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 Reliant
Stadium
Houston, TX
Home of the Houston Texans, Reliant
Stadium was the first of its kind in the NFL, with a retractable
roof. Prior to 1997, Houston had
a NFL franchise, the Houston Oilers. After thirty years of playing
at the Astrodome, the Oilers began demanding that a
new football only stadium be built in the mid 1990s. 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, hired 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.
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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 hosts
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.
It is also been the home of the Houston Bowl since 2002 after
being played at the Houston Astrodome for two years.
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