Sabine River Rivalry at Reliant?
I was reading in the Chronicle about the Texas A&M-LSU rivalry renewing again tomorrow, and it occurred to me that, now that TAMU is in the SEC, there is the potential for a new annual rivalry to match Texas-OU game in Dallas at the Texas State Fair every year. Has anyone considered a similar game in Houston at Reliant for the annual TAMU-LSU game? Obviously we're somewhat similarly between College Station and Baton Rouge. And we could build our own festival around it like the Texas State Fair (although probably on a smaller scale). The tourism potential is huge. And I'm sure there are enough alums of each in Houston to make it a very big and profitable event for the schools (worth giving up a home game every other year).Anyone know if this idea has been floated or the schools approached? And if you know anybody at Reliant or the GHCVB, please pass this along. A Sabine River Rivalry at Reliant has a lot of potential for both the city and the schools.
Labels: tourism
posted by Tory Gattis @ 4:05 PM
4 Comments:
Its been talked about a lot over the years, but neither party is interested. Both teams have great stadiums with an atmosphere much better than you would ever get at Reliant, and fans and schools are reluctant to give up those games. OU/Texas is unique, given the tradition, the State Fair, and the great college atmosphere of the Cotton Bowl. A&M is already giving up a home game to play Arkansas in Cowboys stadium - really just a recruiting tool, and Reliant does not have the same cache as Jerryworld does.
I heard that as part of TA&M into SEC, that TA&M is required to build a new stadium.
A lot of people like this idea but the problem is that it gives LSU too much of an advantage in recruiting Houston. LSU already gets enough players from Texas and A&M doesn't want them to have any more media exposure.
I second what Gus said.
No aggies or tigers want this. Most college football fans hate the idea of neutral game sites being played in souless NFL stadiums. The Red River Rivalry is one of the few exceptions because of their tie-in with the state fair. Houston doesn't have a state fair. Aggies and Tigers don't want to give up their awesome home-field advantages. Aggies hate the idea that Jerry Jones has us by the short hairs and we are stuck playing Arkansas in JerryWorld for the next decade. This idea has been floated many times and many places over the past yr. It's apparently only just now occurring to you because you are not a college football fan. You only think this is a good idea because you attended Rice (which is a great school, but has the zero football atmosphere), and because you are only looking at this from the "How can Houston benefit" angle. I love Houston. But I love my alma mater and it's football atmosphere more. So shelve this crappy idea and may we never speak of it again.
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