A trip around the Copa América 2024 venues: Houston, Texas

SEATTLE - Commonly known as H-Town, Space City or Hustle Town, the city of Houston is America's fourth most-populous city and this summer will be home to the colorful Copa América 2024.

Located in the southeast of Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, Houston has been part of Texan history since the early 1800s. It got its name after general Sam Houston, the first president of the Republic of Texas.

This ever-growing city is home to more than two million people, making it the biggest city in Texas. H-Town is expected to become the third most populous U.S. city during the second half of the decade of the 2020s.

H-Town is a melting pot of cultures, with Greater Houston being the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the United States. It's estimated that at least 145 languages are spoken by its residents and 90 nations have consular representation in the city.

Founded in 1836, Houston has transformed into an oil town into a hub for energy and life sciences, manufacturing and aerospace and, most importantly, a huge sports town.

The city of Houston has a team in every major professional sports league in the United States besides the NHL. Founded in 1962, the Houston Astros were the first team to call Houston its home.

The city's NFL team are the Houston Texans, debuting in 2002. The Texans play their home games at NRG Stadium, one of the venues selected for Copa América 2024.

The stadium has a capacity of a little over 72,000 people, making it the eight-biggest stadium in the NFL. Since it opened in 2002 ahead of the Texans' inaugural NFL season, NRG Stadium has hosted a multitude of other events such as two Super Bowls, the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship and in 2026 will serve as a venue for the joint USA-Mexico-Canada World Cup.

NRG Stadium Quick Facts

• The stadium was built to replace the aging Astrodome, which was once hailed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" thanks to being the first indoor, air conditioned stadium in the world.
• When it opened in 2002, NRG Stadium became the NFL's first facility to have a retractable roof. The roof is made of translucent fiberglass and lets light in so the grass doesn't die.
• The stadium had a construction cost of approximately $352 million; in 2008 first major renovation had to be carried out as hurricane Ike did significant damage to both the retractable roof and parts of the interior.
• In 2013, two giant screens were installed behind each end, earning the stadium a global record with each one's surface of 14,549 square feet.

Demographics

The city of Houston is located in Harris County and, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, it is home to 2,304,580 inhabitants. A study conducted by the University of Houston in 2020 found out that the Hispanic population in Houston has increased 26.9% over the last 10 years.

Out of the more than two million people living in Houston, almost 45% of them identify as Hispanic or Latino. According to the study, the majority of Latinos/Hispanics in Houston were native born in the U.S. and only 43% of the population was foreign-born.

Other attractions

Houston got its nickname of "Space City" thanks to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center that was built in 1961. The center is home to NASA's astronaut corps and human spaceflight training, research and flight control tests are conducted there.

The Galleria is also another popular spot in Houston. It is the largest shopping mall in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States with more than 400 stores to browse from.

The 55-acre Houston Zoo is another hotspot for tourists during the summer. The zoo houses more than 6,000 animals from 900 different species and it receives around two million visitors every year, making it the second most visited zoo in the U.S. only behind the San Diego Zoo.