Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, could be rebranded after NRG Energy decided to push its corporate name via NRG Stadium and deemphasize its subsidiary, Reliant Energy.
The Reliant name would come off everything in the South Loop sports area and would instead be rebranded with the NRG name: NRG Stadium, NRG Arena and NRG Center, all a park of a NRG Park.
NRG has already begun the process of initiating the name change, presenting a plan to the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. to swap out every bit of signage before the NFL season starts this fall. From the Houston Chronicle:
The sports corporation issued a statement confirming the item would appear on its March 19 board agenda, but did not say what decision, if any, staff would recommend.
Reliant bought the naming rights for the Texans’ stadium and surrounding buildings in 2002 for $300 million, the most lucrative deal of its kind at the time.
The 32-year agreement required Reliant to pay about $10 million a year, with 75 percent going to the Texans, 15 percent to the Livestock Show & Rodeo and 10 percent to Harris County. Those terms will remain the same, company officials said Wednesday.