Venue Detail
Houston Dynamo
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2011
Houston Dynamo
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1415 Louisiana Suite 3400 Houston, TX 77002 Phone: 713-276-7500 Fax: 713-276-7580 URL: www.houstondynamo.com
Owner
Anschutz Entertainment Group
League
Major League Soccer Eastern Conference
Venue
Robertson Stadium, 3100 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77004 Owner: University of Houston Managed by: SMG Facility Management Built: 1940 Capacity: 33,000 Concessionaire: Savor
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $300 to $720
Attendance
2007 average attendance: 16,137 2008 average attendance: 17,752 2009 average attendance: 17,047
Luxury Suites
Quantity: 26 Term: 3 to 3 years Price: $15,000 to $15,000 Seats: 16 to 16 Includes: Tickets.
Club seats
Quantity: 2,900 Price: $1,250 to $1,500
The former San Jose Earthquakes played the 2006 season in Houston as the Dynamo. The team's home venue has been the University of Houston's Robertson Stadium, but that will change.
The Dynamo have agreed to pay $76 million to build a professional soccer stadium in downtown Houston and then lease it from the city and county for $65,000 a year.
The board of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, a joint city-county agency that acts as a pro sports stadium landlord, unanimously approved the deal. While the Dynamo will pay most of the cost of construction, the city and county will own the stadium.
The approval sets the stage for construction to begin just across from the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Both the city and county have committed public money to the project.
The city bought the land for $15 million. The county has agreed to reimburse the city $7.5 million for a 50 percent share in the complex. The city and county have pledged $10 million each in infrastructure improvements for the stadium, to be generated by a tax increment reinvestment zone around the stadium.
Stadium boosters say that luring the Dynamo to the vacant lot in an economically struggling neighborhood will generate an increase in property tax collections as new businesses move in and existing businesses thrive. That new money will pay for the improvements pledged to lure the Dynamo and future surrounding businesses.
The city and county's contributions of $10 million in infrastructure improvements will end up costing each $21 million over decades of debt payments. Similarly, the county's $7.5 million reimbursement to the city will come in installments that will total $15.8 million.
Texas Southern University, which will play its football games at the new stadium, is expected to contribute $1.5 million toward construction.
Dynamo officials project a 16-month construction schedule to have the stadium ready for the opening of its 2012 season. If there are further delays to construction, Dynamo President Chris Canetti said the team has plans to play up to two months of home games on the road.
At the University, the school collects a percentage of the revenues from concessions, parking and other sources, including non-soccer-related events sponsored by the team. (Facilities, Financial, MLS, Professional Sports. Soccer)