NRG Stadium upgrades ball moves forward

Image: NRG Stadium, Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0

The NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas (US) isn’t just the 22-year-old home of the National Football League (NFL) team Houston Texans, it also is the site for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and is set to host the 2025 Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) Gold Cup Final and seven 2026 FIFA World Cup™ matches.

‘si.com’ stated that the NRG Stadium needed approximately $264 million in upgrades and repairs – almost five times the stadium’s operating budget.

The NRG Stadium (previously known as the Reliant Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002 at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retractable roof.

The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference South Division. The team plays its home games at the NRG Stadium.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called the RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events.

Miami (US)-based the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as Concacaf, is one of FIFA’s six continental governing bodies for association football.

The 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup will be the 18th edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup, the biennial international men’s soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by the Concacaf. Canada and the United States will host the tournament, which will begin on June 14^th, 2025. The final is scheduled to be played on July 6^th, 2025, at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas (US).

The 2026 FIFA World Cup™, marketed as the FIFA World Cup 26™, will be the 23^rd FIFA World Cup™, the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11^th-July 19^th, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 Cities in three North American countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. The tournament will be the first hosted by three nations and the first North American World Cup since 1994.

‘si.com’ further stated that in a recent Board meeting, the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation approved several updates to the NRG Stadium including $35 million for a roof replacement and an update to the sound system and videoboards.

The Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation (HCSCC) is a component of Harris County, Texas, which was created by the Commissioners Court of Harris County, Texas, for the purposes of aiding and acting on behalf of Harris County in managing, operating, maintaining, and developing the sports and entertainment complex located on the County-owned property, known as the NRG Park.

Ryan Walsh, the outgoing Executive Director and head honcho of HCSCC, made it clear that they still have a long way to go in the process as the $35 million doesn’t quite reach the initial approximations for the complete upgrade but it is a step in the right direction – “It’s moving the ball forward. It doesn’t fix the whole problem but it does go a long way towards getting some of the things done that really need to happen.”

The roof construction has already begun with a fabric roof being installed in October with a retractable roof set to be in place before the 2026 World Cup. Amongst the videoboards being replaced between April 2025 and July 2025, the renovations will also include new paint in the 300 and 400-level upper suites and hallways, new paint for the East and West VIP lobbies, new flooring, and new sliding ramp doors.

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