Spurs Sports & Entertainment will pay a $2.6 million penalty to the city of San Antonio and Bexar County over its failed effort to attract a Major League Soccer team, the Express-News reports.
The agreed payout comes as Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has ratcheted up pressure on SS&E to live up to its end of a three-way partnership it struck with city and county officials to lure another pro sports team to the city.
As part of that transaction, the city and county orchestrated a 2015 deal to buy Toyota Field from philanthropist Gordon Hartman. And, for its part, SS&E agreed to pay a $5 million penalty if it couldn’t land an MLS expansion team by 2021.
Even though the MLS dream never materialized, SS&E has paid just $250,000 of the penalty it owed the city, the Express-News reports. With interest, the team’s $1.75 million in unpaid penalty payments has grown to $2.1 million.
Bexar County Commissioners Court voted in 2022 waive its portion of the penalty, and team officials have argued that they shouldn’t be subjected to the penalty because the Alamo City never had a realistic shot at landing a MLS team.
However, with the city facing a $158 million budget deficit, Jones has leaned hard on the Spurs to make good on the money.
“Payment in accordance with the contract would remind everyone of the strength of the City’s relationship with the Spurs owners — a relationship built on mutual respect,” Jones wrote to SS&E’s leadership in a May 15 letter obtained by the Express-News.
Neither Jones nor SS&E officials would comment on the repayment agreement, according to the Express-News. However, a city spokesman said the team’s penalty payment will cover capital improvements at Toyota Field.
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