The San Antonio City Council has ensured that talks around a potential new Spurs arena and downtown sports and entertainment district “will continue” after new San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones “sought a ‘strategic pause’ in negotiations tied to funding” for the project, according to W. Scott Bailey of the SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL. Bexar County has called for a Nov. 4 referendum to “funnel as much as” $311M in public funding support for a new arena, while the Spurs “have committed to invest” $500M toward such a project. However, the city has “yet to approve a contribution.” Jones had “sought more time and information, including additional economic analysis.” But at the “direction of the city council, city staff will engage in negotiations with the Spurs on a term sheet that could be shared with municipal leaders as soon as Aug. 21.” Centro San Antonio President & CEO Trish DeBerry said that Bexar County has “done its part by calling for the arena funding referendum.” She warned that “any slowdown, especially on the arena front, could cause development costs to increase and open the door for cities such as Las Vegas and Seattle that are seeking NBA teams to reach out to the Spurs” (SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/7).
DIGGING IN: Jones during a city council meeting on Wednesday said that she “wants a fresh financial analysis of the district, pressed the Spurs to consider sharing a slice of the NBA franchise’s revenue with the city and requested an exact price tag for the arena as she sparred with council colleagues, city staff and a franchise executive.” In San Antonio, Madison Iszler notes Jones has “pushed for the city to get a slice of ticket sales, merchandise receipts or other revenue,” and she “plans to keep asking about it.” However, Spurs Sports & Entertainment Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel Bobby Perez said that the organization is “unwilling to budge on revenue-sharing because of the degree of risk it is assuming under the proposed deal structure.” Iszler notes the city “could provide between” $350M and $500M, which would “largely come from bonds backed by ground leases with SS&E and property tax revenue from development guaranteed by SS&E and its partners within a tax increment reinvestment zone” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 8/7).
