Across Texas, sports teams scramble for venues
The devastation and massive flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey is wreaking havoc on the Houston area sports scene, sending some Major League Baseball games across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida and leaving pro and college football teams scrambling to find alternate sites and dates.
The Houston Astros, currently holders of the best record in the American League, will play their next two scheduled home series — six games in all — at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. The domed “Trop” is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Astros will move to Tropicana Field from Houston’s Minute Maid Park, which is dealing with waist-high floodwaters, to play their in-state rival Texas Rangers over the next three days and the New York Mets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Rays are on a road trip that has them returning home Sept. 4.
After the two series in Florida, the Astros will embark on a scheduled 10-game West Coast trip.
They’re not scheduled to return home until Sept. 15.
“At this point, our focus is on the safety of our fans, our players and their families and our front office staff and their families,” Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone dealing with the effects of this terrible storm. We want everyone to be safe.”
Saturday’s Advocare Texas Kickoff football game between LSU and Brigham Young, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET at Houston’s NRG Stadium and to be televised on ESPN, will be moved to Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Game time will remain the same.
“To all of our ticketholders, we will be issuing policies and how we can go about getting tickets to the new venue and redeeming your tickets if you can’t make it,” LSU athletics di- rector Joe Alleva said in a statement.
Approaching weather to potential sites and ease of travel for fans were considered in the selection of the new site.
Another Houston college team, Prairie View A&M, will move its Labor Day Classic against Texas Southern to Thanksgiving weekend.
The NFL’s Houston Texans were scheduled to play their final preseason game Thursday night against the in-state rival Dallas Cowboys and their season opener Sept. 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium, which remains undamaged by the storm but has flooded streets around the stadium.
The Cowboys offered to host the preseason game at AT&T Stadium, and the NFL office announced Monday evening that the game would indeed be played at the Cowboys home stadium in Arlington. Game time will remain 8 p.m. ET. The league said in a statement that the NFL and the Texans would continue to closely monitor the situation in Houston and adjust the team’s plans as necessary.
The NFL also announced Monday that The NFL Foundation would match Texans owner Bob McNair’s $1 million contribution to the United Way Relief Fund to address the immediate needs of those impacted by the storm.