Only 11 days remain until the first official Houston Dynamo game in the new BBVA Compass Stadium.
Officials celebrated the occasion on Tuesday with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Long-winded, profusely-thankful talks at the podium revealed just how important the stadium is to the city, the county and the nation, to Texas Southern University (TSU's football program will call the stadium home) and the Dynamo team.
Chris Canetti, president of business operations for the Dynamo, joked that the designers selected orange seats to fill the stadium's rows so that attendees couldn't tell the difference between fans and empty chairs.
"We intend to keep this place filled," said Mayor Annise Parker, who promises that the city is committed to bringing other sporting events and concerts to the stadium so that it will be an even bigger boon to the Houston economy.
Chris Canetti, president of business operations for the Dynamo, joked that the designers selected orange seats to fill the stadium's rows so that attendees couldn't tell the difference between fans and empty chairs.
But it looks like they will encounter few problems there — the first Dynamo game has been sold out for weeks. Tickets to the second and third games are going quickly as well, and only one of the 30-plus suites remains unsold.
After the ribbon cutting, a select few officials became the first to score goals at the stadium. Surrounded by news cameras and cheered on by a handful of Dynamo Girls, U.S. Representative Al Green, Mayor Parker, Canetti, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority chairman Kenny Friedman, county commissioner El Franco Lee, city council member James Rodriguez and TSU president John Rudley simultaneously tapped bright orange soccer balls into the brand new net.
And that, folks, is how you kick off a new stadium. The first game (versus D.C. United) will take place on May 12.
