The Spurs want to build a $1.2 billion basketball palace downtown, and they’re working behind the scenes with city leaders to figure out how to pay for it, according to sources familiar with their discussions. Taxpayers could be on the hook for most of the construction costs. Spurs Sports & Entertainment is proposing footing the bill for about one-fifth of the planned arena, say the sources, who requested anonymity.
President Taylor Eighmy has also signed a non-disclosure agreement, according to documents the San Antonio Express-News received under Texas’ open records law. City officials are also considering how to pay for construction of the arena. Potential government funding sources could include municipal bonds, a visitor tax like the one that paid for the Frost Bank Center and the sales tax district created by the Legislature last year.
Garcia: New Spurs arena will be met with serious taxpayer resistance Another big question for taxpayers: What about the Frost Bank Center? The 19,000-seat arena, built at a cost of $175 million, opened in 2002 and was renovated in 2015 for $101.5 million. The team hasn’t publicly said why it’s looking to leave the facility, which it leases from Bexar County, though some outsiders have said it lacks the trappings of a modern arena.
What you need to know about a potential Spurs arena in downtown San Antonio Cities have used venue taxes from ticket sales and other purchases made in stadiums, taxes from assessments within special districts, visitor taxes from hotel stays and car rentals, “sin” taxes on products like tobacco and alcohol, and taxes on businesses as well as surplus funds to finance professional sports facilities, the authors state. Tax-exempt municipal bonds and revenue bonds have also been used.