Reliant Stadium to get new HD video screen displays in Reliant Stadium

  Pooja Lodhia

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Reliant Stadium has hosted some big moments in this record breaking season, but if city officials want Houston to host another Super Bowl, the relatively new stadium will need some upgrades.

The upgrades we're talking about are a pair of "super screens" that would rival those in Cowboy Stadium. That kind of technology won't come cheap, but commissioners say the upgrade is necessary because the current screens are more than 11 years old.

"It's going to be 40 percent bigger than that screen in Cowboy Stadium," said Leroy Shafer with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Commissioners with the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation just approved a plan to build two new scoreboards here at Reliant. Each end zone will feature a screen that's 52 feet high and 277 feet wide, so there will be plenty of space for instant replays, statistics, and commercials.

"Certainly this is going to be an integrel component to that bid for the Super Bowl we present to the NFL in May. They're looking for experience, the experience for the guests coming in here," Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes said.

The new boards are expected to cost about $16 million. Commissioners are still negotiating the details but tell us they will be paid for with county restoration funds. The Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will loan the county money up-front.

"The money that goes into this R&R fund comes from hotel/motel tax, rental car tax, from the ticket tax," Shafer said.

"So is there any chance that ticket prices could go up to help pay for this?" we asked Shafer.

"No, not at all," he said.

If you remember, Minute Maid Park got its own HD screen last year. It's 54 feet high and 124 feet wide. But did the screen really improve the experience for fans?

"It's hard to say what people come here to see, because a lot of people come to be entertained, some people come to see baseball," Astros Production Co-Ordinator David Congdon said.

Construction is expected to begin in April, and the screens should be ready to go in time for next year's football season.

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