FAQ / learn more

- AREN'T THE SPURS PUTTING UP $500 MILLION, COVERING OVERRUNS, AND GIVING $75 MILLION IN COMMUNITY BENEFITS?

The Spurs promote that they’re covering a big chunk, but the reality is:

• 62% of the proposed $1.3 billion arena would be paid by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County (through hotel taxes, bonds, subsidies, etc.)

• 38% would come from the Spurs.

That’s still a minority share. The public is paying the majority, while the Spurs benefit immediately.

And this is just the start: the entire sports and entertainment district is projected to cost $4 billion, which will require additional public money and another vote in May 2025. The current $1.3B arena is only the first phase of a much larger commitment.

- WILL THE SPURS LEAVE IF WE DON'T BUILD A NEW ARENA?

This is a scare tactic. Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt has said publicly that the team is not leaving. Other cities, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, required the Lakers and Warriors to build their own arenas without relocation threats. San Antonio should not mortgage its future under fear.

- WON'T THE NEW ARENA GENERATE
$318 MILLION A YEAR IN ECONOMIC IMPACT? 

That number comes from CSL International, a consulting firm owned by Legends, which is partly owned by a Spurs investor. As the Houston Chronicle’s Chris Tomlinson reported, this is a conflict of interest: “Predictably, CSL says Project Marvel is a marvelous idea.” Independent economists say such studies are almost always exaggerated and unreliable. San Antonio deserves an independent, transparent study before committing billions.

- DOESN'T PROJECT MARVEL BRING $2 BILLION IN TOTAL INVESTMENT WITHOUT TAXING RESIDENTS?

The headline number hides risk. Without binding guarantees for local hiring, affordable housing, and small business inclusion, most of that $1.4 billion in development will benefit developers, not working families.

- IF THE MONEY COMES FROM HOTEL AND RENTAL CAR TAXES, WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue is still public money. Cities issue bonds backed by that revenue, and if the revenue falls short, taxpayers are still on the hook. Once committed to an arena, that money cannot be used for other cultural, historic, or community projects.

- WON'T A NEW DOWNTOWN DISTRICT REVITALIZE SAN ANTONIO??

Historical evidence suggests that these types of “revitalization” projects often accelerate gentrification and displacement. Tomlinson noted that rushing billion-dollar projects with limited information is “the hallmark of the traveling roadshow that exploits cities’ insecurities to convince taxpayers to spend billions on potential white elephants.”

- ISN'T THIS A DEMOCRATIC PROCESS SINCE VOTERS WILL DECIDE?

A rushed vote without independent numbers undermines democracy. Even Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones called for a delay until a real study could be done, saying, “Due diligence is not anti-progress. It’s anti-poverty.”

- WHO WOULD CONTROL THE LAND IF THE NEW DISTRICT GOES AHEAD?

That’s unclear, and that’s the problem. There is no transparency about who would own, lease, or profit from the land tied to Project Marvel. Valuable public land could end up under the control of private developers for little cost, locking San Antonio residents out of decisions and benefits for generations. Until these terms are clear and public, the community cannot make an informed choice.

- AREN'T THE NUMBERS SOLID?

The numbers are inconsistent and not independently verified. Until a truly independent study is conducted, these figures should be treated as marketing, not facts.

- AREN'T IMPROVEMENTS FUNDED BY VISITOR TAXES, NOT LOCAL RESIDENTS?

Hotel and rental car taxes are public money. Every dollar spent on an arena is a dollar not spent on cultural centers, historic preservation, or festivals that sustain San Antonio’s unique identity.

- ISN'T THIS JUST A REALLOCATION OF EXISTING TAXES, NOT A NEW TAX?

That’s the problem. Reallocation locks our visitor tax into one mega-project for decades instead of spreading support across the city’s diverse cultural ecosystem.

- WHY NOT SPEND THIS MONEY ON OTHER COMMUNITY NEEDS?

Visitor taxes are restricted to venues, but venues don’t have to mean billion-dollar arenas. They can mean museums, cultural centers, and community festivals that genuinely enrich San Antonians’ lives.

- WON'T UPGRADES CREATE MORE EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES YEAR-ROUND? 

San Antonio already has multiple underused venues, including Freeman, Frost Bank Center, and the Alamodome. A new arena will mostly shift events around rather than create new ones.