Football

TDECU Stadium made official after ceremony and press conference

Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to say that TDECU and UH are engaged in a 10-year, $15 million contract. An earlier version of this article ran, saying that the contract was a 10-year, $15 million-per year deal.

The partnership between Texas Dow Employees Credit Union and the University of Houston was made official today at a ceremony announcing the naming gift for TDECU Stadium. The ceremony, complete with marching band, was held at on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 2 p.m. in the Athletics and Alumni Center. The conference and ceremony highlighted what all speakers called a journey.

“It’s very important we celebrate this naming for our stadium,” said President and Chancellor Renu Khator, “because every single time that we talk about winning teams, there will always be talk of TDECU Stadium and the University of Houston.”

TDECU, the fourth largest credit union in the State of Texas and holder of around $2 billion in assets, is engaged with UH for a 10 year, $15 million dollar contract, one of the more lucrative by the year deals in college football.

The new stadium will sit around 40,000 people with 18 inches between seats. Rhoades stressed that the stadium, like Robertson, would work to play host for more than just UH football games.

“Just like this naming agreement, building a stadium is a journey,” said Athletic Director Mack Rhoades. “It started in December of 2012 when we knocked down Robertson Stadium. We broke ground on the new stadium in 2013 and we were able to do that because we had some very generous people step up and held us build a new stadium.”

Head coach Tony Levine, the last UH coach to work at Robertson Stadium, echoed the mood of the event in his remarks.

“We’re excited about a number of things about this partnership and relationship we’re going to build with TDECU,” said Levine. “It’s been fun for me as a head football coach to have the privilege of driving by the new stadium twice daily and see the progress that’s been made in the course of the last year.”

Levine, who says he has lost track of how many times he’s driven past the stadium, was quick to point out the benefits he’s already seen of having a new stadium.

“It’s been huge,” said Levine. “We’ve been talking about it for the last couple of years and the last couple of recruiting classes about having the ability to move in and be the first to move into this new home on campus.”

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5 Comments

  • So, will TCEDU reimburse students and alumni for the increase in student fees to pay for the stadium?

  • What do you mean, ‘great choice’? When someone says, “would you like $15 million?” you say yes! If you’re under the delusion that Mr. Rhoades and Dr. Khator had “needs to be a cool name or a popular company” on their list of criteria, you’re living in LaLaLand. Real Cougars show up and wear red. I’d be there if it was called “Crapbag Stadium”….if the Crapbag company gave us $15 MILLION dollars to do so.

  • Haaaaa, might as well just call it the HCPHES Stadium…. 15 million donation in turn for an awful stadium name to an otherwise beautifully created stadium.

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