The NRG Arena (formerly the Astroarena and Reliant Arena), is a sports center in NRG Park, in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 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 (previously known as 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 h ...

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

Reliant Energy Reliant Energy Retail Holding, LLC is an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. It serves the state of Texas. History Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Reliant Energy, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, is one of the largest Texas electricity ...

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 is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, since 2003, with the ex ...

. After previously occupying the Compaq Center from 1998 to 2000, the PBR held a Bud Light Cup event in Reliant Arena in 2001; this was their last big-league event in Houston to date. In 1993,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

held their

Fall Brawl Fall Brawl was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was held in September from 1993 through 2000. The name wa ...

. Furthermore, the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

hosted the March 31, 2005 episode of Smackdown. In 2005, the Arena was used as auxiliary housing and a field clinic for residents displaced by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

after it was deemed that the

Reliant Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It seated around 50,000 fans, with a record atte ...

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 is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

. On July 13, 2008, the arena hosted

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

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

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

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, was acquired by

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 energ ...

References

External links

Arena details and floorplans

More Reliant Arena details and floorplans
{{Authority control 1974 establishments in Texas Basketball venues in Houston Houston Comets Indoor arenas in Texas Music venues in Houston Sports venues completed in 1974 Women's National Basketball Association venues Convention centers in Texas