![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Holt.jpg\")
The Spurs\u2019 Peter Holt speaks to reporters after the team declared victory on Prop B. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\nThe Spurs\u2019 Peter Holt speaks to reporters after the team declared victory on Prop B. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs officials declared victory Tuesday night in the vote to approve using money collected from Bexar County\u2019s visitor tax to partially fund a new downtown arena at Hemisfair.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something really special,\u201d Spurs Managing Partner Peter Holt said of the vote the Spurs\u2019 watch party. \u201cIt\u2019s going to help the Spurs, it\u2019s going to help the rodeo, it\u2019s going to help all sectors of the community, and it\u2019s going to be right in the heart of our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt said it\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
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 <\/p>\n
Indeed, from the beginning of the night, the gathering had the upbeat feeling of a victory celebration. <\/p>\n
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.\u00a0Hip-hop thudded from the speakers as revelers posed for photo ops with local demi-celebrity Spurs Jesus and the team\u2019s five championship trophies.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t speak publicly or address reporters.<\/p>\n
Props A and B asked voters to raise the county\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RonRon01.jpg\")
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg speaks to members of the media at the Spurs watch party. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Spurs will also give $500 million and cover any cost overruns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0The PAC also participated in shoe giveaways and bought residents free groceries in publicity stunts aimed at getting supporters to the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
![\"Spurs](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jackals01.jpg\")
Spurs super-fans the Jackals cheer onstage at the team\u2019s watch party. Credit: Sanford Nowlin<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
They pointed to similar sales pitches made about the team\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cPromises of all this private investment, all too often in cases like this and without a serious contractual agreement up front, just don\u2019t materialize,\u201d said prominent Prop B critic Heywood Sanders, a UT-San Antonio professor emeritus of public policy. <\/p>\n
Sanders also pens the Current\u2019s CityScrapes column.<\/p>\n
Indicative of the level of opposition Prop B faced, Tuesday\u2019s vote was far closer than the county\u2019s 1999 vote to fund the Spurs\u2019 current home, the Frost Bank Center, which was approved 61%-39%.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During COPS\/Metro\u2019s watch party at Southtown\u2019s Friendly Spot, organizer Father Jimmy Drennan said Tuesday\u2019s vote, although a win for the Spurs, is a clear sign the public is growing tired of subsidizing projects for the rich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the amount of people that came out to vote, they\u2019ve 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,\u201d Drennan said. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/IMG_0808.jpg\")
COPS\/Metro organizer Father Jimmy Drennan, center, speaks to reporters from his organization\u2019s watch party at the Friendly Spot. Credit: Michael Karlis<\/p>\n
Drennan added that regardless of the vote\u2019s outcome, COPS\/Metro will continue to work with City Council and Bexar County Commissioners Court to ensure the poor and working class aren\u2019t left behind.<\/p>\n
In comments to reporters at the Spurs watch party, Holt acknowledged that there would be more negotiation before the arena becomes reality. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited about next steps, and we think the framework is incredibly mutually beneficial for all parties,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we\u2019re 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 \u2014 the UTSA, the Rodeo. The fact is everybody\u2019s got to win in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tA bipartisan group of former council members, including Clayton Perry, Greg Brockhouse and Mario Bravo have publicly come out against Project Marvel. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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