SAN ANTONIO \u2013 As San Antonio\u2019s City Council discusses the potential of a proposal to create a new sports and entertainment district downtown that would be anchored by a new arena where the San Antonio Spurs would play, some wonder what would happen if that arena doesn\u2019t get built. Would the team decide to move from San Antonio?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team means so much to us and so much to the community,\u201d Spurs Governor Peter J. Holt said in an interview with KSAT\u2019s RJ Marquez in June<\/a>. \u201cOur job is to ensure that it\u2019s successful so that the team can have the most positive impact on the community.\u201d<\/p>\n KSAT anchors Myra Arthur and Stephania Jimenez asked San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones this week<\/a> if she thought the Spurs would move if the new arena wasn\u2019t built, she said \u201cthat is a decision for the Spurs to make.\u201c Jones also said \u201cnobody wants that\u201d about a possible Spurs departure, but \u201cwe don\u2019t need to go into this, I think, operating from a place of fear.”<\/p>\n There has been a history of sports franchises leaving their cities for new homes.<\/p>\n Most recently, the city of Oakland, California, has seen its Major League Baseball, National Football League and National Basketball franchises all move to new homes in other cities. The Raiders (NFL) and the Athletics (MLB) left Oakland-Alameda Coliseum for Las Vegas after the city and teams could not reach an agreement on new stadiums. The Raiders now play in Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas<\/a> while the A\u2019s play in Sacramento while a new stadium is being built on the Las Vegas Strip<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Golden State Warriors, the area\u2019s NBA franchise, remained in the Bay Area. However, the team moved from Oracle Arena in Oakland across the Bay Bridge to the Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n As far as other NBA franchises go, several cities have seen their teams leave town for newer arenas.<\/p>\n In 1979, The New Orleans Jazz left Louisiana for Salt Lake City<\/a> due to financial struggles and playing the Superdome.<\/p>\n In 2002, the NBA returned to New Orleans when the Charlotte Hornets moved to town. The move came after voters in Charlotte voted down a referendum that would have funded a new downtown arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2008, the Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma City after its arena fell behind NBA standards. The team wanted the state of Washington to fund more than $200 million to update Key Arena, but political officials refused to do so. After the team\u2019s ownership group sold the team and the new owner moved the franchise to Oklahoma City. The city of Seattle fought the move, but ultimately settled<\/a> and the team became the Oklahoma City Thunder. <\/p>\n Other similar moves include:<\/p>\n 1972 – Washington Senators become the Texas Rangers after Senators had financial troubles.<\/a> The team\u2019s owner wanted to change the lease agreement at the stadium in D.C.<\/p>\n