HOUSTON | Sports Teams/Events/Venues Thread

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

Tilman Fertitta, others continue to eye Houston's NHL prospects after Arizona Coyotes deal

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Apr 15, 2024

The Arizona Coyotes' pending move to Utah could mean that if Houston were to score an NHL team, it’s more likely to come via league expansion than relocation.

According to multiple reports, the Coyotes will be sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, move to Salt Lake City and be renamed. The team had been playing at Arizona State University’s 5,000-seat Mullet Arena the past two seasons after Tempe, Arizona, voters rejected three propositions that would have allowed the Coyotes to build a new $2.3 billion arena and entertainment district — prompting some to speculate yet again that the franchise could move to Houston.

Now, the team’s players and coaches are expected to play in Utah beginning next season, but Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo will keep the Coyotes name and work toward a new arena for an expansion team, per the reports. Meruelo reportedly will have five years to build a new NHL arena with the league promising to award Phoenix an expansion franchise if he is able to do so.

While Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has been vocal about his intentions to bring an NHL franchise to Houston, he said in a statement to the Houston Business Journal that he was unable to bid for the Coyotes organization as "the NHL views Houston as expansion target, removing the ability for us to purchase and relocate an existing team."

Fertitta touted Toyota Center, the Rockets' downtown arena, which previously hosted the American Hockey League's Houston Aeros, as an ideal location for a potential team, adding that Houston has a passionate and loyal hockey fan base.

"I remain committed to exploring all opportunities to bring professional hockey to Houston in partnership with Ira Mitzner," Fertitta wrote in the statement.

Mitzner is the CEO of Houston-based Rida Development Corp., which developed the Marriott Marquis hotel across Discovery Green from Toyota Center.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/04/23/houston-texans-new-uniforms-2024.html

Texans 'fearlessly evolve' with new uniforms (PHOTOS)

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Apr 23, 2024

The Houston Texans have unveiled new uniforms for the first time in the organization’s more than two-decade history.

The Texans unveiled four new uniforms on April 23, featuring Deep Steel Blue as the team's primary color on its home jersey and Liberty White on its away jerseys. Houston also revealed alternate and Color Rush uniforms. The alternate uniforms features Battle Red — like in year's past — while the Color Rush jersey features accents of H-Town Blue and a brand new logo.

The team undertook the process of crafting new uniforms at the urging of Cal and Hannah McNair, Texans principal owner and vice president of the Houston Texans Foundation, respectively. The McNair family challenged the organization to “fearlessly evolve” and to “think differently” about how it presents its brand in the Houston market, including with its uniform, said team President Greg Grissom. While the Texans logo remains the same, the color and design of its uniforms are certainly an evolution from what the team wore previously.

“You can call it an evolution, you can call it a rebrand; it is a different representation of your Houston Texans,” Grissom told the Houston Business Journal. “Whether it’s a rebrand or an evolution, I guess everyone else will have to decide.”

The uniforms are the result of feedback the team received from about 50 focus groups, 10,000 surveys, hundreds of thousands of social media comments, current and former players and staff, Grissom said. The team first started gathering that feedback in 2022. Incorporating input directly from fans was one of the foundational pieces of the process.

“A lot of teams don’t talk about uniforms. It’s all of a sudden one day, here’s a new set of uniforms,” Grissom said. “We intentionally went the opposite direction, and we really wanted to have the most transparent and most inclusive process of any team in the NFL.”

One of the most heated topics of debate during the fan feedback process was the incorporation of the H-Town Blue into the new uniforms, Grissom said. The Texans are unable to use the color as the primary or secondary color in the design since it belongs to the Tennessee Titans, which took the Houston Oilers logos and team history with it when owner Bud Adams moved the organization in 1995.

Grissom said it’s important for the NFL that every team is easily recognizable, especially with the mix of colors the teams use. While the Texans weren’t able to feature the H-Town Blue more prominently because of the conflict with the Titans, the organization was able to work with the league to use the color as an accent.

“It’s important to represent that color because it’s a color of the city of Houston,” Grissom said, referencing the light blues used in the city’s flag and blue tile street signs. “It’s not really a color of any team.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opi...s-19422636.php

Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor, Cynthia Cooper, Tammy Jackson, and Sheryl Swoops hold up four trophies representing their four straight WNBA championships during a rally after a parade in downtown Houston, 8/29/00. (Buster Dean/Chronicle)

Buster Dean, Staff / Houston Chronicle

The Comets put the WNBA on the map. Houston needs a new team. | Editorial

By The Editorial Board

April 30, 2024

The greatest basketball team ever assembled in the city of Houston exists only on grainy YouTube footage.

For hoops junkies, sifting through old clips of the Houston Comets, the WNBA’s first-ever championship team, is like unearthing buried treasure.

Years before “super teams” — the concept of several big-name stars teaming up to try and win a title — took over the NBA, the Comets could credibly lay claim to being one of the first. Their Hall of Fame Big 3 – guard Cynthia Cooper and forwards Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson — ran roughshod over the WNBA, winning four consecutive championships from 1997-2000, a dynastic feat no American professional sports team has matched since.

The few videos documenting those Comets — even with poor picture quality — are thrilling. There’s Cooper, a whirling dervish with a lightning-quick first step carving up opposing defenses with deft ball-handling and finishing at the rim with a feathery touch. Swoopes, one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever, is a deadly mid-range shooter, able to take over a game with her scoring while also locking down the opponent’s best player on defense. And Thompson is all swagger and grit — a loquacious power forward happy to do the dirty work, barreling to the basket for layups and rebounds, then rubbing it in with a healthy dose of trash talk.

So why are we reminiscing about this defunct team from a bygone era? Well, because we want them back.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...s-19432315.php

University of Houston plans to buck NFL, add alternate blue uniform for all sports
By Joseph Duarte,
Staff writer
May 1, 2024

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The University of Houston has informed the NFL that it will proceed with plans to add an alternate blue uniform.

The about-face comes six months after the NFL’s merchandising and licensing division sent a cease-and-desist letter to UH, threatening legal action if the school did not halt what was described as UH’s “blatant copying” of the Houston Oilers-themed uniforms.

“We literally have a story we can show the city uses it,” athletic director Chris Pezman told the Houston Chronicle at the Big 12’s spring meetings. “This isn’t a reach. This is a layup. We’ve got a very defensible position.”

UH wore the blue uniforms for the football season opener against UTSA and during the women’s soccer and golf seasons. School officials weighed legal options and changed course with a letter sent in mid-April that notified the NFL of the school’s plans.

“We’re doing it,” Pezman said. “We’ve reviewed everything and come to the conclusion that we are going to proceed.”

UH had not received a response from the NFL as of late Tuesday. The NFL was not immediately available for comment.

“We’re giving them two or three weeks to respond,” Pezman said. “We’re waiting on a response to see if we get one.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...maid-park.html

Houston selected as host city for 2026 World Baseball Classic


By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
May 23, 2024

Houston's Minute Maid Park has been selected as one of the venues to host the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

It's the first time Minute Maid Park will host games for the international baseball tournament, which is in its sixth installment. Houston will host games for Pool B of the group stage of the tournament, as well as matches for the quarterfinals. The World Baseball Classic is expected to have an economic impact of between $50 million and $60 million and bring more than 350,000 visitors to the city, according to the Harris County Houston Sports Authority.

“We are excited and honored to be hosting World Baseball Classic matchups for the first time,” Astros owner and chairman Jim Crane said in the announcement. “Houston is a global city with the best baseball fans, and we are proud to welcome fans from across the globe to watch international competition at Minute Maid Park."

The HCHSA and Houston First Corp. have been partners throughout the selection process, HCHSA said. HCHSA first told the Houston Business Journal it was bidding to host the tournament in January.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...on-comets.html

Houston group seeks majority owner to lure WNBA expansion franchise

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jun 11, 2024

A Houston group is seeking to bring a WNBA franchise back to the market and resurrect the city’s most successful professional sports team, the Houston Comets.

Space City Basketball Club has a plan in place to bring a WNBA franchise back to Houston, but it's missing one key piece: a majority owner. The organization, run by longtime building designer Sean Bolden and Crossover Athletics owner Tee Barefield, has “handshake agreements” with potential minority owners, private equity clients and developers to provide what the WNBA is looking for in terms of capital and infrastructure once that majority owner steps in.

“We’re at a point where we have all the infrastructure put together,” Bolden told the Houston Business Journal. “The only thing we don’t have is that majority owner.”

Houston was home to the Comets, one of the original WNBA franchises, from 1997 to 2008. The team won the first four WNBA Championships — the most titles of any professional sports team in Houston to this day. The team was dissolved in December 2008 after the league’s search for a new ownership group came up empty.

The efforts to bring a WNBA team back to Houston come as the league is fully in expansion mode. The league’s 13th franchise — the Golden State Valkyries — will begin play in 2025, and the WNBA in May awarded Toronto the 14th team, which will play its first season in 2026. That appears to be just the beginning for the league.

“Our plan and goal is to get to 16 teams in the next few years,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said at a press conference before the WNBA Draft in April.

Engelbert said she is confident that the league would be at 16 teams by 2028. With Toronto taking the 14th slot, that leaves two more openings for cities vying for a professional women’s basketball team — and the competition appears to be fierce. During the press conference, Engelbert said the league is taking calls from and engaging with places like Philadelphia, Portland, Denver, Nashville and South Florida.

Houston was notably absent from the list of cities Engelbert said the WNBA is engaging with. When asked if the league was interested in coming back to Houston and if it has received formal interest from any local groups, a WNBA spokesperson directed the HBJ back to Engelbert's previous comments.

While it's unclear where Houston stands regarding WNBA expansion, Space City Basketball Club believes the city needs to be included in the next round of expansion.

“The 15th team or the 16th team has to be us. We have to get in within this expansion period,” Bolden said. “We have the economy, we have the resources, we have the people, we have the corporations.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

Houston in talks with FIFA to become 2026 World Cup hub site

Additionally, a newly released schedule shows which teams might come to Houston in the knockout stage.

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jun 14, 2024

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now less than two years away, and more details are beginning to trickle in, some of which have significant implications for Houston.

FIFA released its initial list of potential hub sites on June 12, which include training facilities and paired hotels for teams traveling to the U.S., Mexico and Canada for the 2026 tournament. These “home away from home” sites will be where teams travel from and where players, staff and officials will spend the majority of their time during the group stage.

Although Houston is notably absent from the initial list, FIFA is continuing to accept expressions of interest from cities wishing to serve as hubs and will update the list throughout this year and 2025. Hubs will be selected closer to the tournament.

Houston is having ongoing conversations with FIFA to join the list, the Harris County Houston Sports Authority confirmed to the Houston Business Journal. FIFA is currently looking at Houston Sports Park, the multifield training site of the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash, and Sabercats Stadium, the home venue of Major League Rugby’s Houston Sabercats, as potential training facilities. Hotel pairings are still being considered, HCHSA said.

Houston serving as a hub site would bring additional economic impact beyond the expected windfall from the seven games the city will host at NRG Stadium, HCHSA said. It would drive a significant number of additional long-term visitors, including teams, fans, families and media.

A previous economic impact study estimated that the 2026 World Cup could generate $1.3 billion for Houston, but that was based on the city hosting five matches.

FIFA is allowing nonhost cities to serve as potential hubs for the 2026 World Cup. Nine such cities were included on the initial list, including San Antonio. Dallas was also included on the list with four total training sites and hotel pairings.

Houston didn’t make the initial cut despite the city’s hospitality market being the largest in the state. Houston has 107,200 total hotel rooms, nearly 10,000 more than Dallas (98,804) and more than double that of San Antonio (48,700), according to data provided by Houston First Corp.

The list will provide hub options for the teams in the 2026 tournament. The qualifying teams will submit their hub preferences after the final draw, which is expected to be in late 2025 and will determine which geographic zone the 48 nations competing in the tournament will play in their group-stage matches.

Only the teams from the three host countries have qualified for the 2026 World Cup so far.

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...acilities.html

Houston focused on fan fest, facilities and fundraising for 2026 FIFA World Cup


By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jul 8, 2024

After hosting matches for the CONMEBOL Copa America tournament in recent weeks, Houston now turns its attention to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Houston hosted three matches for the Copa America tournament, garnering 53,763, 67,059 and 69,456 fans at NRG Stadium, respectively. While the three games — which included a group stage match with the Mexican National Team and quarterfinal match featuring Lionel Messi’s Argentina squad — failed to sell out the 72,220-seat stadium, Houston appeared to be one of the most-attended markets in a tournament plagued with low turnouts.

Copa America, along with the MLS’ Leagues Cup coming later this summer, provides a preview of the 2026 World Cup, which is now less than two years away. With the countdown on, there is still plenty on the city’s to-do list as it prepares to host the world’s preeminent soccer event.

Planning World Cup fan festival
Perhaps one of the most complicated tasks left for the host committee is planning the fan festival. FIFA updated its guidelines earlier this year to allow host cities to have more control over their fan fests, including as it relates to the amount of space needed and days of operation for the events.

Houston currently is targeting East Downtown as its site for the fan fest, said Chris Canetti, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority executive and president of the Houston 2026 World Cup Host Committee. Because of the scale of the event — which encompasses an entire neighborhood and will be open from the first World Cup game on June 11, 2026, to the final one on July 19, 2026 — the planning for the fan fest will take at least another six months to complete, Canetti said. The city is currently in discussions with public and private entities to secure land for the event and has not yet started designing the fan fest.

Ancillary events for recent major sporting events haven’t come close to the scale Houston is planning for the 2026 World Cup. For the 2023 NCAA Final Four and 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship, the city hosted weekend-long fan fests at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Meanwhile, Houston hosted a one-day fan fest at Discovery Green downtown for the Copa America tournament.

“We’re taking on a new idea here by bringing it into a neighborhood,” Canetti told the Houston Business Journal. “This is not as simple as putting it in a convention center or a park.”

The fan fest will serve as a viewing party for all 104 matches during the 2026 World Cup. Canetti said the city expects “thousands of daily visitors” to attend the event, which he described as the “primary and most important ancillary event” Houston will host outside of the seven matches at NRG Park.

“We want this fan fest to be a strong representation of our city and our culture,” Canetti said. “Whether someone is coming from Katy or Friendswood, or whether they’re coming from Germany or Argentina, we want them to walk away with a positive impression and a memorable experience from being in Houston.”

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/07/05/big3-basektball-league-houston-team-energy-execs.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_27&cx_artPos=9#cxrecs_s

Big3 basketball league expands to Houston with local execs as team owners

By Chandler France – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jul 5, 2024

Houston will soon be home to yet another professional sports team.

The Big3, a professional 3-on-3 basketball league co-founded by musician and actor Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, will expand to Houston starting in 2025, the league announced July 3. Local executives Eric Mullins and Milton Carroll purchased the rights to the Houston franchise. The deal is valued at $10 million, according to Bloomberg.

The new professional team comes as Houston has been actively recruiting other leagues to expand to the Bayou City. Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is leading the effort to bring the NHL to Houston, while another local group is setting the foundation for the return of the WNBA.

Houston will be the Big3's third location-based franchise following the league’s expansion to Los Angeles and Miami earlier this year. The Big3 was founded in 2017, and since then each team has been owned and operated at the league level with the league traveling to different cities each week. Starting in 2025, each team will be associated with a home market.

Team branding and a home venue for Houston’s franchise has yet to be determined, a Big3 spokesperson said.

“I am so pleased to be bringing another BIG3 franchise to a state that has been so loyal to the BIG3 for so many years,” BIG3 CEO and co-founder Ice Cube said in a July 3 press release. “Eric and Milton have been at the top of their game for their entire careers, and I am confident that the Houston BIG3 team will be no different.”