

🇦🇷Queridos Spurs fans, mañana es EL día! Todos a votar YES a las Props A y B.
Por el futuro de San Antonio y los Spurs. 🙏

👉Recuerden: No habrá nuevos impuestos. El dinero para el nuevo estadio lo pagan los turistas y los Spurs!
Como siempre… GoSpursGo!!!!

🇺🇸My dear Spurs… pic.twitter.com/fY5HAas1Tv

— Manu Ginobili (@manuginobili) November 3, 2025

“I think about my future and my present all the time. In San Antonio, of course,” Wembanyama said. “And recently, a little bit about the arena, because it’s been a subject. … For all areas of my career, I’m very intentional. Even though some things take time, patience is needed, I’ve never been one to waste time.”

What impact will this have on the Spurs and NBA?

This vote puts to rest any concerns the Spurs might relocate to Austin, where the G League franchise is located. Like most major Texas cities, Austin has experienced some of the nation’s largest growth since the pandemic, with San Antonio not far behind.

The Spurs play two regular-season games per season in Austin, and Spurs CEO RC Buford has discussed turning the Spurs into a more regional franchise akin to the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors moved across the bay from Oakland to the Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019, after winning three NBA championships.

Marvel is not the first project of this kind in the region, as Oklahoma City’s MAPS 4 program is now in the process of developing a new Thunder arena. In December 2023, Oklahoma City voters approved an arena deal with a 71 percent majority that relied primarily on a 72-month 1-cent sales tax increase. The city projected this would generate at least $900 million to fund a new home for the defending champions.

This deal will also have implications for Dallas, where the Mavericks are looking to build a new large-scale arena development when their lease at the American Airlines Center ends in 2031. When the Adelson family purchased controlling interest in the Mavericks from Mark Cuban in 2023, creating a downtown entertainment district led by a new Mavericks arena was a core part of the plan.

Now that the voters have approved the concept in San Antonio, this could catalyze further downtown redevelopment across the league.