TDECU Stadium
John O'Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium is an American football stadium on the campus of the University of Houston. The stadium serves as the home of the Houston Cougars football team, which represents the University of Houston in collegiate football and the Houston Roughnecks of the UFL. In September 2024, it was announced that the stadium would be renamed to Space City Financial Stadium beginning with the 2025 season. It was later delayed until the 2026 season.
TDECU Stadium was built on the former site of Robertson Stadium, which was the intermittent home of the school's football program since 1946. Its official name is derived from Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, the largest credit union in Houston, which purchased its naming rights in what was then the largest-ever naming rights deal for a college football stadium.
Plans for a new or renovated football venue were developed by the university's athletics department and their contractors as early as 2010. Demolition of Robertson Stadium began on December 3, 2012, and the official groundbreaking for the new stadium was celebrated on February 8, 2013. TDECU Stadium cost US$128 million to build. The University of Houston opened the new stadium on Friday, August 29, 2014, in a contest with UTSA.
History
Planning and funding
Feasibility study
On February 10, 2010, Houston athletics director Mack Rhoades announced that the University of Houston had hired consultant JMI Sports and engineering/architectural design firm AECOM to conduct a feasibility study regarding possible renovations or reconstruction of Houston's Robertson Stadium and Hofheinz Pavilion. Based on the study, Houston officials announced on June 10, 2010, their intention to raze Robertson Stadium in preparation for a new stadium to be built on the same location and to perform major renovations on Hofheinz Pavilion. The plan included a new football stadium with an initial capacity of 40,000 seats with expandability to 60,000. At an estimated $120 million cost, Houston athletics also announced the start of a fundraising drive.Lead gift
On August 18, 2011, the University of Houston announced that they had received the largest single donation for the stadium when co-CEOs and co-founders of Austin-based Data Foundry, Ron and Carolyn Yokubaitis donated US$10 million to the project. Ron Yokubaitis is an alumnus of the University of Houston and former Cougar football player. Houston officials also reported that $60 million had been raised for the stadium, whereas approximately $80–$85 million was needed to break ground on construction.Student stadium fee
On November 14, 2011, the Student Fees Advisory Committee, a joint student-faculty committee which advises university administration about compulsory student fees, recommended an increase of student fees to specifically construct, maintain, and operate athletic facilities. The committee also recommended that input from the student body was necessary, and that this would be appropriate through a student referendum made possible by future legislation in the Student Government Association.On November 30, 2011, Student Senator Jared Gogets introduced the bill SGAR48007 to the Senate in SGA authorizing a referendum for a student service fee increase to be voted on by students as advised by the SFAC two weeks prior. The bill was passed, and a referendum was then organized.
From January 31 to February 1, 2012, UH students voted on a referendum to allow a fee increase to help fund stadium projects. After the votes were tallied, a total of 7,334 students voted in favor of the fee increase, while 2,589 students voted against it. The voter turnout of the student body was the largest in the history of the university.
Request for proposal
Following the conclusion of the 2011 regular football season, the Big East Conference invited Houston to become a full member. During the University of Houston's official announcement of its acceptance to the athletic conference on December 9, 2011, Chairwoman of the University of Houston System Board of Regents Nelda Luce Blair announced that the university would issue a request for qualifications to the public in order to obtain new architectural plans. She also noted that ground-breaking was expected to occur in October 2012.The ground-breaking date was later revised to December 2012 when the RFQ was officially presented to the public on January 9, 2012. It was also revealed that the planned completion date would be in July 2014 in time for the 2014 football season.
Site selection
During a regularly scheduled meeting by the University of Houston System Board of Regents on February 15, 2012, the board was expected to vote on approval for the stadium's construction, but instead elected to table the matter in order to re-evaluate the proposed stadium's site until their next meeting. Other possible sites such as the on-campus intramural fields directly adjacent to Interstate 45 and an undeveloped area of campus—adjacent to MacGregor Park—were candidates. On March 28, 2012, the Board of Regents officially decided to continue with the original plan of construction on the Robertson Stadium site, and cited added costs and difficulty in future expansion as reason for not using the alternate sites.Architects named
On June 12, 2012, the University of Houston announced that they had hired PageSoutherlandPage and DLR Group as joint architects for the facility. The university also updated its estimated cost to $105 million from the previous $120 million estimate from the 2010 feasibility study.Board of Regents approval
University of Houston System's Board of Regents approved an $85 million funding package on August 15, 2012, to finance the first phase of stadium construction. At that time, the university's athletics department noted that they were on-schedule to gather the rest of the funds as necessary for the construction schedule, and the board of regents later approved the final $20 million financing package for the stadium at its May 14, 2013 meeting. At their August 15, 2013 meeting, the UH System Board of Regents approved Phase III funding for the football stadium in the amount of $15 million, bringing the total cost of the stadium back to $120 million.Naming Rights
Reports surfaced on July 7, 2014, that Texas Dow Employees Credit Union had purchased the naming rights to the stadium. TDECU is the largest credit union in the Houston area. On July 8, 2014, the University of Houston held a joint press conference with TDECU to formally announce the partnership. TDECU agreed to pay the school $15 million over 10 years for the venue to be called "TDECU Stadium." In addition to naming rights, TDECU enjoys a 50-yard line suite, and their members and employees receive ticket discounts. Further, TDECU opened a branch office in the University Center on campus. The parties have an option to extend the agreement for five additional years at $7.5 million.On September 17, 2024, TDECU announced a merger with Space City Credit Union accompanying a rebrand of its company name as "Space City Financial". Following the announcement, via social media posts, the company also acknowledged that the stadium would be renamed to "Space City Financial Stadium". The name change is expected to occur for the 2025 season.
Design and construction
Major demolition of Robertson Stadium, Houston's previous home, officially began on December 10, 2012, however the south end zone was removed by December 6. On December 19, 2012, the Houston athletics department released architectural renderings of the stadium to the public. In conjunction with a press conference, a new website for the stadium was launched.DLR Group and Page, formerly known as PageSoutherlandPage, jointly designed the stadium to match the adjacent buildings including the new stadium parking garage that had been constructed earlier during the year, but also wanted a unique architectural design for the project. The stadium was designed with a "corrugated metal exterior skin" that allows for optimal air flow and natural lighting. A sun shade study was conducted to determine the best orientation for the new stadium. As a result, unlike the previous stadium, the orientation of the new stadium was designed to be in an "East-West" configuration to provide for greater comfort for fans and athletes. Simultaneously, the orientation allows for a maximized view of the Houston skyline. The stadium site, at its on-campus location, is less than three miles from Downtown Houston.
The stadium is an open concourse design with a complete lower bowl built twenty five feet below grade and seating 20,000 fans on top of the field. The premium suites, loge boxes and club level are built on the concourse level in the middle of the home stands instead of on top of the grandstand like many college stadiums. As a result, these premium seats are as close to the field as any stadium in college football.
On February 8, 2013, the university hosted a formal groundbreaking ceremony at the stadium site featuring longtime Houston Rockets commentator and alumnus Bill Worrell with President Renu Khator, athletics director Mack Rhoades, and chairwoman Nelda Luce Blair.
The official seating chart for the new stadium was released on July 19, 2013. In an effort to allow for fans to remain connected to the internet via their mobile devices while at the stadium, in April 2014, it was announced that Boingo Wireless would install, manage, and operate a distributed antenna system thereby enhancing cellular connections. In addition, the company would deploy multiple Wi-Fi networks across the stadium that would be accessible by fans, and support other information systems as well as staff.
In November 2014, The Daily Cougar student newspaper published an article stating that construction on TDECU Stadium is not yet completed, and the stadium is $16 million over budget. Subsequently, the Daily Cougar reported that the cost of the stadium is as much as $128 million, and that an audit was being conducted about whether state funds were used appropriately.