August 4, 2018
BBVA Stadium (Capacity: 22,000)
Houston, TX
Houston Dynamo vs Sporting Kansas City
Final Score: 0 – 1
* The stadium has been renamed Shell Energy Stadium
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We took a family cruise that left out of Galveston and before that departed, we spent an extra day in Houston. Located along the southeast coast of Texas along the Buffalo Bayou, the city of Houston is the 4th most populous in the country with two million people sprawled out across a fairly large surface area. With an advantageous water location, the nearby Ship Channel is a very busy port and it is also home to the massive petroleum and energy industry. The city also plays a significant role in other industries like health care and of course, aerospace. It is a dull big city though for visitors with the spread-out Museum District and the far-away Space Center heading the short list of things to see. Houston’s foray into professional soccer began in 2006, when the San Jose franchise relocated and the team became the Dynamo. They promptly won the MLS Cup in their first two seasons and have been to two Final’s since. After playing five seasons at the University of Houston, the Dynamo moved into a soccer-specific stadium in 2012. BBVA Stadium is a solid facility, though not quite part of the MLS’ elite. The lasting impression from this visit was the atmosphere, which was out of control as many fans acted like idiots.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
BBVA Stadium is in East Downtown, which only recently started getting referred to as EaDo. It’s not the most polished of areas despite being in close proximity to the skyscraper-filled downtown. This feels like a neighborhood on the verge of being a hipster/millennial type of area, but isn’t quite there yet as there are more abandoned warehouses and buildings than those that have been redeveloped. There’s not really a reason to venture around, though there are a few Dynamo hangouts like Lucky’s Pub and King’s Court. Plus, the team closes off part of Rusk Street as they make their own small festival with games and tents.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
The easiest way to reach the stadium is via the Metro Rail, which has a station for the Green and Purple line right outside the gates. We found this public transit system very simple to use and a game ticket means the ride is free. It’s not a big system by any means, but it does the trick as it connects to some park-n-ride stations. As for driving, that is tougher as the team website gives little direction on where to go. There are some cash lots and street spaces, but the “official” parking area in Lots B and C only have 1500 surfaces spaces. If going this route, it would help to have some local knowledge. BBVA is best accessed by I-45 or Highway 59 as the latter has exits that are just blocks from the stadium. Weekends don’t have much congestion, while weekdays certainly do given proximity to the Central Business District.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5 out of 8
Exterior
The setting makes it difficult to get a wide-angle perspective of the stadium. The up-close look features a steel mesh for the top half of the building, while the bottom half is an orange wall. Origami panels to the entire exterior add to the uniqueness of the structure. It was different all right and I’ll credit that, but the caged look at the top didn’t do it for me. BBVA Compass has their name on each side. The end where the light rail runs by is the most appealing as it has a video screen and letters six feet tall spelling out “DYNAMO”, with the Y removed for creative human pictures.
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10
Concourse
The concourse is all on one level and is completely enclosed by the seating bowl above as it goes around in a rectangle. The only open spot to the field is behind one goal in the Heineken Bar, where a great social space that has all the large bar features needed to watch and socialize. Gray is the concourse color scheme and it is nicely accented by a good deal of orange. Adding to the appeal are a few full-wall team displays. Space was adequate only because the crowd was so light on this night. Having just one concourse with no open plaza seems problematic for a stadium with this large of a capacity.
Concourse Ranking: 3 out of 5
Food
There was a solid menu of food items, but the boring and small $13 BBQ Pulled Pork stuck out in a bad way. Expect a fair amount of Texan and Central American classics to go along with slightly jazzed up takes on normal Stadium food. Taco and Nacho options look to be the best bet. I thought the coolest concept was the HTX International Market, which had so many snacks and drinks to choose from as you browsed like you were in a deli. They also had a type of craft soda to go along with some microbrews.
Food Ranking: 6 out of 8
Interior
The structure is a double-decker that is in the shape of a rounded rectangle. Club seating is found in a few forms on the West Sideline around midfield, while Suites are also on the other side, just eight rows back from the lower seats. The location does put the upper-deck further from the field than if the suites were in their preferred top spot. You can also see this in the lower bowl as seats are a good ten feet from the wall separating the pitch. That nearest space is reserved for field seats. Despite that, the decent grade to each row lends to mostly solid sightlines. My exception is the few first row seats in the upper deck, where a section railing is in view. Seats are all orange and while that color is great, the actual chair itself is narrow and of a cheaper plastic. The other cheap aspect is how end seating is set in a metal bleacher base, as opposed to concrete on the sides. Even a couple sections have bleacher seats, which makes no sense. My other complaint are the numbers on the seats are faded, making it difficult to find your designated spot. Three of the four sides have an overhang and the cover is over most of the seats. The view from the east deck includes a look at the downtown skyline, though the roof makes it partially obscured. Supporters are in the middle of the north end, while the south end has the open social space mentioned earlier. Overall, it’s a nice stadium, just one that has several little annoyances.
Interior Ranking: 8.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
Yuck. This might be the worst scoreboard I’ve seen at the Big Five sports-level in a long time. At the top of the north end is a videoboard that features dead panels and an overall video clarity that is subpar. The board is surrounded by ads. During the game, score and time is a line at the bottom and live action is on the video with replay frequency good. On the other side are two corner screens that are even worse as these are so small that they are practically useless.
Scoreboard Ranking: 1.5 out of 4
Displays
The abundance of orange is great and it really makes the stadium stand out as Houston certainly is one of the brightest teams in the league based on color scheme. In the concourse, there are only a few displays, but they are big as they take up a concourse wall. One is on the stadium history, specifically during the 2012-2013 seasons. The other shows the nationalities of foreign Dynamo. Inside the stadium, banners for each MLS Cup are on the façade of the South End overhang. This spot also has each Conference Title.
Displays Ranking: 2.5 out of 6
Cost
At Stadium #200, it’s hard to see something new. It’s even harder for that to happen in this category, but the Dynamo managed it. The team does not make single game tickets available for the season all at once. Instead, individual sales are released in 2-4 week blocks, which seems very frugal and off-putting. That of course means flex ticket pricing. Out of only a few of my samples: I found a general range of $30 – $55 with online fees nearing $10. Definitely go with the secondary market for better prices. Parking lots are $10 – $15, but the Metro Rail is free. Concession prices were insane. $6.50 for a soda! $11.25 for a domestic, regular beer! $7.50 for a Jumbo Hot Dog! Inflation will make this “normal” in future years, but for now, these were the worst concession prices I’ve seen so far and that includes Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Cost Ranking: 5 out of 8
Fan Support
The crowd was sadly small with at least two-thirds of the seats empty. That puts the real attendance at maybe 5,000 or 6,000…about half of what was announced. It was a Saturday Night, the weather was nice considering it was Houston and the Astros were on the road. Media coverage is just as poor as the Houston Chronicle put the Dynamo recap on Page 11 of the Sports Section, right after Rice fall football practice. Looking at playoff attendance, Houston was 8th in attendance out of the 10 teams that hosted a game. Good news is they did have a legit full house for the Conference Final the season before.
Fan Support Ranking: 3.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Despite the small crowd number on this Saturday Night, Dynamo fans were able to generate a fair amount of noise. The majority of that noise comes from the North End, where El Batallon (and to a lesser extent, the Texian Army) constantly banged on drums and played trumpets. This was a small group as well, only taking up two sections, but they certainly added a Latin flair to the event with a lot of noise. The Spanish language chants were evidence of that dynamic. On a few occasions, they would throw a “Let’s Go Dynamo” chant for others to join in. As for the rest of the crowd, they loudly roared at hard-working plays and appreciated when Houston won a 50-50 ball. They stood for nearly every corner and rhythmically clapped on the approach.
Their passion however, went beyond the scale of acceptable as things got out of hand as the game went on. A red card against Houston led to assigned streamers thrown onto the field. Fine, I understood that one. But then every (and I mean every) call against the Dynamo was followed by more streamers. Things got ugly at the end as several idiots threw cans (some full with beer) and other objects onto the field as questionable challenges ensued. The referee had to go to VAR and the raining of debris understandably kept him from the review. It really was a pathetic display and one that left a lasting impression.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9 out of 14
Other Stuff
Houston is a hot city for much of the MLS season. Having large fans throughout the concourse is helpful to contend with the heat and even better is that many of those fans have mist. I loved it, but my Dad was not a fan (pun intended). Too bad the interior is completely enclosed as the air flow inside is not great…..Part of the pregame tradition at BBVA Compass Stadium is the firing of a cannon…..The Dynamo have a rivalry with FC Dallas and their games are known as the Texas Derby, where the winner takes home the El Capitan trophy…..BBVA Compass Stadium also hosts the Houston Dash of the NWSL and Texas Southern University Football…..During their first season in the new stadium, the Dynamo went undefeated at home…..Pat Onstad was the goalkeeper for the team’s two titles and he made 136 appearances overall. I watched him in person all summer with the Rochester Rhinos during the 98-99 seasons.
Game
The aforementioned red card came in the 14th minute as Alejandro Fuenmayor came hard with an elbow into the neck area of Gianluca Busio. It was a questionable call because it was hard to determine if the elbow hit more of the back or head. This led to a dull rest of the game as Houston generated only a couple chances. SKC hit the post in the first half with a curling shot by the 16-year-old debutant Busio. They finally broke through in the 75th minute as it was the dynamic Busio who set up Diego Rubio for the lone goal. Houston made it ugly at the end and they finished with dubious club records for yellow cards (six) and red cards (three).
Stadium and Arena Visits 
