Public assist for Undertaking Marvel has remained largely unchanged over the previous 9 months since a bitterly fought native election over county funding, based on a brand new UTSA ballot, as Spurs Sports activities & Leisure begins rebranding the undertaking forward of a citywide public listening tour.
The survey, performed June 9-16 by the College of Texas at San Antonio’s Heart for Public Opinion Analysis, discovered 47% of San Antonio residents imagine town ought to transfer ahead with Undertaking Marvel, whereas 35% oppose it. One other 12% mentioned they have been not sure and eight% mentioned that they had no opinion.
These findings are much like UTSA’s October 2025 ballot of 660 possible Bexar County voters, which discovered 45% supported Undertaking Marvel and 40% opposed it.
Simply weeks later, Bexar County voters narrowly accredited Proposition B, giving the undertaking its first main public endorsement by authorizing a rise within the county lodge occupancy tax to fund the county’s $311 million share of a proposed $1.3 billion downtown Spurs area. The measure handed with 52.1% of the vote and represented the one public vote on funding for Undertaking Marvel.
Whereas the most recent survey polled considerably extra San Antonio residents, with 1,064 respondents, making the October 2025 and summer time 2026 polls in a roundabout way comparable, the outcomes counsel public opinion has modified little regardless of months of political debate, final fall’s venue tax election and the Spurs’ return to the NBA Finals.
The ballot arrives because the undertaking enters a brand new stage centered on public engagement.
Starting July 13, Spurs Sports activities & Leisure will host 10 group conversations throughout San Antonio, inviting residents to study extra in regards to the deliberate downtown sports activities and leisure district, ask questions and supply suggestions on the longer term area and surrounding growth.
The listening tour follows one other main milestone this week, when the Metropolis of San Antonio accomplished its acquisition of the Union Sq. federal constructing close to Hemisfair, one of many key properties wanted for the deliberate redevelopment.
On the identical time, undertaking leaders are additionally shifting away from the “Undertaking Marvel” title.
Through the “A View From The C-Suite”, enterprise discussion board Wednesday hosted by Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Report, Spurs Sports activities & Leisure CEO Robert Canterbury Buford confirmed the group is shifting away from the “Undertaking Marvel” title.
After Silver Ventures CEO Bryant Ambelang referred to the undertaking by its longtime code title, Buford interjected, “We don’t say that anymore.” When Ambelang jokingly requested what the undertaking needs to be referred to as as an alternative, Buford replied, “We’re not there but.”
The alternate displays a broader shift already underway.
Current public bulletins, metropolis statements and the upcoming listening tour describe the hassle as a downtown sports activities and leisure district moderately than Undertaking Marvel, emphasizing the broader redevelopment surrounding the deliberate Spurs area.
Later, Buford sought to reframe the undertaking as greater than a brand new house for the Spurs.
“Downtown San Antonio goes via a renovation, a rejuvenation like only a few locations I’ve ever seen,” he mentioned, pointing to investments surrounding Hemisfair, UTSA’s downtown campus and different close by developments. Buford mentioned the plan contains roughly $2 billion in growth exterior the world, arguing the undertaking is meant to create a broader downtown district moderately than merely construct a brand new stadium.
The listening tour begins Monday because the undertaking enters its subsequent section, shifting from voter approval and land acquisitions to conversations with a public that, based on the ballot, nonetheless features a sizable variety of undecided residents.
