Untitled - Home Page - Houston Texans

Te XAN S
r e l i a n t s ta d i um
T
he city of Houston has always been on
the cutting edge of stadium development.
Houston first introduced the Astrodome,
which opened in 1965 as the world’s first dome
stadium. The trend continued in 2002 with the
debut of Reliant Stadium.
Reliant Stadium, the first NFL stadium with
a retractable roof, opened for business on
Aug. 24, 2002, as the Texans hosted the Miami
Dolphins in their first home preseason game.
Houston’s regular season debut against Dallas
on Sept. 8 was televised nationally on ESPN.
The Texans stunned the Cowboys before a
raucous crowd, unveiling a gameday atmosphere
that would become a staple throughout
the Texans’ inaugural campaign.
Counting preseason contests, the Texans
have played to 60 consecutive sellouts and set
a team record in 2004 with 565,192 fans during
the regular season, an average of 70,649
per game. The Texans’ largest crowd to date
was 70,780 as the Texans took down the New
Orleans Saints in November 2007, the largest
non-Super Bowl crowd in the city’s history.
And speaking of the Super Bowl, the world’s
biggest sports spectacle returned to Houston
for the first time in 30 years in 2004 as Reliant
Stadium hosted a memorable Super Bowl
XXXVIII between the New England Patriots
and Carolina Panthers. The Patriots won 32-29
on Adam Vinatieri’s 41-yard field goal with four
seconds remaining before a raucous crowd of
71,525. The event also featured elaborate pregame
and halftime shows featuring the likes of
Aerosmith, Beyoncé, Kid Rock, P. Diddy, Nelly,
Toby Keith and Willie Nelson.
Reliant Stadium also has played host to numerous
college football games, including
the Texas Bowl and the 2002 and 2005 Big 12
Championship Games. The stadium has also
played host to the Inaugural Texas Bowl and
the 2007 East/West Shrine All-Star Game.
The stadium also has become one of the nation’s
leading soccer venues. the five largest
crowds for soccer matches in Texas history
have all been at Reliant Stadium, including the
2006 FC Barcelona US Tour, the 2003 and 2008
United States versus Mexico matches and the
2005 and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo continued
to play to a packed house in 2007,
boasting such acts as Tim McGraw, Faith
Hill, Dierks Bentley and Hannah Montana.
Reliant Stadium has also played host to The
Rolling Stones, Metallica, Disney on Ice and
the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus.
Ground broke on Reliant Stadium on March 9,
2000. The stadium, covering 1.9 million square
feet, features 44,000 seats on the sideline.
There are 8,200 club seats and 187 suites. The
suites are the closest to the field in the NFL.
With the innovation of the retractable roof,
Houston returned to outdoor NFL action in
sideline
300