exactly why UH came out with oilers color shirts, more money. i’m thinking next year they sell orange and black cougar shirts for the game near halloween.
Well, we do have quite a diverse university and city…let’s get him at TDECU
Except for events that need giant cranes, I am surprised we are not renting Fertitta and TDECU out for more concerts etc …
Interesting question. From AI:
There does not appear to be a publicly available official figure for how many times per year TDECU Stadium is rented out to outside groups.
What is publicly documented is that the stadium is used regularly for:
- University of Houston football games
- Houston Roughnecks/UFL games
- High school football games
- UH commencement ceremonies
- Church services and large community events
- Private events in club and premium spaces
Based on the known recurring uses, the stadium likely hosts:
- ~6–7 UH home football games annually
- ~5 Roughnecks home games in UFL seasons
- Several high school games/playoffs
- Multiple commencements and university events
- Additional private rentals throughout the year
A reasonable estimate is that the facility is rented or used for organized events dozens of times per year, probably in the range of 20–50+ event days annually, depending on the year and football schedules. But I could not find an official annual rental count published by the University of Houston or stadium management. There is nothing like an outdoor concert. We are competing with other local arenas. This is a good question for Eddie.
AI isn’t very accurate as the UFL version of the Roughnecks only played in TDECU for one season and are now known as the Houston Gamblers.
As far as hosting concerts, yes that is a highly competitive space (plus generally seasonal for outdoor concerts) and considering the problems we just had with the field in hosting a church service - we’d need to overcome those issues if you were going to have a concert stage erected and torn down regularly.
Trust me - they don’t make it easy to rent the stadium - they’ve had opportunities but rather pass on them unless money is guaranteed
When it come to concerts - the agencies that promote the tours call those shots but you also have to be aggressive in making intentions known - however summer outdoor concerts there’s some type of deal where Cynthia Woods Pavilion gets all of them
Going to college station won’t help getting bananas unfortunately or a major outdoor country act
The Live Nation monopoly power.
That’s why Cynthia Woods stays booked…
I like Cynthia Woods but TDECU can bring in many more fans. The concert “industry” has changed vs the 80’s. How many bands can bring in crowds of 40 to 50k? I can’t believe how expensive tickets are now.
Cynthia Woods is a purpose built concert venue, the entire seating section is shaded they have large fans as well, its a pretty good experience for a concert even in the summer.
If an act thinks they can sell 40k seats, but not 60-80k they perform at Daikin… its pretty simple.
Houston is not a city lacking in venues and the management of every one of those venues wants the extra revenue too.
Houston‑Area Concert Venues (Sorted by Capacity, Largest → Smallest)
| Venue | Concert/Event Capacity | Indoor / Outdoor | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| NRG Stadium | 72,220 (expandable to ~80,000) | Indoor/Outdoor retractable roof | |
| Minute Maid Park (Daikin Park) | 41,168+ with field seating | Indoor/Outdoor retractable roof | |
| TDECU Stadium | ~40,000 | Outdoor | |
| Shell Energy Stadium | 22,039 | Outdoor | |
| Toyota Center | 19,000 | Indoor | |
| Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion | 16,500 | Outdoor amphitheater | |
| Berry Center Arena | 9,500 | Indoor | |
| Fertitta Center | 7,100–8,479 (concert configuration) | Indoor | |
| Smart Financial Centre (Sugar Land) | 6,400 | Indoor |
Here is a point from Copilot AI
If you hosted a sold‑out concert at TDECU Stadium, fans would experience noticeable difficulty getting to the venue — more than at most major Houston venues, but still manageable with planning.
Here’s the clearest way to think about it:
Difficulty Level: Moderate‑to‑Hard for a Sold‑Out Concert
A sold‑out TDECU concert (~40,000 people) triggers the same traffic and access constraints as a big football game — just without tailgating. The stadium’s location inside the University of Houston campus is the root of the challenge.
Why It Would Be Hard for Fans
1. All traffic must funnel through a few roads
There are only five real access points:
- Cullen Blvd
- Scott St
- Elgin
- Holman
- Spur 5
When 40,000 people arrive in a 60–90 minute window, these roads jam quickly.
2. Parking is scattered and limited
Unlike NRG or Minute Maid, UH parking is:
- Spread across garages and surface lots
- Not designed for massive concert turnover
- Often prepaid or restricted
This creates slow entry and slow exit.
3. Campus layout creates choke points
TDECU is surrounded by:
- Academic buildings
- Narrow internal roads
- Pedestrian zones
- Construction zones (UH always has some)
This means no clean perimeter loop like pro stadiums have.
4. Rideshare is not optimized
Uber/Lyft zones exist, but they’re not built for 40,000‑person surges. Expect long waits and confusing pickup points.
I would love for TDECU to be used every night, but its on a college campus, it was not placed specifically for traffic flow like some of the other stadiums we have in town, it was build on a budget. They should rent it to whoever wants to pay, but I would be shocked if it ever hosted a concert for someone other than a local artist.
I am shocked about how often they rent Cullen Hall out, seems like they have something in there everytime I wall by.
And there’s also new venues that just opened with others coming soon.
This is interesting.
TDECU stadium does not have a “history” of major concerts. Now see how Robertson Stadium compares:
Concerts
Robertson Stadium was the venue for several concerts. In 1972, ZZ Top, The Doobie Brothers, Wishbone Ash, & Willie Nelson performed at Robertson Stadium. In June 1974 Jesse Colin Young and The Beach Boys opened for Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and in July of the same year, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen and The Eagles opened for The Allman Brothers. Other concerts held at the stadium include The Eagles with Jimmy Buffett as warm up in 1977, Pink Floyd during their In The Flesh Tour, and Alice Cooper in 1980.[21]
Pink Floyd, The Eagles, these were at least 35k +. Cynthia Woods Pavillion only holds about 16.5k. There are some real potential to get bands in. Is this related to concert ticket prices? I do not know but to share the same passion with 45k to 50k (including the field) seems more to me than 16.5k but that is just me. Let’s all hope we can attract big bands. artists to TDECU.
Of course all of that was in the 70s, Robertson hadn’t hosted concerts with any regularity in the last 20+ years of its existence either. Though I think they may have had some reggae fest concerts in the 90s, but I think that’s it. Really for the 80s, 90s, we pretty much had the Summit, Woodlands Pavilion, Astrodome, and Southern Star Amphitheater (at Astroworld), and that’s it. Oh wait occasionally Sam Houston Coliseum or the Music Hall, or AstroArena/AstroHall but those were all like maybe a couple shows a year if my recollection is right.
That’s all for the bigger touring bands.
But the premise stated earlier is false. UH has plenty of parking and the rail. That is the point. We have a gem of a stadium. Booking the stadium for events can be a great source of revenue. Surely Eddie is looking at it. Seeing a major band outdoor is IMO much more enjoyable than being in an indoor arena. Of course not in August to mid October. This would benefit the entire Third Ward.
The notes on why it would be hard for fans were not false. I can tell you that every single one of those points is valid as I have experienced them all coming to football and basketball games. In fact you can find plenty of posts on Coogfans of people complaining about those very issues. This is why the athletic department always says to come early, which is great for football with tailgating but not really for a concert that doesn’t generally have tailgating or entertainment outside of the show.
Now let’s think if it is a weekday concert during school, you have further restricted parking and traffic difficulties which can make both the concert goer and students/faculty/staff unhappy. We see that already with Thursday night football games which are occasional but if it was a regular occurrence might have a different reaction.
Now are those difficulties really any worse than other venues? I don’t know. Would people decide not to go see their favorite band or whatever because it is at tdecu if they had a bad experience getting in and out last time? Not sure that either or if it would be a significant enough figure compared to people who may not want to go to the Woodlands for similar type of reasons.
Overall though, these issues will go into the consideration by the promoters and is an issue we may not have a competitive edge compared to other venues. Especially if you’re trying to sell out to 40000 people.
As I said before, this space is very competitive with established and entrenched venues as well as newer hungry venues.
All that said, if we can book shows that are profitable, don’t damage the field, and don’t disrupt campus too much, then we absolutely should.
I think the Fertita Center is a much easier sell than TDECU although it likely has some of the same competitive pressures, the access and parking complaints are a lot easier to manage for 7000 people.
UH has done better in recent years with booking events at Cullen Performance Hall. I know they use the same ticketing platform as athletics but not sure if that would be considered athletics revenue or if it splits with some other department. Also, I’m not sure how the current construction has affected any shows held there or the customer experience for those shows. I think it’s only about 1500 seats so the parking and access issues are likely not consequential.
The 40k seat venue is Daikin Park it has AC.
In the last few years it has hosted Chris Brown. Chris Stapleton, Def Leppard, Journey, Morgan Wallen, Guns N’ Roses and many more… Fuerza Regida is performing in July. Concerts are big business, it’s not Eddie not trying if they go to Daikin Park instead of TDECU.
As far as the article goes, the stadium hosting concerts is Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC a city with a MSA of 1.6m people and only a hockey team. It has hosted many concerts before just none super recently, the 4 largest stadiums in the Raleigh metro area are college football stadiums.
I find it fascinating when we get out on these tangents and blame the athletic department leadership for failing at impossible tasks we assign them. Robertson also hosted the Oilers from 1960-1964, if we had an NFL team that would really help as well, Eddie needs to double down and not take no for an answer and get an NFL expansion team.?.
I know yall are doing it out of love, but this is a space we are going to have trouble competing in and it’s not a failure of our sales staff.
Well said. We have to be realistic about it and the department should put their efforts towards increasing revenues by whatever is the most realistic way to do so. If getting concerts at TDECU isn’t as realistic and an uphill battle, then they should focus on more achievable revenue generators. Really though, we need achievable, consistent, and sustainable revenue generators. Picking up a few rentals of the stadium every year would be nice but it might not be sustainable. Picking up rentals at Fertita Center might be a better goal than TDECU.
Fertita Center has the following events booked currently:
- WBC World Super Featherweight Title - May 30 - O’Shaquie Foster vs. Ray Ford
- Dream Con Charity Basketball Game - July 11
Then there is one event currently scheduled for TDECU:
- DCI Houston on July 17 - (DCI Houston : Schedule & Tickets)
Schroeder Park also has outside events this week:
- Memorial vs. Dripping Springs - UIL state semifinals
So, it seems the athletic department isn’t exactly sitting on their hands when it comes to renting out the facilities.
Does anybody know why stadium venues choose turf over natural grass?
To host events. This is their #1 reason. The same can be said for So Fi stadium and many North American venues.
Bernabeu Stadium where Real Madrid plays is the ultimate when it comes to hosting events vs surfacing.
Daikin has grass. From an operation point of view It is far easier to convert your surfacing to host an event. TDECU has a major advantage vs Daikin.
I love TDECU footprint. It is way better suited to host a concert than Daikin that has a “baseball” design. Will we be able to host bands, world bands? Time will tell and surely more can be done. It seems that we/UH is the only one in charge of the stadium. There is not another company booking events. Really interesting,