Reliant Stadium
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Reliant Stadium | |
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Location | One Reliant Park Houston, Texas 77054 |
Broke ground | March 2000 |
Opened | August 24, 2002 |
Closed | Open |
Owner | Harris County, Texas |
Surface | Grass |
Construction cost | $352 million |
Architect | HOK Sport |
Former names | |
N/A | |
Tenants | |
Houston Texans (NFL) (2002-present) Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (a.k.a, HSLR) (2002-present) Texas Bowl (2006-present) |
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Capacity | |
71,500 |
Reliant Stadium is a football stadium in Houston, Texas. It is the home for the Houston Texans of the NFL and host to many international soccer matches for the USA and Mexican National Soccer Teams. The stadium has also served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004. College Football's Texas Bowl and East-West Shrine Game are also hosted at the stadium each yearly. In addition to football the stadium hosts the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for three weeks in February and March each year.
The seating capacity of the stadium is 71,500. It was the first stadium in the NFL to have a retractable roof.
Contents |
[edit] Professional Football
The Texans have played their home game at Reliant Stadium since their inception in 2002. The annual calendar consists of 8 regular season and 2 pre-season games, plus any playoff games the Texans might host. It also hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004. The game saw the New England Patriots defeat the Carolina Panthers, 32-29, and site of the controversial Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show.
The first game played was on August 24, 2002, as the Texans played the Miami Dolphins in their first preseason game. The first regular season game was played on September 8 of that year, where the expansion Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys in an upset.
[edit] College Football
College Football's Texas Bowl and East-West Shrine Game are annually hosted at the stadium. The stadium hosted the Houston Bowl prior to the Texas Bowl's inception and also hosted the 2002 and 2005 Big 12 Conference Championship games. Texas Southern University also plays some of their home games there.
The first-ever Texas Bowl in December 2006 featured an excellent game between Rutgers University and Kansas State University. The final score, 37-10 (Rutgers).
[edit] International Football (Soccer)
Reliant Stadium hosts several international friendly and club matches each year. They are generally held in the Spring and Summer before the NFL season starts. The stadium hosted CONCACAF Gold Cup matches in 2005, and will again in 2007. The venue's attendance record was set during the American tour of FC Barcelona in 2006. Barcelona drew 4-4 with Club América only after scoring three goals in ten minutes.
[edit] College Basketball
The stadium is scheduled to host the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament several times in the future, including the 2008 South Regional Finals, the 2010 South Regional Finals, and the 2011 Final Four.
[edit] Reliant Park
Reliant Stadium is part a collection of venues (including the Astrodome), which are collectively called, Reliant Park. The stadium was designed and built for two major tenants, the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The entire complex is named for Reliant Energy under a 32-year, $300 million naming rights deal in 2000.
[edit] Other special events
On April 7, 2005, it hosted a historic tribute concert to the late pop star Selena. Among the celebrities to perform that night were Gloria Estefan, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, and Ana Gabriel.
[edit] External links
Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the Houston Texans 2002–present |
Succeeded by current |
Houston Texans | ||||||||||||||
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Current Football Venues in the Southwestern Athletic Conference |
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Ace W. Mumford Stadium (Southern) • Blackshear Stadium (Prairie View A&M) • Crampton Bowl (Alabama State) • Eddie Robinson Stadium (Grambling State) • Jack Spinks Stadium (Alcorn State) • Lion Stadium (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) • Louis Crews Stadium (Alabama A&M) • Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium (Jackson State) • Reliant Stadium (Texas Southern-secondary) • Rice-Totten Field (Mississippi Valley State) • Robertson Stadium (Texas Southern-primary) |