From Reliant, to NRG, back to Reliant: ABC13 breaks down the stadium's history with many names

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Reliant Stadium is back! The stadium and nearby facilities are being renamed back to what they were called before 2014. Right now, there are no signs at the stadium.

FIFA doesn't allow corporate branding, so while the World Cup is in Houston, the building will be known as Houston Stadium.

The timing works out because when the name goes back up, just in time for the new Texans season, it will be called Reliant Stadium.

Ownership isn't changing. Officials said they're simply reverting to the name Reliant because a survey showed that most Houstonians support it.

"There's no specific reason?" Houstonian Tessa Petrauskaite asked. "It's just because they want it?"

So, what's in a name? Well, if you're going to get all Shakespearean about it, you should probably know its history.

Reliant Stadium opened in 2002, with a pre-season game between the Houston Texans and the Miami Dolphins.

In 2003, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo lassoed its way in. The stadium hosted its first Super Bowl a year later, bringing Americans a moment so widely talked about that we don't need to describe it, and honestly, we actually can't show it to you. We'll just leave the description at Janet Jackson.

In 2008, the stadium was damaged by Hurricane Ike.

NRG Energy bought Reliant's electricity business in 2009.

And in 2014, it became NRG Stadium.

Our city hosted another Super Bowl in 2017, but this time, it was less controversial. In 2019, the prime minister of India and President Donald Trump held hands on the stage. In 2023, the stadium entered my favorite era when it was renamed after Taylor Swift. And now, we're back to good old Reliant Stadium.

"It's just a name," Houstonian Alexis Applewhite laughed.

"I never really called it NRG anyway," Zac Votruba said. "It's always been reliant."

"It will always be NRG, always," Mileana Seberry said.

It seems that the stadiums you call Houston's play a big role in your first memories of them.

"Just like I think Daikin Park will always be Minute Maid Park to us Houstonians," Tommy Olowoyo said.

Reliant holds the naming rights for the stadium until 2032.

Costs are still being negotiated, but officials say now is the time for the change, since the name is already down for the World Cup.

SEE ALSO: NRG Stadium renamed to Reliant Stadium in August 2026, company announces