Years ago, while sitting in church in Tucson, AZ, the pastor in front of a medium-sized congregation went on about how he noticed that other pastors had nice homes instead of a parsonage and another pastor drove a Lincoln Continental and he wanted those things, too.
It wasn’t that what he had wasn’t sufficient, but the pastor simply felt he was owed what his contemporaries had.
That awkward moment during church service came back to me years later when the word started getting out that the Texans are ready to move out of NRG Stadium and into a nice new stadium that will be funded largely at the taxpayers’ expense. It’s not that NRG is outdated or an embarrassment or that it has deteriorated anymore than you would expect a structure that has been around since 2002 and has been the home of the Texans and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo pretty much this entire time.
But according to a speculative story by the Houston Chronicle, the McNair family would like something newer and shinier just like the state-of-the-art stadiums that have been built in recent years for the Las Vegas Raider and SoFi Stadium, which is the lavish Los Angeles home of the Rams and Chargers. Oh and let’s not forget the venues that are set to come online soon in Buffalo, as well as AFC South rivals Jacksonville and the Nashville Oilers … I mean Titans.
The McNairs see all of these new stadium deals getting done and naturally, they could want one too. The Titans are opening their new stadium in 2027 thanks to $1.2 billion in public financing. Surely, Harris County and Houston can top Nashville this time.
But the timing just seems all bad. Harris County, which owns NRG, is currently working with the Texans on a new lease with the current agreement set to expire in 2032. And keeping it real, NRG needs some upgrades and renovations.
The last time an owner tried to hold Houston hostage the Oilers moved to Tennessee, and Harris County was left not knowing what to do with the Astrodome. How would it look to have three domed stadiums standing erect around town?
A recent study estimates the long-term maintenance costs to be about $1.4 billion over the next 30 years, and Harris County, aka us, will have to cover that. Add to that, taxpayers are still on the hook for about $1 billion in debt for bonds used to pay for NRG Stadium, Toyota Center, and Daikin Park.
This doesn’t sound like good business for Harris County.
The key is weighing the cost of renovations to NRG versus what it will cost to build a new stadium. The Texans have been relatively quiet about what they really want to happen officially, but they did put out a politically correct statement.
“Our priority has always been to support a renovation of NRG Stadium and that’s where our focus remains,” the Texans said in a statement. “As we’ve said before, we are committed to exploring all potential solutions to ensure long-term success and we look forward to working with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Harris County and HCSCC in identifying the best path forward.”
Then, of course, the Harris County-Sports Authority came out with their statement.
“The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority values our longstanding relationships with the Sports Corporation, the Texans, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and the entire NRG Park Complex,” the statement read. “As discussions about the future of these facilities continue, we remain committed to collaborating with all our partners to achieve the best outcomes for the Houston-Harris County region.”
But if we are all being honest, we all had a feeling that the Texans were itching for a new stadium after they hired Mike Tomon as their new president last month. Tomon had been involved in stadium builds in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and Buffalo’s upcoming venue.
Then Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair mentioned Tomon’s experience in building stadiums during his intro.
“Mike is a proven leader who brings more than 20 years of experience in sports and entertainment to our team,” McNair said. “His extensive background in stadium development and passion for inspiring those around him shined during our conversations. As we enter this next chapter as an organization, I’m looking forward to the future of our business operations under his leadership.”
We are looking forward to seeing how this stadium issue plays out.
