It’s pushed by city leaders because they don’t want to be the mayor that let the team walk

OK, I don’t want to be the guy defending the billionaires, but the teams total contribution is like 90% of the cost of the arena. It’s just structured so that half of it is going into the upgrades to the surrounding area (ie convention center, Alamodome, etc) while the city pays this portion of the arena. I suspect to keep the city from backing out later on the infrastructure (which has been a problem previously).

Public funds being used for normal folks is called communism but rich fuckers can use it

There needs to be a federal law prohibiting this.

I have a hard time seeing the difference between a city helping funding a cultural monolith pro team stadium compared to random parks and libraries, at best the only sticking point is letting the team own the stadium instead of leasing it.

That’s the problem with being a smaller market team you’re kinda grabbed by the balls and a lot of billionaires will just move the team if they don’t get their arena funding so the city/state is forced to pony it up

This wouldn’t be a big point of debate if the city didn’t buy the arena 2 years ago

Hey! His hockey team just won another Stanley Cup. Maybe being cheap is the way.

yeah asking dell to fund the spurs arena makes sense

Dell stock has increased 10x in the past couple years because they build the AI server racks

Ya but can you think of the revenues and boom these arenas bring to the local economy? Totally worth the investment from the city

/s

Does Dell own the Spurs? I’m not familiar with their ownership.

Or is she just cold calling a random rich dude? Lol

He did just give away $7.5B to every newborn child in America. 

First Dell has given tons of money to charity, opened medical schools, etc. He’s been a beacon for Austin and I think his part with the Spurs and having them play some games in Austin has been big for keeping and growing the organization. The city and Spurs already came to an agreement that passed through a city/county vote and Ortiz has been publicly lambasting it since she became mayor. It’s an incredibly fair package the Spurs put together, makes a ton of sense for the city, and the team is funding hundreds of millions into San Antonio education as part of the deal to get it done.

Ortiz is 100% the problem here and just using her opposition of it for taxpayers (which the taxes are coming from bonds/revenue so it’s actually not raising taxes regardless of what her dumbass says).

New arena is going to be downtown

Has the team ever considered just moving to Gary?

Do you think they could handle a place that nice?

You’re right about community centers but trade schools and afterschool programs are pretty common through the Alamo Colleges. The issue with San Antonio, as a San Antonian, is that it’s very easy to live a “comfortable” life with a minimal amount of money, but those people who think they’re doing ok are actually struggling that they’re covering up with credit cards and loans to live what they think is a comfortable life when in actuality they’re in a rut. This means there’s just a constant trend to do the bare minimum on anything, which again, I know firsthand since I did it myself for a long time.

I really wish people would read up on the structure of the funding for the arena. Bexar County and The Spurs are paying \(811M of the budget with the city providing \)489. They are using bonds to fill their part but those bonds will be paid back via the spurs, rental income, and hotel/guest taxes in the surrounding area of the new development. They are not taxing or raising taxes on local citizens of San Antonio.

Back to your point about the wealth disparity in San Antonio. The Spurs are paying 100% of overages on the project budget that was approved. The Spurs have also pledge to give money towards public projects to the tune of \(75M with \)35M of that being earmarked for early childhood education.

tl;dr San Antonio taxpayers are not having their taxes raised, the funding is 100% by the Spurs, Bexar county tax payers (with a minor tax increase), and revenue from the Spurs, Project Marvel developers, and hotel/guest taxes. Not only will this project revitalize downtown San Antonio which I personally believe is desperately needed but it will help develop roads, public transportation, and money directly back into the community.

He’s not the owner or involved with the team in any way that I’m aware of lol.

Why should he gift $1b to a rich sports team in a rich city when he could gift it to charity instead? Stupid thing to ask.

He’s a minor owner of the team, I think 10%.

Unique circumstances. Their tickets were ridiculously overpriced it became cheaper to fly to SA. They also tend to have more money than people in SA. Trust me the Spurs don’t have a fan problem at all.

They just don’t want to pay rent to the Knicks, who now own the building. Understandable.

lol he’s from Houston and then moved to Austin. Why exactly is it his responsibility to contribute to paying for a new arena in a city he has no connection to?

Did you read the article?

CEO of Dell Technologies purchased a 10% stake in the San Antonio Spurs in 2021

According to the article, because Dell bought a 10% stake in the team back in 2021

How is it the tax payers responsibility?

Dell bought into the Spurs after Tilman turned him down.