SAN ANTONIO – The November tax election won’t just be about whether Bexar County voters want to help pay for a new Spurs arena downtown.
Voters will also decide whether to use the county’s venue tax to fix up the county-owned facilities around the team’s current East Side home, the Frost Bank Center.
The $240 million worth of work is mostly focused on constructing and renovating buildings on the grounds, though work on the Frost Bank Center and a new roof for the Freeman Coliseum is also included.
The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo already uses the facilities for its annual February event. However, renovations pave the way for them to play a larger role and help bring in more events year-round.
One of the biggest changes includes turning the primary exposition hall into a permanent 2,800-seat arena.
“I need to emphasize it’s not rinse and repeat rodeo,” San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Executive Director Cody Davenport told KSAT. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh, well, you’re gonna put on a rodeo every weekend. You know, how boring is that gonna be?’ We’re talking about the Western industry as a whole.”
Davenport said events could include horse cuttings, ropings, charrerías, Olympic preliminary competitions or even the National Future Farmers of America Convention.
He added that it is not just a scheduling issue trying to get those types of events now, while the rodeo shares the space with the San Antonio Spurs.
“My facilities will not compete with where they are now, you know, across the nation,” Davenport said. “Well, now I can kick in that door, and I can say, ‘Come. You wanna come to San Antonio? Let’s talk.’”
The improved exposition hall areas would also provide space for larger conventions, trade shows, and community events, according to Derrick Howard, executive director of the Bexar County Community Arenas Board.
“We probably have five shows right now that are in our current expo halls that are busting the seams,” Howard said.
The Spurs play 41 home games in a regular season, though they have held some in Austin or other venues in recent years.
Davenport said the rodeo is also asking for 20 extra days in both the Freeman Coliseum and the Frost Bank Center, which would remain under the county’s control.
“We’ll put on PBRs (professional bull riding events), concerts, all kinds of different stuff inside of those things,” Davenport said. “So we’re helping with it, but not taking full control of those two venues.”
However, the Spurs’ downtown plans also mean another event venue in the city. The City of San Antonio’s wider plans for a sports and entertainment district around Hemisfair, known as Project Marvel, call for expanding the Henry B. González Convention Center.
So, is there really space in the market for all the activity the rodeo and county are hoping for? Howard says, “Absolutely.”
“We are not a convention center. We’re an exposition space,” Howard said. “So for us, our market is either the regional or local, you know, captivated audience for certain and specific events.”
The county venue tax, which helped pay for the Frost Bank Center’s construction, is split between a 1.75% tax on hotel stays and 5% tax on short-term car rentals.
As part of both ballot propositions — Prop A for the county facilities and Prop B for a new Spurs arena — voters will be asked to raise the hotel portion to 2%.
Though Prop A has attracted much less attention than Prop B, it has also attracted much less opposition.
COPS/Metro, a coalition of community groups, has come out in strong opposition to Prop B. However, the group is staying neutral in Prop A.
Davenport said the rodeo supports Prop B.
“We think it’s good that they wanna go downtown. We think that’s a good location for them,” Davenport said. ”Selfishly, we’d like to have the grounds here, too. We started here. We’d like to stay here."
Read also: