NRG Stadium

NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. NRG Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,795, a total area of 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m²) with a 97,000 sq ft (9,000 m²) playing surface.

The stadium is the home of the National Football League's Houston Texans, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Bowl, host to many international soccer matches for the USA National Soccer Team, and other events. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004 and WrestleMania XXV on April 5, 2009.

NRG Stadium is part of a collection of venues (including the Astrodome), which are collectively called NRG Park. The entire complex is named for NRG Energy under a 32-year, $300 million naming rights deal in 2000.

The stadium was constructed at the cost of $352 million. NRG Stadium is the first facility in the NFL to have a retractable roof.

NRG Stadium will host Super Bowl LI in 2017. It also hosted all 10 of the University Interscholastic League's Texas high school football championship games at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

Houston

Houston (ⁱ/ˈhjuːstən/ HYOO-stən) is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million people, within a land area of 599.6 square miles (1,553 km²), it also is the largest city in the Southern United States, as well as the seat of Harris County. It is the principal city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, which is the fifth most populated metropolitan area in the United States.

Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.

Stadium

A stadium (plural stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.

Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stade at Olympia, where the word "stadium" originated.

Etymology

"Stadium" is the Latin form of the Greek word "stadion" (στάδιον), a measure of length equalling the length of 600 human feet. As feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion = 600 ft (180 m), in a given historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller.

The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium, had a similar length — about 185 m (607 ft) - but instead of being defined in feet was defined using the Roman standard passus to be a distance of 125 passūs (double-paces).

Monster Jam

Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) and takes place primarily in the United States. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the "intermission" entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.

Live events

Monster Jam shows are held throughout the whole year with more shows during the winter than the summer, and travel around the country in U.S. and Canada. Shows are also being held in other locations around the world, such as Europe, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica and recently The Philippines.

Fans

Fans attending a Monster Jam event are given the opportunity to meet the performers during the "Pit Party" and autograph sessions. The drivers autograph memorabilia, clothing, flags and other merchandise at these events.

Monster Jam World Finals

Held in Las Vegas, Nevada Sam Boyd Stadium, it is the culmination of the Monster Jam season with only the top competitors competing. It is often referred to as the "superbowl of monster trucks" and features drivers competing for the Racing and Freestyle Championship.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The Texans first played in 2002 as an expansion team after Houston's previous franchise, the Houston Oilers, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they are now the Tennessee Titans. The team's majority owner is Bob McNair. The team clinched its first playoff berth during the 2011 season as AFC South division champions. The Texans repeated as AFC South champions in 2012 and 2015.

Franchise history

In 1997, Houston entrepreneur Bob McNair had a failed bid to bring a National Hockey League (NHL) expansion team to the city, and Bud Adams relocated the city's NFL team, the Houston Oilers, to Nashville where they were renamed the Tennessee Titans. In 1996, a year earlier, the Cleveland Browns had controversially relocated to become the Baltimore Ravens. As part of the settlement between the NFL, the city of Cleveland and the team owned by Art Modell, the league promised to return football to Cleveland within the following three years.