Reliant Stadium
| Reliant Stadium | |
|---|---|
| One Reliant Park | |
  |
|
| Location | 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 + Venue + Event|HOK Sport]] |
| Former names | N/A |
| Tenants | |
| Houston Texans (NFL) (2002-present) | |
| Capacity | |
| 71,500 | |
Reliant Stadium is a football stadium in Houston, Texas. It is the home of the NFL's Houston Texans and is host to many international soccer matches for the USA National Soccer Team. The stadium also served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004. College Football's Texas Bowl is hosted at the stadium yearly, and it will additionally play host to the 2007 Season's East-West Shrine Game. 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, one of two (as of the 2007 NFL season) with a retractable roof. The other is University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home of the Arizona Cardinals. Two stadiums currently under construction will have retractable roofs: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in 2008, and the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium in Arlington, Texas in 2009.
Professional Football
The 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. 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 Cowboys19-10 in an upset.
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. The University of Houston, Rice University, and Texas Southern University each have played selected home games at Reliant Stadium.
The first-ever Texas Bowl in December 2006 featured a game between Rutgers University and Kansas State University. The final score, 37-10 (Rutgers).
Association 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 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 the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarter finals as a crowd of 70,092 witnessed Mexico defeat Costa Rica (1 - 0) in Extra time, and Guadeloupe defeat Honduras (2 - 1). Both winning teams advanced to the Semi finals.
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.
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.
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.
- Reliant Stadium played host to the Rolling Stones on January 25, 2003 during the band's 2002-2003 Licks Tour.
External links
| Preceded by first stadium |
Home of the Houston Texans 2002–present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Qualcomm Stadium Super Bowl XXXVII |
Host of Super Bowl
XXXVIII 2004 |
Succeeded by ALLTEL Stadium Super Bowl XXXIX |
|
Houston Texans
|
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Super Bowl Host Venues |
|---|
| Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum (I, VII) •
Miami Orange Bowl (II, III, V, X, XIII) • Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, IX) •
Rice Stadium (VIII) Rose Bowl (XI, XIV, XVII, XXI, XXVII) • Louisiana Superdome (XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXXI, XXXVI) • Pontiac Silverdome (XVI) • Tampa Stadium (XVIII, XXV) Stanford Stadium (XIX) • Qualcomm Stadium (XXII, XXXII, XXXVII) • Dolphin Stadium (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV) • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (XXVI) Georgia Dome (XXVIII, XXXIV) • Sun Devil Stadium (XXX) • Raymond James Stadium (XXXV, XLIII) • Reliant Stadium (XXXVIII) ALLTEL Stadium (XXXIX) • Ford Field (XL) • University of Phoenix Stadium (XLII) • Dallas Cowboys New Stadium (XLV) |
| Current Football Venues in the Southwestern Athletic Conference |
|---|
| 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) |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
