Reliant Stadium
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| Reliant Stadium | |
|---|---|
| One Reliant Park | |
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| Location | One Reliant Park Houston, Texas 77054 |
| Broke ground | March 2000 |
| Opened | August 24, 2002 |
| Owner | Harris County, Texas |
| Operator | SMG World |
| 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, HLSR) (2002-present) Texas Bowl (NCAA) (2006-present) Houston Bowl (NCAA) (2002-2005) East-West Shrine Game (NCAA) (2007) 2011 Men's Basketball Final Four |
| Capacity | 71,500 |
Reliant Stadium is a multiple-use stadium in Houston, Texas. The stadium is the home of the National Football League's Houston Texans, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Bowl, host to many international soccer matches for the USA National Soccer Team and other events. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004.
Reliant Stadium is part of a collection of venues (including the Astrodome), which are collectively called Reliant Park. The entire complex is named for Reliant Energy under a 32-year, $300 million naming rights deal in 2000. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of 1,900,000 square feet (177,000 m²) with 97,000 sq ft (9,000 m²). of natural grass playing surface. The stadium was constructed at the cost of 352 million dollars. [1][2] Reliant Stadium is the first facility in the NFL to have a retractable roof. [3]
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[edit] History
The Houston NFL Holdings group came to HOK Sport to begin the schematic design for the first-ever NFL retractable roof football stadium in 1997. The intention was to create a football stadium to replace the Astrodome that would operate like an open-air facility but have the intimacy and comfort of an indoor arena. With the design for football and the square footage requirements of the rodeo, the building was designed in the 1,900,000-square-foot (177,000 m²) range. [4] Groundbreaking for the stadium was on March 9, 2001 and the building was officially topped off on October, 2001. [5]The stadium opened on August 24, 2002 and hosted it's first football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans on September 8, 2002. [6] Construction was completed in 30 months. [7]The first rodeo was held in the stadium in February, 2003. [8]
[edit] Design and technology
The stadium was designed by the architectural firms of Hermes Reed Architects and Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam who were teamed to create the Houston Stadium Consultants (HSC). The architects of HOK Sport and the HSC worked together with engineers from Uni-Systems to design the stadium utilizing the principles of kinetic architecture. [9] [10] The facility offers a sense of transparency with its roof fabric and expansive areas of glazing. At night, the building glows from within. [11] The extensive use of glass provides an open-air feel to the facility's concourses. Reliant Stadium has over 7,000 club seats, 166 luxury suites and multiple lounges and bars . [12] The stadium can be configured to utilize a 125,000-square-foot (11,600 m²) space for meetings, specialty functions, exhibits and concerts. [13] With 12,000 tons of air conditioning capacity, the stadium is the largest indoor air-conditioned space in Texas and, other than multi-terminal airports, is the state’s largest public assembly space. [14]
One of the most notable aspects of the design is the fabric retractable roof. The roof mechanization consists of two bi-parting large panels that part at the 50 yard line, laying over each end zone when in the resting position. Ten parallel tri-chord trusses ride on two parallel rails, each supported by a large supertruss 675 feet (206 m) long. Roof operation is controlled in the stadium press box from a personal computer, containing live images of the travel path of each roof panel, as well as live feedback from all roof components throughout the operation. The roof panels are able to open or close in as little as 7 minutes, moving up to 35 feet (11 m) per minute. [15]
One bleacher section behind the north end zone, called the "Bull Pen", is is the designated fan section for the team. The fans in the Bull Pen interact directly with the action on the field and help to create and implement fan traditions, songs, chants and other elements of the game day experience to create a positive atmosphere for the team and everyone in attendance at the game. Fans in the Bull Pen are encouraged to stand throughout the game, sing, cheer and otherwise support the team in an enthusiastic manner.[16]
[edit] Stadium usage
[edit] Sports
- See also: Sports in Houston
[edit] Professional football
The Houston Texans have played their home games 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. 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 19-10 in an upset.
Reliant Stadium 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.
[edit] Rodeo
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a co-tenant of Reliant Stadium. "The building is as much for the rodeo as it is for the National Football League," according to Leroy Shafer who is assistant general manager of the rodeo's marketing department. [17] The rodeo is held three weeks in February and March each year.
The stadium includes a service area level to house rodeo livestock. The bulls, broncs, steers and roping calves are housed in the north end of the stadium under the lower bowl. Loading and unloading dock space to support the rodeo is located on the north end of the stadium. During rodeo performances, rolling doors will separate the dock into two receiving areas to isolate the food and concession deliveries from the rodeo equipment and livestock deliveries. A 42-foot (13 m) concert performance stage is located at the south end of the stadium during rodeo events and is moved into the center of the facility by a hydraulic drive system for rodeo concert performances. [18] During the 2008 rodeo, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus performed a concert before 73,459 rodeo attendees on Sunday, March 9. [19]
[edit] College football
College Football's Texas Bowl is annually hosted at the stadium. The stadium hosted the Houston Bowl before the Texas Bowl's inception and also hosted the 2002 and 2005 Big 12 Conference Championship games. The University of Houston, Rice University, and Texas Southern University each have played selected home games at Reliant Stadium. The East-West Shrine Game was held in Reliant stadium in 2007
The first-ever Texas Bowl in December 2006 featured a game between Rutgers University and Kansas State University. The final score, 37-10 (Rutgers).
[edit] Association football (Soccer)
Reliant Stadium hosts several international club matches each year. The games are generally held in the spring and summer before the NFL season starts. The stadium hosted CONCACAF Gold Cup matches in 2005, and in 2007. The Gold Cup matches in 2007 included Round 1 matches, and a quarterfinal doubleheader match. The venue's attendance record was set during a preparation match between the Mexican National Team and the U.S. Men's Soccer Team as a crowd of 70,103 witnessed a tie between these two border rivals (2 - 2).
On February 6, 2008, USA-Mexico was held at Reliant Stadium to an over-capacity crowd. The last USA vs. Mexico match in Reliant Stadium drew sellout crowd of 69,582 fans on May 8, 2003 and is the largest home crowd for the U.S. Men’s National Team this decade. [20]
[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] Professional wrestling
Reliant Stadium will host WrestleMania XXV, the forthcoming twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. The event is scheduled to take place on April 5, 2009.[21]
[edit] Concerts
- On August 2, 2003, Metallica along with Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones played a concert in Reliant Stadium during Metallica's Summer Sanitarium '03 tour. It was at this concert that Linkin Park shot some footage for their DVD Live in Texas.
- 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.
- Reliant Stadium played host to the Rolling Stones on January 25, 2003 during the band's 2002-2003 Licks Tour.
[edit] Other events
The Offshore Technology Conference is held annually in Reliant Center and utilizes the stadium for exhibits. In 2006, 59,236 were attendance which was the largest convention in Houston in 2006 and the highest attendance for the event since 1982. [22]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Reliant Stadium - Reliant Park, Reliant Park Info, Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Houston Texans - Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Architecture of Reliant Stadium - Houston, Texas, United States of America. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Quick Facts - Reliant Park, Reliant Park Info, Quick Facts. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Wide Open Spaces, Modern Steel Construction, July 2003. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Architecture of Reliant Stadium - Houston, Texas, United States of America. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Uni-Systems, Reliant Stadium Project Details. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ HOK Sport - Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Houston Texans - Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Reliant Stadium - Reliant Park, Reliant Park Info, Reliant Stadium. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Wide Open Spaces, Modern Steel Construction, July 2003. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ 30728_EAE_reliant.pdf, Modern Steel Construction, April 2004. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Bull Pen - Houston Texans
- ^ Reliant Stadium: Ready to rodeo from design concept to showtime - Houston Business Journal:. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Reliant Stadium: Ready to rodeo from design concept to showtime - Houston Business Journal:. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Quick Facts - Reliant Park, Reliant Park Info, Quick Facts. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ The Official Site of U.S. Soccer - Men's National Team. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
- ^ Dale Plummer (2008-03-31). Mayweather, Orton survive Mania; Edge, Flair don't. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
- ^ Quick Facts - Reliant Park, Reliant Park Info, Quick Facts. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the Houston Texans 2002 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Texas Stadium Arrowhead Stadium |
Host of the Big 12 Championship Game 2002 2005 |
Succeeded by Arrowhead Stadium Arrowhead Stadium |
| Preceded by Qualcomm Stadium |
Host of Super Bowl XXXVIII 2004 |
Succeeded by ALLTEL Stadium |
| Preceded by Citrus Bowl |
Host of WrestleMania XXV 2009 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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