A new poll from UT San Antonio’s Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR) shows Bexar County voters favor expanding the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo grounds (Proposition A) slightly more than funding a new Spurs arena with venue tax funds (Proposition B). Around 44% of voters support expanding the stock show and rodeo district while nearly 40% support the new arena ahead of the November 4 election.
In the UT San Antonio poll, 46% of voters said they would vote against designating venue tax funds for the construction of a new Spurs arena in Hemisfair with 15% of voters unsure how they will vote. About 41% of voters were against funding a year-round stock show and rodeo district on the East Side, which includes the redevelopment of the Frost Bank Center.
Overall, when asked if the City of San Antonio should move forward with Project Marvel, a proposal for a new sports and entertainment district downtown, 45% of voters were in favor and 40% were against.
“Support for ballot propositions is always very fluid, especially in this case where the subject matter—a venue tax—is pretty dense, and there are organized campaigns looking to change minds and mobilize voters in the run-up the election,” said Bryan Gervais, UT San Antonio professor of political science and CPOR director.
“That said, it’s fair to say that the effort to secure venue tax funding for a new Spurs arena faces an uphill battle.”
CPOR’s newest poll queried 660 Bexar County likely voters to gain their thoughts and opinions about the two November ballot propositions associated with Project Marvel. CPOR also asked voters about the job performance of local public officials and about trust in all levels of government.
The poll was administered via computer-assisted, self-interviewing software in English and Spanish from October 1 to October 3 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8%.
Key Highlights
- Prop A: 44% of voters support raising the Bexar County venue tax to pay for the expansion of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo grounds. About 41% say they are against the proposal with 15% of voters unsure. The proposal includes the redevelopment of the Spurs’ current arena at the Frost Bank Center.
- Prop B: Support for new Spurs arena remained unchanged from April with about 40% in favor of using a venue tax to fund some of the cost of a new arena. Those against rose slightly to about 46%, up from 44% in April 2025. About 14% of voters remain unsure.
- Overall voter support for Project Marvel shows slight shifts. Forty-five percent of voters think the city should move forward with the project, including construction of a new arena for the San Antonio Spurs, a land bridge over Interstate Highway 37, and expansions of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Alamodome. About 40% were opposed, with about 13% unsure. Just over 2% had no opinion.
- Voters are still forming opinions about Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones. About 25% of voters somewhat approve or strongly approve of Jones’ job performance, with 47% who neither disapprove nor approve of her performance as mayor. More than one-third of voters (about 36%) approved of the job Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai is doing.
- Disapproval of Governor Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump were high. About 64% of voters disapprove of Gov. Abbott’s performance, and 66% disapprove of President Trump’s job performance.
- Voters remain more positive about the direction San Antonio is moving in, as opposed to the direction of the state and country. Thirty-nine percent believe San Antonio is headed in the right direction, down from 48% in April. The majority believe the state (62%) and country (66%) are moving in the wrong direction, compared to 53% and 62% in April, respectively.
Established in 2023, CPOR is a nationally accredited, academic public opinion research center that produces and facilitates basic and applied opinion research to broaden the shared understanding of important political and governance issues. The center is certified by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)’s Transparency Initiative. AAPOR is an organization comprised of public opinion and survey research professionals in the U.S., with members from academia, media, government, the non-profit sector and private industry. As a member of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, CPOR practices transparency in reporting its survey-based research findings.
Survey Methodology
Stratified registration-based sampling (RBS) was used to select the sample. Registered voters with verified email addresses were stratified into three categories, based on personal vote history in prior consolidated general elections: voters, abstainers, and new registrants with no vote history. Estimates of the rates at which each of the three strata were expected to vote in the November 2025 election were then produced based on an analysis of previous consolidated general elections. Weighted average turnout rates for each of the groups were then used as the benchmark voting rates for the November 2025 election. The number of registered voters in each stratum was then multiplied by the estimated voting rates to produce the fraction of the sample each stratum should make up. After the survey was fielded, data were weighted by these strata fractions and self-reported likelihood of voting.
