a Joint Venture |
structural Eng =
Walter P. Moore and Associates, Inc. |
former_names = N/A |
tenants =
Houston Texans (
NFL) (
2002-present)
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (a.k.a, HLSR) (
2002-present)
Texas Bowl (
2006-present)
Houston Bowl (
NCAA) (
2002-
2005)
East-West Shrine Game (
NCAA) (
2007-present)
2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament|
seating_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 :
External links :