NRG STADIUM
The Texans have played to 132 consecutive sellouts at NRG Stadium. In 2013, the world’s second-largest indoor HD video boards
were installed at NRG Stadium and it was announced that it will play host to Super Bowl LI in 2017. The stadium has played host to
the Texas Bowl since 2006, the 2007 East-West Shrine Game, the 2011 NCAA Men’s Final Four, Super Bowl XXXVIII, Wrestlemania
XXV, Rodeo Houston among other large-scale events. The NCAA Men’s Final Four will return to the building in 2016.
The city of Houston always has been on the cutting edge
of stadium development. Houston first introduced the Astrodome, which opened in 1965 as the world’s first domed
stadium. The trend continued in 2002 with the debut of NRG
Stadium.
The first NFL stadium with a retractable roof, NRG Stadium
opened for business on Aug. 24, 2002, as the Texans hosted
the Miami Dolphins in the preseason. Houston’s regular-season debut against Dallas on Sept. 8 was televised nationally
on ESPN. The Texans stunned the Cowboys 19-10 before a
raucous crowd, unveiling a gameday atmosphere that would
become a staple throughout the Texans’ inaugural campaign.
In 2013, the world’s second-largest indoor high-definition
video boards were installed at the north and south ends of
the stadium. The Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision System
boards are 14,549 square feet apiece and have a display
resolution of 1,000 x 5,280 pixels in HD 1080i format.
Counting preseason games, the Texans have played to
132 consecutive sellouts. They set a team record in 2014
with 574,132 fans during the regular season, an average of
71,767 per game. The Texans’ largest crowd through 13 seasons was 71,787 for their Thursday Night Football matchup
with the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 9, 2014, the largest nonSuper Bowl football crowd in the city’s history.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, the world’s biggest sports
spectacle will take place in NRG Stadium for a second time
in February 2017. The city of Houston was awarded Super
Bowl LI following a vote by NFL owners in May 2013. The
Super Bowl returned to Houston for the first time in 30 years
in 2004 as NRG Stadium hosted a memorable Super Bowl
XXXVIII between the New England Patriots and Carolina
Panthers. The Patriots won 32-29 on Adam Vinatieri’s 41yard field goal with four seconds remaining before a 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.
NRG Stadium has hosted numerous college football
games, including the Texas Bowl since 2006, three Houston
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Bowls, the 2002 and 2005 Big 12 Championship Games, the
2007 East-West Shrine Game, the Bayou Bucket (Rice vs.
Houston) and the second annual AdvoCare Texas Kickoff
featuring LSU and Wisconsin. NRG Stadium housed the
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 in 2008 and
2010 and hosted the Final Four in 2011. The Final Four will
return in 2016.
NRG Stadium also has become one of the nation’s leading
soccer venues. The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team hosted Mexico in May 2003 in the two teams’ first match since
their 2002 World Cup meeting. In 2005, NRG Stadium hosted the championship matches of the Mexican League’s InterLiga qualification competition. The stadium hosted another
U.S.-Mexico match and a Mexico-Belize World Cup qualifier
in 2008 and hosted matches in the CONCACAF Gold Cup
in 2005, 2007 and 2009, as well as the Gold Cup semifinals
in 2011 and 2010 MLS All-Star Game featuring Manchester
United. In July, NRG Stadium hosted Mexico vs. Honduras
as part of the 2015 Mexican National Team U.S. Tour.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo continued to play
to a packed house in 2014, boasting such acts as Maroon
5, Luke Bryan, Usher, Blake Shelton and Banda MS. NRG
Stadium also has played host to concerts by U2, The Rolling
Stones, Metallica, George Strait and Kenny Chesney, and
premier events including WrestleMania XXV, Disney on Ice
and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Ground broke on NRG Stadium on March 9, 2000. The stadium, covering 1.9 million square feet, features 44,000 seats
on the sideline. There are 8,400 club seats and 195 suites,
along with 10 party suites on the 300 level.
With the innovation of the retractable roof, Houston returned to outdoor NFL action in 2002 for the first time since
Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in 1974. The roof is made
of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass fabric and takes 10
minutes to open and close. When it opens, the roof splits at
the 50-yard line and docks in the end zones.
The climate-controlled stadium also features a natural
grass playing surface. The grass is grown on eight-foot
2015 HOUSTON TEXANS MEDIA GUIDE
NRG STADIUM
square trays, then transported to the stadium.
NRG Stadium features an open view of the playing field
from the main concourse and on the club level. The main
concourse is 40 feet wide, which makes it one of the largest
in the NFL. Each concession stand has multiple televisions
that enable Texans fans to stay on top of the action.
The Texans’ front office is located on the south end of
the stadium, enabling the club’s day-to-day operations to
be under one roof. Players report to the stadium to take
part in film sessions, practice, treatment and training. The
10,000-square-foot weight room is among the largest in the
league. The players also can take advantage of a three-lane
lap pool.
Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien conducts his postgame
press conferences in the team’s media auditorium on the
ground level. The stadium’s press box is located on the
eighth level of the stadium’s west side, flanking Kirby Drive.
Across the street, the Houston Methodist Training Center
features three outdoor grass practice fields. One field is lit for
night sessions during training camp. The Houston Methodist
Training Center also features an indoor practice field outfitted
with FieldTurf. The air-supported structure offers the team a
seamless transition from outdoor to indoor practice in case of
inclement weather. The state-of-the-art facility also doubles
as the team’s training camp headquarters.
NRG’S HD VIDEO BOARDS
The above image is of one NRG Stadium’s video boards. Both boards were the two largest indoor HD video boards in the world
when they were installed in August 2013.
VIDEO BOARD QUICK FACTS
• When they were installed in 2013, they were the largest
in-stadium HD video displays in the world and the widest display in professional sports.
• Image area is 52.49’ (H) x 277.17’ (W), totaling 14,549
square feet of display surface compared to 2,592
square feet of display surface on the old, standard
definition boards that were used from 2002-12. That is a
561 percent increase in area.
• Display resolution of 1,000 x 5,280 pixels in HD 1080i
format with 4.4 trillion colors and 960 Hz refresh rate for
jitter-free HD images.
• Manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric’s Diamond Vision
Systems Division (Cowboy Stadium; Yankee Stadium;
Lambeau Field; Fenway Park; Century Link Field).
• Second-largest end zone video display in the NFL.
• Wider than the wing span of a 747 and equal to roughly
3,050 40” LCD displays.
VIDEO BOARD FEATURES
• Texans fans experienced High Definition video images
in 2013 for the first time in Reliant Stadium thanks to
the video displays. The old video boards displayed
standard definition images.
• Replays are further enhanced thanks to an additional
slow-motion instant replay machine from EVS that
captures four more camera angles and the capability of
network television replay footage to be shown.
• The 277-foot wide displays are the second-largest in
the NFL or MLB. The portion of the displays that show
game action are larger than all but four video boards in
the NFL at 115 feet wide and 52.5 feet tall.
• A digital clock and down and distance have replaced
the matrix displays that served the same purpose.
• In-game statistics are presented on the videoboard
displays, as are out-of-town scores and fantasy football
updates.
• All of the space on the displays is digital and can be
changed out with graphics to enhance fan experience.
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