Today, the City Council came together to vote on whether or not to slow down progress on the plan to fund Project Marvel in order to allow time to obtain more information about the economic impact of the proposed plan or move forward.
The effort to pause the growing momentum was headed by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, but it failed, with members voting 7-4 to move to the next step. The franchise has cleared another hurdle on their way to getting a new sports-and-entertainment district built, and after the vote, Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt issued a statement reassuring the public of this project's benefits to the community.
Spurs Statement pic.twitter.com/51qSHsfIM2
— Don Harris (@DonHarris4) August 21, 2025
The Spurs are putting an unbelievable amount of money toward making this happen. This is one of the most forward-thinking and community-first organizations in the NBA. It feels a little silly to insinuate they didn't do their due diligence, and aren't being up front about the long-term benefits of Project Marvel. But I think they're also betting on their franchise superstar returning the team to glory.
The Spurs can be a destination city
First things first, if San Antonio builds a new arena for the team, we can finally get rid of the Rodeo Road Trip. That's only necessary because of the shared space at the Frost Bank Center, but the FBC won't be going anywhere. So, it can still be used for that purpose, but you'd also have a venue able to host major events during the rest of the basketball season.
Fans around the country could travel down south to see Victor Wembanyama play, catch a concert, and check out all the other cool amenities the city will have to offer if it builds a proper sports-and-entertainment district. The guarantee that taxes will not be raised on the public should be the final piece of the puzzle that fans need to greenlight this endeavor.
I grew up in San Antonio, and as populated as it is, there is no shortage of people with complaints that there is not much to do in the city outside of rooting for the home team. But there's so much more to offer if you put the time in.
Finding the right superstar also skyrockets the worth of your franchise when the winning starts. The Warriors were valued at $315 million when they drafted Steph Curry. Then they did all of that winning to the tune of four championships, and with Steph's global popularity through the roof, they're latest valuation puts them at $8.8 billion, the highest in the league.
There's no doubt that Wembanyama is the league's next force of nature. He's already started on that path. When the winning follows, more intrigue emerges, and the city of San Antonio will already be prepared to receive the additional traffic as a destination city with plenty to do and delicious food to eat. A significant portion of the country doesn't even understand what good Tex-Mex is. We should want to fix that, right?