Shell Energy Stadium (formerly BBVA Compass Stadium, BBVA Stadium, then PNC Stadium) is an American multi-purpose stadium located in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

that is home to Houston Dynamo FC, a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club, the Houston Dash of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

, and Texas Southern Tigers football. The stadium is the result of combined commitments of $35.5 million from the city of Houston and $60 million from the Houston Dynamo. Harris County agreed to pay for half of the land in exchange for the ability to jointly own the stadium after its completion date in May 2012. The naming rights to the stadium were formely held by BBVA USA; the name was changed to that of

PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...

due to BBVA's acquisition by PNC. The stadium's

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of ...

have been owned by Shell Energy since January 17, 2023. The stadium is located on a tract of land bordered by Texas, Walker, Emancipation, and Hutchins in

East Downtown East Downtown Houston (EaDo) is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The East Downtown Management District (EDMD), manages the area with offices headquartered at START Houston, a co-working space 1121 Delano Street. The community is locat ...

and east of

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, ...

/ U.S. Route 59 and Downtown Houston.

Construction history: 2009–2011

In June 2009, negotiations and financing began to fall into place with construction of the stadium originally beginning as early as Fall 2009. Banks and investors were in the books to finance the project and only minor details were being worked out. Various locations the Dynamo were interested in building a stadium since their arrival were the former Astroworld site, Pearland, Sugar Land, and Northeast Houston near the Lake Houston area. On January 26, 2010, the Houston Dynamo franchise had expressed an interest in a proposed parcel for the stadium location at South Rice Avenue and Westpark Drive—adjacent to Bellaire's city limits, and near the southwest corner of the

U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway Sy ...

and the Interstate 610 interchanges. Two days later, the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Bellaire, Cindy Seigel said that she would use whatever power she could to oppose the possible new location and is in communication with the developer to dissuade him. She acknowledges that considering that the land is in Houston's city limits and only abuts her city, the odds are slim and said in an open letter to Midway:

Fans on the north and east side of Houston will have difficulty in getting to this site. Additionally, this site does not have the infrastructure in place to serve it that already exists at other athletic facilities
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...
or at Reliant Park.

The highly populated and heavily Hispanic area of Gulfton is within proximity, although former Council member Pam Holm stated that ethnic considerations should not be key to choosing a stadium location: "To position this as a

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

sport and say the stadium has to be in proximity to Hispanic neighborhoods doesn’t do it justice, the Dynamo is something that all citizens of Houston have so embraced." On April 13, 2010, Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to begin construction of the new Dynamo stadium east of downtown, clearing the way for construction sometime in February 2011.

Oliver Luck Oliver Francis Luck (born April 5, 1960) is an American business executive and former football quarterback. He is currently the executive director of the ASUN–WAC Football Conference (tentative name), a new NCAA Division I Football Championship ...

, at the time president and general manager of the Dynamo, announced the financing, architect, and project manager for the new stadium. He announced Populous had been chosen to design and build the stadium. Populous, one of the world's leading sports architecture firms, had previously built three other major venues in the city—

Minute Maid Park Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...

NRG Stadium NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose 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 retrac ...

, and the

Toyota Center Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once the home of the Hous ...

, and internationally designed soccer stadia including

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

(London),

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

(London), Soccer City (Johannesburg), and Aviva Stadium (Dublin). On February 5, 2011, the Houston Dynamo, led by Houston mayor Annise Parker and Harris County judge

Ed Emmett Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

, broke ground on the Houston Dynamo Stadium site. Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti strongly expressed that the stadium will be ready by April 2012.

Milestones

Sports

Soccer

Construction on BBVA Stadium led to the Houston Dynamo's decision to play their first seven games of the

2012 Major League Soccer season The 2012 Major League Soccer season was the 100th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, the 34th with a national first-division league, and the 17th season of Major League Soccer. The regular season began on March ...

on the road. Their first match at the stadium was played on May 12, 2012 when they defeated D.C. United 1–0. The lone goal came from Brad Davis from 35 yards out which beat D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The win happened in front of a capacity crowd of 22,039 and would mark the beginning of what would be an unbeaten year for the Dynamo at home, posting a year-end home record of 11–0–6. After completion, BBVA Stadium became home to several international matches. The first was between

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

for the BBVA Compass Content Series on May 23, 2012. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. The first FIFA Qualifier match was played between

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

on October 12, 2012. Mexico won the match, 5–0. The United States women's national team made its debut at the stadium with a 4–0 win over China PR on December 12, 2012. The United States men's national team played to a scoreless draw with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

on January 29, 2013, in its BBVA debut.

Rugby union

BBVA Stadium played host to the 2012 Italian Tour of the Americas which saw the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

play

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to a 30–10 loss. The Eagles returned to BBVA Compass Stadium to play a mid-year rugby union test match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

on June 8, 2013; the Eagles lost 15–12, but set a record for largest crowd for the Eagles on home soil when 20,181 fans packed the stadium. BBVA Stadium played host to the

2012–13 IRB Women's Sevens World Series The IRB Women's Sevens World Series (2012/2013) was the inaugural edition of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series, organized by the IRB annual series of tournaments for women's national teams in the Rugby Sevens. In October 2012 the IRB announc ...

in the USA leg of the series. However, the USA leg of the World Series was moved to the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

suburb of

Kennesaw, Georgia Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its 1 ...

for the 2013–14 series, where it has remained ever since.

College football

BBVA Stadium is home to Texas Southern University football. During the 2013 season, the stadium also hosted the

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

for two games while

TDECU Stadium John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate ...

was being built. The Cougars drew the stadium's largest American football crowd—20,197 spectators—for a November 23 game against Cincinnati.

Gaelic football

BBVA Stadium played host to the first ever

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

game on an MLS pitch August 3, 2014, when the Houston Gaels played the first of their now-annual demonstration match (divided squad) after the Houston Dynamo- D.C. United match. The Gaels were originally scheduled to play on March 15 after the Dynamo- Montreal Impact match as part of the

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

weekend festivities, but the game was postponed due to concerns about the rain-soaked pitch.

Features and design

The stadium has a capacity of 22,039 seats, including 34 private suites, 1,100 club seats, Premium Club, dedicated supporters stand, and food court. The stadium is designed to accommodate MLS and FIFA standard international soccer, football, lacrosse, rugby, and concerts. Architecturally, the stadium features a faceted facade of expanded metal mesh with orange polycarbonate enclosed entrances and spectator facilities that reflects the industrial heritage of the East Downtown location. The stadium architect, Christopher Lee of Populous, stated, “We set out to design the perfect urban soccer stadium: tight, atmospheric, and intimate.”Populous selected to design Dynamo stadium
/ref> Lee was the designer of the famed

in London, England, and his design brings European stadium traditions of intimate and atmospheric soccer specific stadia to MLS.Populous Designs Stadium for Houston Dynamo
The $95 million stadium construction cost makes the BBVA Compass Stadium the most cost-effective of modern soccer-specific stadiums, with recent venues like the Red Bull Arena costing $200 million,

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, ...

costing $110 million, and PPL Park costing $115 million.

Awards

On December 10, 2012, BBVA Compass Stadium received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification from the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

. The stadium received the award for its innovative construction and

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

. Notable achievements during the stadium's construction process included diverting 86.85% of on-site generated construction waste to landfills, reducing water use by 41% from the installation of high-energy toilets, reducing energy use by 20.41%, using 98.42% of the wood-based building materials from certified forests and providing preferred parking spaces for fuel-efficient low-emissions vehicles.

Concessions

On March 22, 2012, AEG Facilities-managed BBVA Compass and the Houston Dynamo announced that Levy Restaurants will be the official restaurant partner.

Stadium partners

The following are its current official stadium partners:Stadium Partners
BBVA Compass Stadium official website. Retrieved 27 July 2016 * Budweiser *

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

* Papa Johns * Life Storage *

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

* TriEagle Energy

Accessibility and transportation

The stadium is adjacent to METRORail light rail at EaDo/Stadium station, served by the

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

and

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters ...

lines. Taxi, Buses, street, and garage parking nearby. The stadium is located southeast of Minute Maid Park—within the East Downtown district (which is undergoing revitalization efforts) and east of Downtown Houston.

International matches

BBVA Stadium hosted its first international match on May 23, 2012, when

and

played to a 2–2 draw. The stadium hosted its first women's international match when it hosted a 4–0 win by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in December 2012.

Men's matches

Women's matches

Rugby union

References

External links

*
BBVA Stadium
at StadiumDB.com {{Portal bar, Texas, Soccer, Architecture Houston Dynamo FC Major League Soccer stadiums Sports venues in Houston American football venues in Houston College football venues Soccer venues in Houston National Women's Soccer League stadiums Rugby union stadiums in Houston CONCACAF Gold Cup stadiums Houston Christian Huskies football Texas Southern Tigers football Sports venues completed in 2012 2012 establishments in Texas

Construction history: 2009–2011

Milestones

Sports

Soccer

Rugby union

College football

Gaelic football

Features and design

Sponsors

Awards

Concessions

Stadium partners

Accessibility and transportation

International matches

Men's matches

Women's matches

Rugby union

See also

References

External links