NRG Stadium Roof Set for Repair by End of September

Drive around any neighborhood in Houston, and you can see for yourself that there is still plenty of leftover cleanup from Hurricane Beryl. Fences are still down, tarps still adorn rooftops, and I’m sure many Houstonians are getting (or awaiting) copious amounts of correspondence from their insurance providers.

One of the single biggest instances of property damage, though, remains in disrepair, but it looks like the end is in sight for the two gigantic, stadium-width sized holes in the roof of NRG Stadium. In a statement on Friday, the folks at NRG Park indicated that a timetable has been established under which both holes in the roof will be repaired in time for the Texans’ Week 4 home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“Guest safety remains our top priority,” NRG Park said in Thursday’s release. “We appreciate the patience and support of our guests as we work diligently to restore the stadium roof to its full operational capacity.”

For those unfamiliar with the exact location of the damage, and the path of the resulting sunlight on a daily basis, check out the time lapsed video below, which shows the path of sunlight from late morning into the latter portion of the afternoon, which is relevant for noon kickoff times. As you can see, particularly in the south end zone, there have been some sun soaked fans in the Texans’ two home preseason games:

Check out this time lapse of how the sun will hit the field and stands at NRG Stadium during tomorrow’s Texans vs Giants game. A couple of strips of panels were lost during Hurricane Beryl last month. If you’re attending the game, this will give you a good idea of what to expect!… pic.twitter.com/JKrCHwcsYr

— Kim Davis (@kimydavis) August 16, 2024

The Texans’ next home game is the Week 2 Sunday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears, and after that, they play at home in Weeks 4 and 5 against the Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills, respectively. Here are some of the relevant details on the repair plan:

The panel over the field of play (around the south end 25 yard line) is getting fixed first
The hole that is above the field of play never really came into play drastically during the two preseason games, other than maybe some slight agitation in location the ball on punt returns. Honestly, the biggest effect from that patch of roof damage was the glare on the television broadcast, which made it a difficult watch when the action was taking place in that area. The worst case scenario would have been rain coming through that hole and creating a patch of wet turf on an otherwise dry field. It sounds like the we are assured a clean field of play for the home opener.

It looks like the fans in the south end zone will be saved from extreme sun (again)
Meanwhile, the other hole in the roof, the long open space above the south stands in the lower bowl, will be fixed in time for the next NOON kickoff in Week 4, which is a great thing, since from what I was told by fans whose seats are in that part of the stadium, the sunlight hitting them was brutally hot. The Week 2 game against the Bears is a night game, so those fans should be clear of getting fried in sunlight once again, a nice happy accident from the scheduling czars.

This situation was a whole lot worse back in 2008
If this feels like there are a whole lot of moving parts to ensure (s) the integrity of the planning field, and (b) the physical comfort of a chunk of the fan base on game day, just know that this is nothing compared to the last time Mother Nature decided to punch holes on the roof via hurricane. In 2008, Hurricane Ike did more than twice the damage just before Week 2, and the Texans were forced to play the entire season with the roof open for home games, including four games in the month of October. If you’ve ever been in NRG Stadium with the roof open on a sunny day, then you know THAT is truly brutal.

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