A political action committee aligned with the San Antonio Spurs has so far collected about $2 million for its campaign urging voters to pass Props A and B, according to a campaign finance report filed Monday.
If successful, Prop. B would dedicate $311 million from the county’s venue tax toward a new downtown arena expected to cost roughly $1.3 billion.
The Nov. 4 vote is considered a critical barometer of the public’s support for the new NBA arena, which would also involve $489 million worth of city funding.
The Spurs’ Win Together PAC collected almost all of its money from the San Antonio Spurs’ LLC, which is paying for many of the mailers hitting residents’ mailboxes. Just one individual, former Frost Bank president Pat Frost, wrote a personal check.
The campaign finance report listed pages of consultants involved in the campaign, including dozens of canvassers paid to do community outreach.
Local strategists working on the effort include MAP Political Communication, Colt Osborn and Jennifer Longoria, while out-of-state consultants are being paid for big media buys and video production.
Those opposing Prop. B also have a campaign reaching out to voters, through the Defending Public Money for Public Good PAC, which has raised about $200,000. The PAC is aligned with COPS/Metro Alliance, a community group that fights public money for private development.
So far no groups are campaigning against Prop. A, which would put $192 million from the county venue tax toward turning the Spurs’ current Eastside home into a year-round rodeo district. But the Win Together PAC is supporting both Props A and B.
PACs will again file the fundraising and spending on 8-day out reports due Oct. 27. Final spending won’t be known until January, when semi-annual reports are due.
Disclosure: Pat Frost is a member of the San Antonio Report’s board of directors.