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Reliant Astrodome
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Reliant Astrodome
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The Astrodome is the world's first indoor stadium. It started a new generation of indoor stadiums such as the Superdome, Skydome, Silverdome, and the Alamodome. It was first opened on April 9th, 1965. It can hold up to 70,000 people which makes it one of the biggest stadiums in the world. It is currently home to the Houston Oilers and the Houston Astros. The type of field that these two teams play on is called "Astroturf".
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Many great Oiler football stars have played in the Astrodome; legends such as Earl Campbell, Warren Moon, Ray Childress, and Ernest Givins. The Oilers first started out playing in Jepessen Stadium then Rice University before moving on to the Astrodome. Although the Oilers have had very good teams and many good years, the Oilers have never quite made it to the Super Bowl. Now, the city of Houston is trying very hard to keep the Oilers from moving to Nashville.
"Looking for an NFL stadium with an intimate atmosphere, good visibility, and hair-raising crowd noise? Welcome to the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Harris County Domed Stadium - popularly known as the Astrodome. You could also say it's the Mother of All Domes, since it was constructed in 1961, long before the arrival of its closed-top offspring in New Orleans, Pontiac, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis. This fact has earned the stadium yet another moniker - "Astrodome. The Original."
Like many elderly NFL venues, the Astrodome has been spruced up in recent seasons to provide better amenities and expanded seating. Most recently, in 1988, 10,000 seats were added to satisfy Texas' football hungry fans - capacity is now at 62,439. A new football only AstroTurf system was also installed, making the Astrodome the only artificial-turf stadium in the USA with entirely separate fields for football and baseball. This was the fourth time that the Astrodome has received a new rug.
All Texas football fans are sophisticated when it comes to the Science of the Pigskin, and Oilers fans are certainly no different. While the fans go wild when the Oilers "do the right thing" on the field, they can become boobirds at the drop of a pass. Games at the Astrodome remain a pulsating experience for everyone - players, coaches and fans. Sometimes the place can get so loud that the dome feels about ready to blow off."
As written by The Sports Staff of USA TODAY in "The Complete Four Sport Stadium Guide" for Fodor's Sports October 23, 1996 by Ira Miller, Chronicle Staff Writer - ". . . The Oilers are not the first NFL team to move in recent years and they probably will not be the last. They haven't even left town yet, and voters are being asked to approve a referendum in two weeks that would appropriate $200 million to fix up the Astrodome for a prospective future football tenant.
Bud Adams, the Houston oilman who owns the Oilers, wanted a new stadium, not a renovation. Whether a fix-up would have satisfied him or not will never be known for certain, because, last year, Houston officials said there was no money for it.
That's when Adams made his deal with Nashville. But his lease at the Astrodome runs through the 1997 season, and Houston Mayor Bob Lanier is holding him to it. The Oilers are expected to play the 1998 season in Memphis while the Nashville stadium is being completed.
Even Adams, who says,"I'll be in Houston until they bury me," is surprised his team still has such a following in Texas. After the Oilers beat Atlanta 10 days ago, he predicted a crowd of between 25,000 and 30,000 for the Pittsburgh game.
Nearly double that many showed up, and that underscored one of the reasons Adams longed for a new stadium. While the Oilers were playing the Steelers, in their biggest home game since 1993, Astrodome USA, which is owned by Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. and runs the Dome, scheduled a low-riders convention, and a kick-boxing tournament and a gem and jewelry show at Astrohall and Astroarena next door to the Dome.
That meant parking spaces were scarce for the football fans, who had to line up to buy their single-game tickets.
Another reason Adams got fed up with the Astrodome: Only 18,000 of the 59,969 seats are between the goal lines. Even in the Oilers' best days, sellouts were tough because the last few thousand tickets available always were really awful seats. . ."
October 31, 1996 - Houston owner Bud Adams says both publicly and privately that the Oilers will not try to buy out their lease in 1997 in order to move to Tennessee sooner. Some people believe Adams is saying that to try to induce Memphis interests to pony up the money to buy out the lease. The Oilers would play in Memphis until their Nashville stadium is ready in 1999. In any event, Houston Mayor Bob Lanier says he won't negotiate a buyout.
November 6, 1996 - The tuesday referendum approved $200 million to update the Astrodome to help attract another NFL team to replace the Oilers, who are moving to Tennessee.
Febraury 21, 1997 - The Oilers and Houston city and Harris Country officials are close to signing off on a deal that would let the team out of the final year of its lease and play this season (and next) in Memphis, before moving to a new stadium being built in Nashville.
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