San Antonio Reddit users not keen on paying for new Spurs, baseball facilities

Although speculation continues to swirl about a downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs and a new stadium for the Missions baseball team, talk on the r/sanantonio Reddit page suggests that public funding for those facilities may be a tough sell.

"Who is cool with helping pay for the AA Missions' proposed downtown stadium?" Reddit user @ThayerRex asked Tuesday in the online forum.

"I'll totally pay for the Spurs' new stadium or an MLB or NFL team, but AA baseball? Nah," he continued.

Most of the 100-plus users who chimed in on the thread said they don't want to pay for either sports facility.

"I don't personally have interest in paying for ANY sports arenas," user @Hattrickher0 commented. "I'd pay for affordable housing vouchers for people who actually need money before I'd want to see a single dime of tax dollars for a huge corporation who already has enough."

@Hattrickher0 added: "If they can't afford their stadium, maybe they should stop getting Starbucks on the way to work in the morning and budget better."

Last week, the Express-News reported that the San Antonio Missions want to build a stadium near the San Pedro Creek Culture Park on the northwest side of downtown. That report comes as the MLB continues to pressure the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres to build a new stadium to replace its 30-year-old Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.

At the same time, the Spurs are also reportedly looking to relocate downtown, possibly to the now-shuttered site of the Institute of Texan Cultures, to replace the aging Frost Bank Center. Such a pricy move could include public funds.

The Missions' current home opened in 1994 and cost taxpayers $10.5 million, or $22.5 million in today's money. Since then, the city has sunk an additional $1 million into upgrades.

Meanwhile, a new Spurs arena could cost around $1 billion, recent expenditures of other NBA cities suggest.

Last year, the Oklahoma City — a similarly small market to San Antonio — agreed to spend at least $900 million on a new arena for its hoops team, the Thunder. That project will be financed by a 72-month, one-cent sales tax and $70 million in already available city funds.

The Thunder also pledged to contribute $50 million — or about 5% — of the proposed stadium's cost.

Although the vast majority of the people on the Reddit thread were against spending taxpayer money on new stadiums, one brave soul said forking over big bucks is a requirement if San Antonio wants to be a first-rate city. Whatever that means.

"If you want to be a world-class city, you need some necessities," @RCA2CE said. "Water, electricity, transportation, jobs, arts and entertainment — and this all takes investments. I'm not at all afraid to invest in our future, my kids future."

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