An exciting new change is coming to Reliant Park. Reliant Energy is refreshing the look and feel of its logo, which means that a massive overhaul is in the works at Reliant Stadium and Reliant Park. (Photos of the transition are here.)
All signs containing the Reliant Energy logo, including inside the stadium and out, will be removed and updated with Reliant's new logo before the Texans' regular-season opener on Sept. 11 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Reliant Energy executives along with representatives from the Texans, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation and SMG – the property management group for Reliant Park – announced the news at a press conference on Saturday evening at Reliant Stadium. Below is the transcript from the press conference. (You can watch the video of the press conference here.)
Reliant Energy Press Conference QUOTES
President of Reliant Energy JASON FEW
President, Houston Texans JAMEY ROOTES
President, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo SKIP WAGNER
Chairman, Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation EDGAR COLON
President of Reliant Energy JASON FEW"While the Texans have been getting ready for an exciting season and what we know will also be a postseason, the Rodeo is coming off its best year yet and (chairman, Harris County Sports and Convention Corp.) Edgar(Colon) has been busy running what we believe is the best Sports Entertainment and Convention Facility in the country, we have been doing a little work of our own at Reliant. We are refreshing the look and feel of our logo. Soon at Reliant Park, visitors will be among the very first to see the new Reliant logo. Starting as early as tomorrow morning, you will see cranes and a flurry of activity at Reliant Stadium with signs coming down and replacing (them with) brand new signs that incorporate our new logo. Reliant, Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, the Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo came together about 10 years ago to make Reliant Park a reality. Nothing about what we're announcing here today changes our relationship—it only gets better because as a company, we are better. As you know, Reliant has been a part of NRG for the last two years. Our change is all about the transformation of both NRG and Reliant since we've become one and reflects a broader portfolio of energy products and services from NRG. Reliant is more than just a retail electricity provider; we're an energy services company. Today, products such as Rooftop Solar for both your home and your business, Electric Vehicle Charging networks for your home, for the public we announced the private charging network here in Texas as a company. We are changing the way you think about an energy company and we are leading the way in providing more sustainable solutions. In short, the combination of NRG and Reliant has given customers greater energy choices and we are changing the way customers think about and, most importantly, use energy. We're proud to have our name associated with this complex whether it's a Texans game, the Livestock Show and Rodeo, a concert or other events that take place here that make Houston and Reliant Park a fantastic entertainment destination. Reliant's sponsorship has been an important part of our company and an important part of what we do for the community and for our customers, and we thought of no better place to unveil our new logo than right here at Reliant Park because this is truly our most significant sponsorship and partnership that we have as a company. While change is good, I want to ensure our customers that nothing that they know and like about Reliant is changing. Our commitment to the community, our commitment to customers and the service and solutions they've come to expect will not change. We will simply be in a position to offer more services and innovation as a company. For Reliant, it's business as usual simply with an updated look, more innovative solutions and the ability to serve customers better than ever. I thank you all for coming out here today, and I hope you have a fantastic season this year with the Texans, a great Rodeo and all the other great events that are here, and I hope you enjoy our new look as much as I do and we're very excited about it. Thank you very much for that, and I'll turn it over to Jamey (Rootes)."
President, Houston Texans JAMEY ROOTES
"Thank you, Jason. On behalf of The Houston Texans organization, I just want you to know how proud we are to be partners with Jason and his team at Reliant Energy. We've been working on this great facility over the last decade. We've been joined together presenting great sports and entertainment events for our community to enjoy, and it's not an overstatement to say the NFL would not be here in Houston without great partners like Reliant Energy, and we are forever thankful to them for their support in making that happen. It's not just what we do on the field, but also off the field. We have opportunities to give back to Houston through The Boys and Girls Clubs, through scholarships we're able to provide or even going out and refurbishing a house through Habitat for Humanity. All of these projects, and many more, we've done hand-in-hand with our friends at Reliant and more. They help us, and we could not be the Champions of Youth that we've been recognized for in our community without their support. When you put together a relationship that's a 30-year partnership, you know for sure it's going to evolve over time. You need to actually make it evolve over time because if you're not getting better, you're getting worse, as we say in sports. Tonight, we celebrate a new look for Reliant Park, for Reliant Stadium, for Reliant, for our fans and for our community. While we were proud to begin, 10 years in we've never been prouder of being Reliant's partner, brining the energy with them on gameday and every day. So thank you for all you've done for us and all you've done for the community, and we're looking forward to a great new look."
President, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo SKIP WAGNER
"I echo a lot of what Jason (Few) and Jamey (Rootes) have said. Without Reliant and the partnership to develop this stadium, we would not be able to have almost half-a-billion-dollar impact on the community of Houston. Prior to the partnership with Reliant, we gave away less than $5 million dollars a year in scholarships. This year, we will give over $9 million dollars in scholarships and a total of $17 million dollars to the Youth of Texas. That doesn't happen without great partners like Reliant and great facilities like Edgar (Colon) has put out here and another great partner of the Texans. We echo the thanks. We also believe in seeing relationships evolve, and our relationship with Reliant has evolved over time got nothing but better. We're excited about the green initiatives that Reliant has, we're excited about the commitment to quality that Reliant has and I think the partnership will continue to get better because we'll figure out stuff like the Astrodome, and as we figure those things out, we'll be able to have an even greater economic impact here. Jason, congratulations on the new look. It's going to be great. We are going to have a great season in football, and we'll just carry that forward for the rodeo. Thank you."
Chairman, Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation EDGAR COLON
"Thank you Jason, Jamey and Skip. My name is Edgar Colon. I'm the chairman of the board for the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, which is the non-profit government corporation in charge of overseeing the planning, development and operation of activities here at Reliant Park. Jason, the relationship with Reliant Energy has been an integral part of our success in gaining national and international recognition. We have hosted notable events such as Super Bowl XXXVIII, The Offshore Technology Conference, the 2008 and 2010 NCAA Division I Men's basketball south regional's and the 2011 NCAA Men's basketball Final Four. This is just a sampling of the 600-700 events hosted annually at Reliant Park. We recognize and appreciate the importance of our relationship with Reliant Energy and we look forward to continuing this partnership in to the future. Thank you, and go Texans."
President of Reliant Energy JASON FEW
(on signage being available for first game of season) "That's the plan. It was very aggressive scheduling, so we're thankful to our friends with the sign companies that really worked hard to move heaven and earth to get this installation ready for the game with the Colts. It's really important to us that the presentation, we have be consistent, so our hope is to get as much as possible whether it's signage or recognition on uniforms and things of that nature in place so that it's just business as usual for the fans."
(on when and what signs will change) "All of it is going to change over around the same time. There's an enormous amount of material that needs to change over. So, it was no small task from a timing perspective. It was fairly short to go from idea, concept to implementation. Literally, thousands of things will change throughout the facilities."
(on how long this has been planned) "About a year-and-a half ago, we were trying to think about who we were as a company and how being part of NRG has changed our company. So over year or year-and-a-half, we've been going through a lot of brand discovery as a company. Our chief marketing officer Karen Jones, who is here, who I think is the best in the business, by the way, she really lead the effort in the project. Once we finally made a decision, just having great partners like we have here today, we've been able to move quickly to put everything in motion to get it all done."
(on NRG maybe wanting their name on the stadium) "No, NRG recognizes the power of Reliant here in the Texas market as well as other markets where we compete as a retail energy service provider. So, no conflict there, no internal battles on whose name stayed on the building."
