Stadium Information & HistoryReliant Stadium History
Stadium Information:
Name: Reliant Stadium
Inauguration: 24 August 2002
First match: Houston-Miami
Cost: $325 million
Capacity: 69,500 seats
Address: One Reliant Park, Houston, TX 77054
Home of the Houston Texans, Reliant Stadium was the first of its kind in the NFL, with a retractable roof when it opened in September 2002. Prior to 1997, Houston had a NFL franchise, the Houston Oilers. After thirty years of playing in Houston, TX at the Astrodome, the Oilers began demanding that a new football only stadium be built in the mid 1990’s. After numerous attempts to get a stadium failed, the team decided to move to Nashville, TN after the 1996 season. Once the Oilers left for Nashville, a group including Bob McNair, got HOK sport to design a new retractable roof stadium, that could help lure a team back to Houston. In 1999, convinced by the Houston group, the NFL awarded the area a new franchise, the Houston Texans to begin playing in 2002. The Texans partnered with the Livestock Show and Rodeo in building a stadium. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new stadium, which was built near the Astrodome, began in early 2000. In October 2000, Reliant Energy purchased the naming rights, thus the facility was named Reliant Stadium.
The Houston Texans played their first regular season game at Reliant Stadium on September 8, 2002 against the Dallas Cowboys. Reliant Stadium has a capacity of around 69,000, in three main tiers of seats that enclose the field. A retractable roof was chosen for the stadium because of the late summer heat and because the stadium will host rodeos, that bring in an annual 2 million people. The roof consists of two sections that meet over the 50 yard line when it is closed. When the roof is open, each section is above the seats in the endzone. Reliant Stadium has many amenities including over 7,000 club seats, 166 luxury suites, club lounges and bars, and a Texans team store. Although it has only been open for several years, Reliant Stadium has already been host to one of the biggest games in football, the 2004 Super Bowl.
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