SAN ANTONIO – As she continues to call for an “independent” economic analysis to determine the costs and benefits of a proposed new Spurs arena and wider sports and entertainment district, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said it’s ultimately the team’s call whether they leave.
Asked during a KSAT Q&A Tuesday night if she was worried whether the NBA franchise would leave San Antonio if the city’s plan for a sports and entertainment district around Hemisfair — known as Project Marvel — doesn’t happen, Jones said, “that is a decision for the Spurs to make.“
“I think what we as elected officials need to do is do our due diligence, look at the data, understand how these investments best serve our community and be very clear about the due diligence that we have done to ensure we have all the information," Jones told KSAT 12 News anchors Myra Arthur and Stephania Jimenez during Tuesday’s 6 O’Clock News.
Jones also said “nobody wants that” about a possible Spurs departure, but “we don’t need to go into this, I think, operating from a place of fear."
Fan concern over the possibility of a Spurs move dates back to 2022 when the team asked to play some of its home games in Austin. Though the Spurs have not publicly threatened to leave the city if they don’t get a downtown arena, the possibility has been a constant undercurrent in the county and city’s funding discussions.
Bexar County officials have already passed the decision over to voters on whether to help fund a downtown arena, but the City of San Antonio is still negotiating the particulars of its deal.
Consultants for the city and the Spurs briefed council members on Aug. 6 on their economic impact analysis for a new arena and other projects in the larger sports and entertainment district.
However, Jones said she wants another “independent” report on Project Marvel, in part, because she wants to see how to best use one of the city’s funding sources, a tax capture zone for certain hotel-related state taxes, between a possible arena, the Henry B. González Convention Center and the Alamodome.
Jones also noted that the Spurs’ consultant, Stone Planning, was the only one to have done an economic impact analysis on the arena. The city’s consultant, CSL, just reviewed its summary findings.
“And I think an independent analysis — economic analysis — is important because if that corroborates the numbers that we’ve been presented with, then great,“ Jones said. ”If it presents something different though, well then we owe it to the voters to really understand that, interrogate it and make sure that what we are being presented with is in fact the best opportunity for our community."
Though she has called repeatedly since last week’s meeting for a “strategic pause,” Jones also said during her KSAT interview she believes negotiations and a new report could advance at the same time.
City Manager Erik Walsh told council members on Monday that staff were working on a non-binding term sheet with the Spurs for the council to consider later this month. Walsh said the sheet would include the specific contributions from the city, county and Spurs as well as a total estimated cost.
Though Walsh said he planned to bring the possible framework for another analysis to council this week, he said he’d look for direction from the mayor and council before taking more steps.
In an apparent rebuttal of Jones’ position, Walsh wrote, “We have the information we need that outlines the potential impact of the entire sports and entertainment district.”
Asked Tuesday morning whether the mayor’s calls to pump the brakes was causing Spurs Sports and Entertainment to consider a move, spokeswoman Liberty Swift said the Spurs organization was “still very excited about being downtown.”
“We feel like that’s the right place for this project and the arena for both the team and the community,“ Swift said. ”And we’re still moving forward in good faith and conversations with the city staff to work on the term sheet.”
More recent Project Marvel coverage on KSAT: