Misplaced Pages

#888111

26-424: The stadium sits on the location of Rice Field , Rice's old football stadium which opened in 1913 and was used until the opening of Rice Stadium in 1950. (Games in 1912 had been played at West End Park ). The venue held less than 37,000 people for football. Today, it holds approximately 5,000 people. Part of the grandstand from the visitor's side of the old football stadium is used as the current grandstand, although

52-626: A family of sports surfacing companies, which itself is owned by the investment firm Equistone Partners Europe. The original AstroTurf brand product was invented by James M. Faria and Robert T. Wright at Monsanto . The original, experimental installation was inside the Waughhtel-Howe Field House at the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island in 1964. It was patented in 1965 and originally sold under

78-444: 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 NRG 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. Rice Stadium replaced Rice Field (now Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field ), which had

104-692: A sports venue in Texas is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Houston -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rice Stadium (Rice University) Rice Stadium is an American football stadium located on the Rice University campus in Houston , Texas . It has been the home of the Rice Owls football team since its completion in 1950 , and hosted John F. Kennedy 's " We choose to go to

130-476: A texturized nylon system. By imparting a crimped texture to the nylon after it was extruded, the product became highly uniform. In 1987, Monsanto consolidated its AstroTurf management, marketing, and technical activities in Dalton , Georgia , as AstroTurf Industries, Inc. In 1988, Balsam AG purchased all the capital stock of AstroTurf Industries, Inc. In 1994, Southwest Recreational Industries, Inc. (SRI) acquired

156-551: A total capacity of less than 37,000, in 1950. The new stadium was subsidized by the City of Houston, and it was designed by Hermon Lloyd & W. B. Morgan and Milton McGinty and built by Brown and Root . In addition to Rice, the University of Houston Cougars played at Rice Stadium from 1951 through 1964 , and the former Bluebonnet Bowl was played there from 1959 to 1967 , and in 1985 and 1986 . The Houston Oilers of

182-405: Is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto . Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has marketed taller pile systems that use infill materials to better replicate natural turf . In 2016, AstroTurf became a subsidiary of German -based SportGroup,

208-807: The American Football League (AFL) played in the stadium for three seasons ( 1965 – 1967 ), then moved to the Astrodome in 1968 . In January 1974 , the venue hosted Super Bowl VIII , the first played in Texas, in which the defending champion Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24–7 with 68,142 in attendance. The game returned to Houston thirty years later in February 2004 , for Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium . On September 12, 1962, Rice Stadium hosted

234-872: The United States men's national team , Everton of the Premier League , the Colorado Rapids , the Republic of Ireland women's national football team , and the Argentina men's national football team . The stadium has also hosted a series of summer all-comer track and field meets for more than 20 years, and notable athletes including Carl Lewis , Michael Johnson , Joanna Hayes and Bryan Bronson have competed. 29°42′47″N 95°24′07″W  /  29.712954°N 95.401907°W  / 29.712954; -95.401907 This article about

260-681: The Western Athletic Conference Tournament in 2002 and the Conference USA Tournament (won by Rice) in 2005. The WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships were held there in 2002 and again in 2004. Following Rice's move to Conference USA in 2005, the C-USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships were hosted at the facility in 2007. The stadium has also served as a practice venue for soccer teams visiting Houston, including

286-507: The AstroTurf brand. In 1996, SRI was acquired by American Sports Products Group Inc. While AstroTurf was the industry leader throughout the late 20th century, other companies emerged in the early 2000s. FieldTurf , AstroTurf's chief competitor since the early 2000s, marketed a product of tall-pile polyethylene turf with infill, meant to mimic natural grass more than the older products. This third-generation turf, as it became known, changed

SECTION 10

#1732787643889

312-551: The Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas ? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon. 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

338-431: The Moon " speech in 1962 and Super Bowl VIII in early 1974. Architecturally, Rice Stadium is an example of modern architecture , with simple lines and an unadorned, functional design. The lower seating bowl is located below the surrounding ground level. Built solely for football, the stadium has excellent sightlines from almost every seat. To achieve this, the running track was eliminated so that spectators were closer to

364-433: The action and each side of the upper decks was brought in at a concave angle to provide better sightlines. It is still recognized in many circles as the best stadium in Texas for watching a football game. Entrances and aisles were strategically placed so that the entire stadium could be emptied of spectators in nine minutes. In 2006, Rice University upgraded the facility by switching from AstroTurf to FieldTurf and adding

390-496: The bankruptcy proceedings, Textile Management Associates, Inc. (TMA) of Dalton, Georgia, acquired the AstroTurf brand and other assets. TMA began marketing the AstroTurf brand under the company AstroTurf, LLC. In 2006, General Sports Venue (GSV) became TMA's marketing partner for the AstroTurf brand for the American market. AstroTurf, LLC handled the marketing of AstroTurf in the rest of the world. In 2009, TMA acquired GSV to enter

416-639: The bleachers were removed. Today, there are about 100 permanent seats on the stone terracing. The soccer field was installed in 2000-2001 after Rice added women's soccer as a varsity sport. In October 2002, the stadium hosted a WUSA exhibition match between the Washington Freedom (featuring Mia Hamm ) and the Atlanta Beat . The event set the current stadium record with more than 5,000 tickets sold. The stadium hosted another WUSA exhibition in 2003 and has hosted two conference soccer tournaments:

442-403: The infield area of the bike track west of Rice Stadium for the first time in late July 2020, creating a facility to house practices, intramurals and other events when weather put those events in peril. †= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage. AstroTurf AstroTurf

468-491: The landscape of the marketplace. Although SRI successfully marketed AstroPlay, a third-generation turf product, increased competition gave way to lawsuits. In 2000, SRI was awarded $ 1.5 million in a lawsuit after FieldTurf was deemed to have lied to the public by making false statements regarding its own product and making false claims about AstroTurf and AstroPlay products. Despite their legal victory, increased competition took its toll. In 2004, SRI declared bankruptcy. Out of

494-747: The marketplace as a direct seller. AstroTurf, LLC focused its efforts on research and development, which has promoted rapid growth. AstroTurf introduced new product features and installation methods, including AstroFlect (a heat-reduction technology) and field prefabrication (indoor, climate-controlled inlaying). AstroTurf also introduced a product called "RootZone" consisting of crimped fibers designed to encapsulate infill. In 2016, SportGroup Holding announced that it would purchase AstroTurf, along with its associated manufacturing facilities. The AstroTurf brand has operated since then in North America as AstroTurf Corporation. In August 2021, AstroTurf became

520-512: The name "ChemGrass." It was rebranded as AstroTurf by company employee John A. Wortmann after its first well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome stadium in  1966 . Donald L. Elbert patented two methods to improve the product in 1971. Early iterations of the short-pile turf swept many major stadiums, but the product did need improvement. Concerns over directionality and traction led Monsanto's R&D department to implement

546-512: 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 ten meetings and tied the following month . On the other hand, Kennedy's comments about Rice-Texas might have been as forward-looking as his statements about going to the Moon (which did occur in 1969 ): Since 1963 , Rice has gone just 2–43 (.044) against Texas, including 28 straight losses between 1966 and 1993 and twenty straight from 1995 to

SECTION 20

#1732787643889

572-732: The present. On July 2, 1988, Rice Stadium hosted a stop on the Monsters of Rock tour. The tour was headlined by Van Halen and also featured Metallica , Scorpions , Dokken , and Kingdom Come . This was also the Texas World Music Festival. As originally built, Rice Stadium seated 70,000, the second-largest stadium in the Southwest Conference (behind the Cotton Bowl ). Rice Stadium was built before professional football came to Houston and while Rice

598-471: The speech in which President John F. Kennedy 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 Wednesday afternoon 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

624-529: Was later demolished. As of 2023 , school continues exploring options for a modern seating arrangement with a reduced capacity. Around July 2015, construction began on the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center. This building makes up the north end of the stadium, and contain a weight room, a home team locker room, coaching and staff offices. This replaced the north end seating that consisted of crude concrete steps and

650-566: Was still competitive in the Southwest Conference. It was reasonable to expect 70,000 fans to attend a college football game there. However, as Rice declined on the field from the 1960s onward, the Owls found it increasingly difficult to fill the stadium. Even crowds of 30,000 were swallowed up in the environment. In 2006, the end zone seats were covered with tarps, reducing the regular seating capacity to 47,000. The northern end zone

676-555: Was unused. The building was named for donor and former Rice University football player and alumnus Brian Patterson. On May 9, 2019, the Rice University Board of Trustees approved a proposal for an air-supported multipurpose facility on the west side of Rice Stadium that will offer climate-protected space for varsity athletics training, campus recreation and Rice student events, activities and community partner events. The 80,000 square foot inflatable structure rose up from

#888111