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STRAIT SETS LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO RECORD
HOUSTON - Hometown favorite George Strait set a paid attendance record of 68,266 at Reliant Astrodome on the final day of the 70th annual Houston Livestock Show cSt Rodeo, the events swan song at the 37year-old indoor facility.
There were actually more than 70,000 overall in the building, officials estimated. Total attendance for the Feb. 12-March 3 run was 1,563,662, up 13% from last year. There were 1,091,955 tickets sold for the rodeo alone.
Next year, the livestock show and rodeo moves to 69,500-seat Reliant Stadium, which it shares with the NFL Houston Texans. GM Dan Gattis and his staff relocate in late March to new offices in the 1.4-million-square foot Reliant Center.
Officials targeted the attendance record in scheduling Strait for the last day. For the first time, there was no rodeo preceding the concert, which allowed 7,500 chairs to be set up on the floor.
Those tickets were $50 and sold out in two hours. Fixed stadium seating was increased an average of $5.
"It was by design and nice to see the plan come through," Gattis said. All other rodeo/concert performances were $14 each. Gate admission to the grounds was $6
The Strait crowd eclipsed the previous attendance record set only a week earlier when 67,002 passed through the turnstiles on Go Tejano Day, featurine Los Tigres del Norte and Ramon Ayala.
Unlike the San Antonio Livestock Expo, which experienced decreased Tejano turnouts (AB, Feb....