San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is eyeing nearly $5 million tied to the Spurs' Toyota Field deal as a potential lifeline for a tight city budget, signaling she is ready to press Spurs Sports & Entertainment to make good on a lingering obligation.
Jones has instructed City Manager Erik Walsh to track down private entities that owe the city more than $1 million and are at least six months behind on payments, and the Spurs-related debt is on that list. City staff are now pulling together a formal review that could determine whether the city should try to collect the money before finalizing any painful cuts to services.
At a recent town hall, Jones made her criteria bluntly clear. As reported by the San Antonio Current, she told attendees, "If it's over $1 million, and it's more than six months late, we want to know about that." The outlet notes the Spurs' obligation traces back to a 2015 deal and a reimbursement clause connected to a failed Major League Soccer expansion bid. Jones has framed the renewed scrutiny as part of an effort to shield core city services from the chopping block.
How the $5 million obligation formed
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the city and Bexar County each put up about $9 million to buy Toyota Field in 2015, while Spurs Sports & Entertainment contributed roughly $3 million, bringing the total price tag to $21 million. As part of that arrangement, SS&E agreed to reimburse $5 million to the public facilities corporation if it did not secure an MLS team by 2021.
Walsh told the City Council that the organization has paid about $250,000 toward that commitment but has since missed scheduled payments. With interest factored in, the missed payments now leave more than $2 million outstanding, the Express-News reported.
County vote left questions open
The deal got even murkier in late 2022. As detailed by the San Antonio Current, Bexar County Commissioners voted in December of that year to eliminate the reimbursement clause entirely. In return, SS&E agreed to lease Toyota Field for one additional year at $100,000.
There was a hitch, though. The San Antonio City Council never signed off on that amended lease, which means the change never became legally binding on the city side. On paper, SS&E still owes the full $5 million. That split between county action and the city's silence is a key reason Jones has ordered staff to dig back through the file before she signs off on a budget that could include service reductions.
City review and next steps
The Express-News reports that Walsh has called the reimbursement "an outstanding issue that we need to resolve" and said the city still needs more information from San Antonio FC to understand how MLS decisions factor into the obligation.
Jose Lizardo, senior director of Toyota Field, told the paper that Spurs Sports & Entertainment is in talks with the city and the public facilities corporation "to ensure all agreements related to Toyota Field support the long-term success of soccer in San Antonio."
City spokesperson Brian Chasnoff told the Express-News that staff members are "reviewing the reimbursement provision" and that "in the near future, City staff will be making a recommendation related to this provision." Until that recommendation lands, the question hanging over City Hall is simple: will the Spurs write a check or will taxpayers absorb the shortfall?
