San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has said she thinks San Antonio could get a better deal out of the Spurs when it comes to a new arena. Credit: Public Domain / Andy Morataya

Editor’s note: The following story is a piece of opinion and analysis.

New San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ early political missteps may have put her in a tough leadership spot, and they come as Project Marvel — an ambitious $4 billion plan to develop a downtown sports-and-entertainment district, including a new Spurs arena — careens ahead at breakneck speed.

However, Jones could redeem herself by delaying negotiations with the NBA team’s ownership — if she has the courage. After all, such a move appears to have the full support of three council members with two others signaling they also may be open to tapping the brakes.

Indeed, the pace of the negotiations over the new arena, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, is historically brisk compared to those related to pro-sports facilities in other cities.

For example, it took two years to hammer out details around the Sacramento Kings’ new arena took before that city approved $223 million in public financing. And discussions about a new arena for the Oklahoma City Thunder began in 2022 but didn’t result in a city-approved development agreement until May 2024.

In contrast, San Antonio city officials only started publicly discussing Project Marvel last November.

Fast forward to today. San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh is now pushing Jones and council to sign off on public financing for a project where she wasn’t even privy to initial discussions.

Indeed, it was prior Mayor Ron Nirenberg who put Project Marvel and the new Spurs arena on a fast track, likely in a bid to cement his legacy. City Council at the time — with the exception of District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo — happily obliged.

But a new council was sworn in alongside Jones, nearly half of them new to the dais. And things appear to be shaping up differently.

During a special meeting Jones called Friday on Project Marvel, District 6’s new councilman, 24-year-old Ric Galvan, expressed concerns about financing the city’s portion of the new arena via Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ). Both Galvan and economists argue the use of a TIRZ would shift existing tax revenue from the city’s general fund, which could result in long-term harm to services such as police and schools.

District 4 Councilman Edward Mungia, another first-termer, raised similar questions. He asked Walsh if funds from the proposed TIRZ could be transferred to help cover the city’s debt payments, which have exploded as it faces a $170 million-plus budget deficit.

District 9’s Misty Spears, a staunch conservative, said her constituents are “just asking for more information and time so that they can make educated decisions.”

Further, Castillo’s and McKee-Rodriguez’s skepticism remains unchanged. On Friday, the District 2 councilman pointed out that the city holds the leverage in negotiations with the Spurs, not businessman Peter Holt and rest of the team’s ownership.

“I know we’ve recently heard from the Spurs that if we don’t do this, they need to begin thinking about a long-term plan, which may be outside of San Antonio,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “The reality is, if the Spurs want to move to another city, they’re going to have to find another local government that is willing to — in this political and economic climate — view this opportunity as we do, and will be asked to make an investment of the same amount, if not more.”

McKee-Rodriguez continued: “I’d be willing to bet that they’d have better luck working out a better deal here.”

Jones didn’t disagree, telling reporters after Friday’s marathon meeting that she believes San Antonio could get a superior deal to the one now being thrown around.

“Why can’t we be a little bit bolder in our ask?” Jones said. “We don’t do this every day. This is a generational investment. Now is the time to negotiate.”

So, what is the big rush, exactly?

The San Antonio Spurs’ lease at the Frost Bank Center doesn’t end until 2032. Although the Frost Bank Center is nearly three decades old, it’s still newer than more than half of the arenas in the NBA.

Perhaps the Spurs are trying to capitalize on Jones’ seemingly compromised public perception after her early headbutting with some on council.

Leading up to Friday’s meeting, Jones garnered negative press for her decision to singlehandedly revise how Council Consideration Requests are brought up for discussion. Coincidentally, mere hours before Friday’s special meeting, a leak suggested the Spurs are willing to cough up more than “$1 billion” toward Project Marvel, leading the Express-News Editorial Board to call the offer a “no-brainer.”

In reality, the Spurs are more or less guaranteeing $500 million to fund the arena, covering about a third of its cost. Another $500 million would hypothetically go to unspecified, non-timeline binding “adjacent downtown development,” while $60 million would fund “community incentives.”

But, hey, don’t read too much into the details.

Jones is still catching bad headlines. On Tuesday, the Express-News Editorial Board ran an opinion piece titled “Mayor Jones, loosen your grip on the gavel at San Antonio City Hall,” calling her out for a heavy-handed leadership approach.

Amid the negative press, would the new mayor also turn down $1 billion in free money from our beloved Spurs? The audacity!

Here’s the reality: half of City Council appears willing to return to the negotiating table and the vast majority of members from the public who testified at City Hall on Friday expressed similar sentiments.

Jones would be wise to do the “audacious” thing and turn down the Spurs’ latest offer.

After all, the public doesn’t even know specific details about what the arena would look like or how many seats it will have, and it’s being generous to call the financial details “murky.”

Jones is a sharp technocrat and expert parliamentarian, as she displayed during Friday’s meeting. Whether she has the political backbone to rise above the noise and pump the brakes on Project Marvel remains to be seen.

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This article appears in Jul 23 – Aug 6, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...