The NRG Arena (formerly the Astroarena and Reliant Arena), is a 350,000 square feet (33,000 m²) sports center in

NRG Park NRG Park, formerly Reliant Park and Astrodomain, is a complex in Houston, named after the energy company NRG Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the South Loop West Freeway (I-610). This complex of buildings encompasses of land and consists ...

, in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Texas, USA.

Building format

The main partition on the first floor is the "Arena Proper", a 24,000 gross square foot arena that seats up to 8,500 people. In addition to the Arena Proper, there are four exhibit halls within the NRG Arena. The largest hall is Exhibit Hall D, boasting of space. The second is Exhibit Hall A, which has of space. Exhibit Halls B and C each have of floor space as well. The upper level maintains smaller meeting rooms and office space as well as the "Stockman's Club".

History

Construction of the Astroarena was completed in 1974 adjacent to the Astrohall. Although the Astrohall (renamed Reliant Hall temporarily) was demolished in May 2002 to make way for a parking lot when

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 ...

was being completed. Astroarena was renamed to Reliant Arena in 2000 when

Reliant Energy Reliant Energy is an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. History Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Reliant Energy, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, is one of the largest Texas electricity providers serving over 1.5 million Texans. Reliant ...

bought the sponsorship of the facility. The Arena has since been utilized for several other events, including the National Catholic Youth Conference in 2003 and the peripheral events of the

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

. After previously occupying the Compaq Center from 1998 to 2000, the

PBR PBR may refer to: Science and technology * Passive bistatic radar * Partition boot record * Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor * Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, another name for translocator protein * Phosphorus bromide * Photobior ...

held a Bud Light Cup event in Reliant Arena in 2001; this was their last big-league event in Houston to date. In 2005, the Arena was used as auxiliary housing and a field clinic for residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina after it was deemed that the

Reliant Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houst ...

would be insufficient for comfortably housing over 30,000 residents. On July 16, 2007 the arena played host to the first indoor stop on the 2007 Vans

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...

. On July 13, 2008, the arena hosted

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

's Victory Road event. Reliant Arena became the home of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

for what proved to be their final season, 2008. On March 12, 2014, the arena was renamed as the NRG Arena, after the sponsor, Reliant Energy, had been acquired and absorbed into

NRG Energy NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in ene ...

References

External links

Arena details and floorplans

More Reliant Arena details and floorplans
{{Authority control 1974 establishments in Texas Arena football venues Basketball venues in Houston Houston Comets venues Indoor arenas in Texas Music venues in Houston