The bigger problem with a casino is the logistical challenge of sharing a lot with the Texans/Rodeo. I’d otherwise be all for it, but the fact that they’d need to basically shut down the casino for like 1/12 of the year would present a major obstacle, even if they got the legislature to buy in.
Make them park at the old Astroworld land and arrange shuttle buses like they do in Vegas.
Plus it gives an option for the Texans fans who don’t want to tailgate a place to hangout before Sunday games.
We need a Texas Live type of area like how the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers do it.
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They would build parking garages serving the various destinations, plus surface lots, as needed.
Philadelphia has all 4 of their sports teams playing in the same location + supporting entertainment/restaurants, etc.
Our district would be more ambitious than theirs but they also have a casino/hotel there
There were taxes on hotel rentals & car rentals that was supposed to be specifically used for stadium financing & maintenance.
This is what drives the public nuts about government and politicians. Targeted funds used for non-intended purposes. It happens at ever level of government. I would love for the Texans and HLSR to educate the public on the redirection of dedicated funds.
If Ricky Ricardo was here he would say “Lina, you have some splaining to do.”
They have some financial disclosures on their website, but they are incomplete, they show around $70m in HOT and MVRT revenue but don’t show what they spend it on and then they have a balance sheet for NRG Stadium that does not balance.
I found their Financial Statements for the actual NRG park:
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and that should never be allowed. Again the nfl owners do not care about its own fans. Heck its own public partner does not even know how to manage a property that its own residents are paying for. Speak about total absurdity.
Can you imagine if you would manage your own finances the same way?
A parking garage would worsen tailgating and make the rodeo carnival an order of magnitude more difficult; it would be very difficult to get the existing tenants’ buy-in on that.
By comparison, three stadia in Philly can be accommodated in the same lot with relative ease. The sports, especially the two largest of the three, basically never overlap, and the casino is on the outskirts of the facility with its own dedicated parking. They’re much smaller than the Astrodome, and have their own dedicated parking that remains accessible during events. That can’t be true of the Astrodome, which is central to NRG Park.
It’s worth noting that the Astrodome has about double the square footage of the current largest casino in the US, the WinStar World Resort. A casino of that size would have to be a massive draw, and having it share a lot with the Texans and the Rodeo would be an enormous logistical challenge. Figuring out how to allow access to the Astrodome separately from NRG Stadium and NRG Arena would require some really unhappy compromises from the current tenants.
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I believe the Rodeo also own the Astroworld site…so the district/parking could also be shared with that site.
On the Astrodome, a Casino could be part of a project that also includes a hotel, restaurants, shops and green space, all under the ‘dome’.
The Astrodome conversion could be phase I, NRG renovations phase 2, and the the supporting development phase 3
Just brainstorming, here!
So, tear down the Astrodome. Problem solved. What would be cool is if they built a new football stadium on the Astroworld site and then tear down the dome and have all of that space for the rodeo.
Hell, I’d dig it.
I’d love to go to the rodeo during the day…and then walk across the parking lot and hit the blackjack tables at night!
The issue is that the casino would divide NRG Stadium from NRG Arena during the rodeo. Unless you’re just giving anyone who goes to the casino a free ticket to the rodeo carnival or charging accordingly for parking at the dome during rodeo season and on Texans game days, it’s going to be a challenge keeping people from going to the casino and just walking over to a ticketed event after. It would also trade off with rodeo carnival revenues pretty directly.
This is the real problem, actually; if you did that, would you spend as much money at the rodeo?
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Just let anyone know that if they want to use the casino during the Rodeo days, that there will be an entrance fee to get into the casino.
Are casinos a thing in Texas?
No, but this is the off season!
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I can only guess but if i said so I would be banned.
The Casino should be downtown or Galveston.
A lot of out of towners that go to the med center for treatment stay in the cheap hotels down south main. A casino would ruin that area.
Of the acceptable plurals for stadium, guys, let’s go with stadiums. Saying stadia never makes anyone look as smart as they think it does.
This. Like I said, Blank paid for half of MBS in Atlanta (about $500M all in). In fact, the NFL has an LOC to assist teams in financing stadium deals.