Sports in Houston
Event Month Sport Venue Established
Houston Marathon January Running Convention Center and streets of Houston 1972
Houston College Classic February Baseball Minute Maid Park 2001
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo February / March Rodeo NRG Park 1932
Shell Houston Open March PGA golf Golf Club of Houston 1946
U.S. Men 's Clay Court Championships April Tennis River Oaks Country Club 2001
U.S. international rugby match June Rugby BBVA Compass Stadium 2012
Texas Bowl December Football NRG Stadium 2006
Bayou Bucket Classic Varies Football Rice Stadium , TDECU Stadium , or NRG Stadium 1971
SWAC Championship Game December Football NRG Stadium 2013
SWAC Basketball Tournament March Basketball Toyota Center 2013
Annual events
Houston hosts annual sporting events such as the PGA Tour 's Shell Houston Open , the college football Texas Bowl , and college baseball 's Houston College Classic . Since 1971 , Houston 's two NCAA Division I FBS football teams , the Rice Owls and Houston Cougars have faced off in the annual Bayou Bucket Classic . Since 1985 , the Texas Southern Tigers and Prairie View A & M Panthers compete in the annual Labor Day Classic . Every June since 2012 , the U.S. national rugby team has played an international match against a top European team at BBVA Stadium , breaking attendance records for rugby matches in the U.S. [ 3 ] The U.S. Men 's Clay Court Championships , a ATP World Tour 250 series tournament , has been held in Houston since 2001 From 1998 to 2001 , the CART World Series held the Grand Prix of Houston auto race on downtown streets . CART 's successor series , Champ Car , revived the race for 2006 and 2007 on the streets surrounding Reliant Park . The race was discontinued again in 2008 , following Champ Car 's merger with the rival IndyCar Series . The Grand Prix of Houston returned for the 2013 season . In motorcycling , the Astrodome hosted an AMA Supercross Championship round from 1974 to 2003 and the NRG Stadium since 2003 . Several annual sporting events are no longer held in Houston . The Virginia Slims of Houston was a women 's tennis tournament held from 1970 to 1995 as part of the WTA Tour . The final official event of the LPGA golf season , the LPGA Tour Championship , was held in Houston in 2009 , but moved to Orlando , Florida in 2010 .
The city of Houston and the Houston metropolitan area has a rich sporting culture and the area residents are active in many spectator and participant sports. Spectators attend events including teams from four major professional sports teams and collegiate sports. Participants enjoy activities from running in Memorial Park to sailing on Galveston Bay and Clear Lake. A number of other sports are also available, including nearly a dozen fencing clubs, ranging from recreational clubs to elite competitive organizations.