Sakai says Bexar County won't pursue $5 million Spurs owe for failed soccer project

Departing Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai speaks to reporters during a recent event. Credit: Michael Karlis

Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai this week told reporters the county has no interest in collecting its portion of $5 million owed by Spurs Sports & Entertainment over a failed city-county effort to attract a Major League Soccer franchise.

“This all happened before I became the county judge, but it’s my understanding that the court had taken official action during COVID to waive those particular damages,” Sakai said.

The judge expressed his lack of interest in pursuing the money even though the county faces a $145 million deficit by 2029. What’s more, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones appears ready to aggressively pursue collecting a payment from the Spurs.

With the city facing a $131 million budget deficit by 2028, Jones told attendees at two recent town hall meetings that she had instructed City Manager Erik Walsh to hunt down any entity that owes the city more than $1 million and is six or more months late on payments. SS&E is among those, she added.

As a result of the failed soccer bid, SS&E owes a Public Finance Corporation (PFC) jointly owned by the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, $5 million under a 2015 deal to purchase Toyota Field on the Northeast side from a nonprofit helmed by philanthropist Gordon Hartman.

Under that deal, the city and county, via the PFC, agreed to spend $18 million to acquire the stadium. However, SS&E would owe the corporation $5 million if it failed to bring an MLS team to the Alamo City by 2021.

Despite Jones’ interest in recouping that money from SS&E, County Manager David Smith agreed with Sakai that the ship had already sailed.

“The court previously decided it was in the best interest of the community to not try and impose that penalty at that time,” Smith said. “We’ll have to talk to the city about what they think about that. You’ve obviously heard what the mayor thinks. But the judge is right.”

Word that the county isn’t interested in recouping its portion of the money SS&E owes comes after the Express-News reported this week that Sakai accepted two separate offers for Spurs playoff tickets.

“Spurs in 7,” Sakai said during his final State of the County address at the Grand Hyatt on Wednesday. “Go Spurs Go.”

Sakai’s office didn’t tell the daily who offered the tickets.

However, Mayor Jones told the Express-News a “local lobbyist” offered her playoff tickets but she declined the offer.

Although the county waived its portion of SS&E’s $5 million fee in 2022, the city never voted on the matter. That means the city could still collect its share of the sum and use it to put a dent in the budget deficit, spokesperson Brian Chasnoff told the Current last month.

Despite shrugging off the SS&E money, Smith warned during a Wednesday panel that the county’s deficit crunch represents a serious challenge.

“It will be, in my experience, the most fiscally challenging budget process we’ve had since the housing crash of 2008,” he said.

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