The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo performed in the Astrodome for the first time on February 23, 1966. The first stars to appear were Milburn Stone and Ken Curtis from the television show, “Gunsmoke”. The rodeo saw a significant surge in attendance, with the first performance in the new and revolutionary domed stadium drawing 25,340 spectators, and one performance even topping 40,000 attendees. This was a substantial increase from the previous venue, the Sam Houston Coliseum in downtown, which could only hold a fraction of that number. The Astrodome, along with the Astrohall next door, provided the extra space needed for the show to grow and sustain. The Houston rodeo was in its 34th year in 1966 and saw international attendance double from the previous years, setting the course to become the world’s largest rodeo for decades to come by moving into the Astrodome.
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The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in the Astrodome as seen in 1997
On the north side of the Astrodome was Colt Stadium, where the Houston Colt .45s played before moving into the Dome in 1965 and becoming the Astros. The old Fast Draw Club, once located outside the western-themed Colt Stadium, was moved to become the entrance to the Corral Club at the Y-shaped Astrohall in 1966. The rodeo built the 12-acre exhibition hall at no cost to the taxpayers and was donated to Harris County. The hall provided expanded space and permanent offices for the rodeo in addition to placing Houston in a position to compete for large conventions year-round. The Astroarena was later added in 1975.
In addition, the Astrodome provided two more Corral Clubs, one on the press level and the other on the Skybox level. In addition, the seating capacity in the Dome was six times that of the former downtown home. Moving into the Astrodome was indeed a step up in stature for the Houston rodeo, who began to issue gold badges for officials, replacing silver versions from previous years.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also known as RODEOHOUSTON, moved out of the Astrodome when NRG Stadium opened in 2002.
