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college football stadiums |
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Rice Stadium
Houston, TX
Home of the Rice Owls football team, Rice Stadium is the largest
stadium in the CUSA conference. By 1950, a new stadium for the Rice
football program was needed as the old Rice Field. This stadium with a
seating capacity of 37,000 was beginning to show its age. Construction
for a new stadium began in January 1950 and was completed nine months
later.
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The Owls made their debut at the stadium on
September 30, 1950 against Santa Clara. The stadium had a seating
capacity of 70,000 when it opened. The lower deck encloses the playing
field and upper decks are located on both sides of the gridiron. In
the 1990s Rice Stadium saw several improvements, new lights in 1995,
new scoreboards in 1996 and the following year new Astroturf. In
recent years there have been several improvements to Rice Stadium. The
Astroturf playing surface was replaced with Fieldturf and a new
scoreboard was added in 2006. Current capacity of Rice Stadium is
listed at 47,000 because sections of the stadium are covered with
tarps. Other than being the home of the Rice Owls, the stadium was
home of the Houston Oilers before they moved in the Houston Astrodome.
It was also the site of Super Bowl VIII between the Miami Dolphins and
the Minnesota Vikings. |
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FACTS & FIGURES |
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-Tenant:
Rice Owls
-Conference: CUSA
-Capacity:
47,000
-Surface:
Fieldturf
-Opened:
September 30, 1950
-Cost:
Unknown
-Seating
Chart
-Rice
Owls Sports
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HOTELS NEAR RICE STADIUM |
DIRECTIONS TO RICE STADIUM |
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