By Edmond Ortiz
The San Antonio Spurs may have fallen short in the NBA Finals and while the offseason is underway, Spurs officials are busy expanding the team’s branding, and advancing matters related to a planned downtown sports and entertainment district.
Arena leasing
Bexar County Commissioners voted 4-0 July 7 to amend the Spurs and county’s non-relocation agreement, which allows the team to play a maximum of four home-away games outside of the Frost Bank Center and in other markets in each of the next two seasons.
Until now, the county-team pact allowED the Spurs to play up to three home games elsewhere.
Spurs Chief Legal Counsel Bobby Perez told Commissioners Court that the Spurs making the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014 helped to increase the team’s popularity nationwide and abroad.
Perez added that the regional games away from Frost Bank Center in places such as Austin help to further the franchise’s mission of solidifying its footprint in Central and South Texas.
“We continue to evolve as a brand,” Perez said, referring to the high television ratings from this year’s NBA Finals series, and an estimated 15 billion social media views that involved both the Spurs and the city of San Antonio over the course of the team’s recent postseason run.
For the 2026-2027 season, the Spurs are scheduled to play two games against the New Orleans Pelicans in Paris and Manchester, England, in January. One of those games will count as a Spurs home game.
The Spurs are also expected to again play games at Austin’s Moody Center, likely as part of the team’s annual February rodeo road trip, which happens while the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes over the Frost Bank Center.
The new agreement amendment is good for the next two seasons. Spurs are still scheduled to continue leasing the Frost Bank Center until 2032.
One resident, attorney Susan Strawn, urged commissioners to refrain from amending the agreement until the public sees an independent analysis of the Spurs’ economic impact.
Strawn said each “home” game played away from San Antonio means less money that would otherwise go to local residents who work at the arena and nearby hotels, as well as neighborhood property owners who sell off-site parking during games.
“It’s that there appears to have been no effort whatsoever to determine the value of what the county is giving up or to negotiate compensation for it. That is not how governments are supposed to negotiate on behalf of their constituents,” Strawn said.
Perez responded that the number of residents that the Spurs directly and indirectly employs has grown from 70 to more than 500 over the last several years, and that the franchise does business with many local vendors and enterprises.
“I would say that is evidence of a partnership, a good deal and a (return on investment) for the community,” he added.
Pct. 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert said he supports the Spurs but chose to abstain on the vote because he agrees that the public deserves to see a more detailed, independent economic impact analysis, especially as the team continues planning with the city and county towards developing a downtown sports and entertainment district, dubbed Project Marvel.
“I think that there needs to be a deeper look at the ROI and what are the taxpayers getting in the loss of revenue,” Calvert added.
Project Marvel update
Regarding Project Marvel, community members will get their say as the Spurs begin a series of public forums about the proposed sports and entertainment district, which is currently eyed for the Hemisfair area.
According to Spurs representatives, each meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. when attendees can meet project team members and browse project exhibits. A formal presentation starts at 7 p.m., followed by opportunities for residents to pose questions and make suggestions:
- July 13 – Pope Francis Center, 263 Felisa
- July 14 – Alamo Community College headquarters, 2222 N. Alamo St.
- July 15 – St. Philip’s College TSC Conference Room 216, 1801 Martin Luther King Dr.
- July 16 – St Vincent de Paul, 4222 SW Loop 410
- July 16 – San Antonio Shrine Auditorium. 901 N. Loop 1604 W.
- July 20 – San Antonio Food Bank, 5200 Old Hwy. 90
- July 20 – San Antonio Board of Realtors, 9110 I-10 W.
- July 21 – St. Paul’s Community Center, 1201 Donaldson Ave.
- July 22 – Our Lady of the Lake University library, 411 S.W. 24th St.
- July 23 – Morgan’s Wonderland, 5223 David Edwards
Project updates will include confirmation that the city formally closed this month on the acquisition of the former federal office building on East Cesar Chavez Boulevard. The Spurs contributed $30 million towards the purchasing of the property, which project officials said will accommodate mixed-use development to support arena financing.
