Rice Stadium
Encyclopedia
Rice Stadium is a football
stadium
located on the Rice University
campus in Houston, Texas
. It has been the home of the Rice University football team since its completion in 1950 and hosted Super Bowl
VIII
in 1974.
Architecturally, Rice Stadium is an excellent example of modernism, with simple lines and an unadorned, functional design. The entire lower seating bowl is located below the surrounding ground level. Built solely for football, the stadium has excellent sightlines from almost every seat.
In 2006, Rice University upgraded the facility by switching from AstroTurf
to FieldTurf
and adding a modern scoreboard above the north concourse. Seating in the upper deck is in poor condition, which led the university to move home games for which large crowds were expected to nearby Reliant Stadium
.
High school football games, especially neutral-site playoff games, are frequently played at Rice Stadium. It can also be used as a concert venue.
). The older stadium seated fewer than 37,000 fans.
Rice Stadium was subsidized by the City of Houston, designed by Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan and Milton McGinty and built by Brown and Root. The stadium was originally simply called Houston Stadium and was intended to be shared by Rice and the University of Houston
.
In addition to Rice, the University of Houston
football team played at Rice Stadium from 1951 to 1965, and the Bluebonnet Bowl
was played there from 1959 to 1967 and again in 1985 and 1986.
As originally built, it seated 70,000 fans—at the time, the second-largest stadium in the Southwest Conference (behind only the Cotton Bowl
). Rice Stadium was built before professional football came to Houston, and 70,000 fans might be expected to attend a college football game there. However, Rice found it increasingly difficult from the 1960s onward to compete against schools that were 10 times its size or more. It didn't help that the Houston Oilers arrived in 1960 (they themselves played in the stadium from 1965 to 1967).
In 1974, Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII
, in which the Miami Dolphins
beat the Minnesota Vikings
24–7. It was the first Super Bowl played in Houston, and it would be 30 years later that the Super Bowl would return to Houston, which was played at Reliant Stadium.
In 2006, the end zones seats were covered with tarps, reducing seating capacity
to 50,000, in part because the stadium had not sold out for a college football game since the early 1960s (the average attendance for Rice football games in Rice Stadium in 2007 was 13,353 and was 20,179 in 2008 with the team's strong play that year). However, it can easily be reconfigured to its original capacity—which even today, is larger than the total number of Rice's living and deceased alumni. The stadium's attendance dipped back into the low numbers in 2009, only reaching 13,552 persons per game in attendance during the 6 home games played in the season.
On April 5, 1994, Pink Floyd
had to cancel a show half way through the second set due to heavy rainfall and a bad thunderstorm that night.
challenged Americans to meet his goal, set the previous year, to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. In the speech, he used a reference to Rice University football to help frame his rhetoric:
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
located on the Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
campus in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. It has been the home of the Rice University football team since its completion in 1950 and hosted Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
VIII
Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII was a professional American football game played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium. in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 1973 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Miami Dolphins defeated the National Football...
in 1974.
Architecturally, Rice Stadium is an excellent example of modernism, with simple lines and an unadorned, functional design. The entire lower seating bowl is located below the surrounding ground level. Built solely for football, the stadium has excellent sightlines from almost every seat.
In 2006, Rice University upgraded the facility by switching from AstroTurf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
to FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
and adding a modern scoreboard above the north concourse. Seating in the upper deck is in poor condition, which led the university to move home games for which large crowds were expected to nearby Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium
Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....
.
High school football games, especially neutral-site playoff games, are frequently played at Rice Stadium. It can also be used as a concert venue.
History
The current Rice Stadium replaced Rice Field (now Rice Track/Soccer StadiumRice Track/Soccer Stadium
Rice Track/Soccer Stadium is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It sits on the location of Rice Field, Rice's old football stadium that was used prior to the opening of Rice Stadium in 1950. The venue held less than 37,000...
). The older stadium seated fewer than 37,000 fans.
Rice Stadium was subsidized by the City of Houston, designed by Hermon Lloyd & W.B. Morgan and Milton McGinty and built by Brown and Root. The stadium was originally simply called Houston Stadium and was intended to be shared by Rice and the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
.
In addition to Rice, the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
football team played at Rice Stadium from 1951 to 1965, and the Bluebonnet Bowl
Bluebonnet Bowl
The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 through 1967, and again in 1985 and 1986. The game was...
was played there from 1959 to 1967 and again in 1985 and 1986.
As originally built, it seated 70,000 fans—at the time, the second-largest stadium in the Southwest Conference (behind only the Cotton Bowl
Cotton Bowl (stadium)
The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1929 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Stadium, it is located in Fair Park,...
). Rice Stadium was built before professional football came to Houston, and 70,000 fans might be expected to attend a college football game there. However, Rice found it increasingly difficult from the 1960s onward to compete against schools that were 10 times its size or more. It didn't help that the Houston Oilers arrived in 1960 (they themselves played in the stadium from 1965 to 1967).
In 1974, Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII was a professional American football game played on January 13, 1974 at Rice Stadium. in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 1973 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Miami Dolphins defeated the National Football...
, in which the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
beat the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
24–7. It was the first Super Bowl played in Houston, and it would be 30 years later that the Super Bowl would return to Houston, which was played at Reliant Stadium.
In 2006, the end zones seats were covered with tarps, reducing seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
to 50,000, in part because the stadium had not sold out for a college football game since the early 1960s (the average attendance for Rice football games in Rice Stadium in 2007 was 13,353 and was 20,179 in 2008 with the team's strong play that year). However, it can easily be reconfigured to its original capacity—which even today, is larger than the total number of Rice's living and deceased alumni. The stadium's attendance dipped back into the low numbers in 2009, only reaching 13,552 persons per game in attendance during the 6 home games played in the season.
On April 5, 1994, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
had to cancel a show half way through the second set due to heavy rainfall and a bad thunderstorm that night.
Kennedy speech
On September 12, 1962, Rice Stadium hosted the speech in which President John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
challenged Americans to meet his goal, set the previous year, to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. In the speech, he used a reference to Rice University football to help frame his rhetoric:
- "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." Kennedy's comments implied Rice had a history of losing to Texas; however, the two football teams had split 5-5 in their previous 10 meetings and would tie the following month.