The history of the Houston Texans stadium name

Yesterday we looked at the history of the Texans' name and the origins behind the creative process. Today we will deep dive into the history of the place they call home. 

The 69,500-seat state-of-the-art facility became the world’s first retractable-roof football stadium according to the Houston Texans' official website. The announcement was officially made on March 9th, 2000 after a lengthy process of establishing the team’s name, colors, and branding in accordance with the National Football League. 

As for the name, Houston’s ownership brass quickly went to work to find a sponsor in order to acquire naming rights. Reliant Energy was the company that ultimately acquired these rights, paving the way for the stadium to be called Reliant Stadium per the team’s official website. 

With Reliant Energy in control of the naming rights until 2032, the company has long-term influence over the naming of the stadium. Though this is still true, the stadium changed names once since their initial agreement in 2014 according to Pro Football Reference. 

Starting in the aforementioned 2014 campaign, the naming changed over to NRG Stadium according to Pro Football Reference. The stadium’s name is in cohort with NRG Energy, the parent company of Reliant Energy and the largest electricity retailer in the state of Texas. 

Other changes to the stadium along with the renaming occurred. NRG Stadium now features an astroturf on its field as compared to the grass that they initially had from the opening of the stadium until 2014 per Pro Football Reference. 

As of today, the name NRG Stadium is still prevalent and has been the most popular sports and entertainment venue in the Houston area and one of the largest in the state of Texas.

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