Leaky roof: rain falls inside NRG Stadium during Monster Jam on Saturday night

HOUSTON – The roof at NRG Stadium leaked a significant amount of rainfall during Monster Jam on Saturday night.

A social media video from Collin McLelland showed the unexpected soggy conditions inside NRG Stadium, the home of the Texans since 2002 along with the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Bowl and multiple events throughout the year.

A downpour Saturday evening during Monster Jamwas displayed on social media while the event went on uninterrupted and people attending moved out of the path of the ongoing rainstorm.

The Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation, which operates NRG Stadium, issued a statement attributing the issue to an ongoing roof replacement construction project. That left the stadium vulnerable to a rainstorm, which included winds as fast as 48 miles per hour and nearly a half-inch of rainfall accumulating during a short span of time.

NRG Stadium is the venue for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. An exact timetable for the roof replacement is unclear, but it is expected to be completed prior to this high-profile international soccer event set to begin in Houston in June.

“The NRG Stadium roof replacement project will continue as planned,” Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation said in a statement. “All upcoming events at NRG Park, including today’s Monster Jam will proceed without interruption.”

Two years ago, Hurricane Beryl caused roof panels to be ripped off the stadium.

On Sunday, work crews continued to work on the roof replacement project.

The Texans are planning to build a team training facility and headquarters along with a sports and entertainment complex called Toro District in partnership with Harris County and Howard Hughes Holdings. The plan is to break ground this year and move into the new facility by the summer of 2029 in Bridgeland.

As the Texans continue to dig further into ongoing negotiations on their stadium lease that expires in 2032, their central focus remains on finding workable, financially viable solutions to upgrade NRG Stadium.

The priority for the Texans regarding the multi-use, 72,220 capacity stadium built in 2002 at a cost of $352 million is to renovate the facility, which is in need of extensive and expensive repairs and general improvements, in partnership with Harris County, the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Relocation to a new stadium isn’t the Texans’ stated goal. They want to refurbish the stadium.

Negotiations are active and ongoing with lots of time left on the current lease. The Texans are attempting to be proactive about the stadium situation.

Contractually, the Texans are not responsible for the repair and upkeep of the stadium. That task lies with Harris County under the terms of the lease arrangement. The Texans have contributed millions of dollars, though, toward multiple repairs and maintenance of the stadium since the launch of the franchise in 2002 by the late founder Bob McNair, Cal McNair’s father.

“Absolutely, our focus is to be here,” Texans team president Mike Tomon told KPRC 2 on Thursday when the team announced plans for Toro District. “Our focus is to be at NRG Park. As we like to say, ‘You want to see us on our biggest moments? Come to NRG.

“You want to see us on our day-to-day, the other 350 days a year? Come to Bridgeland. And so that’s kind of how we look at the Toro District. And our focus remains making this our competitive advantage here at NRG.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com