Pep Guardiola’s men face Mexican side Club America on Wednesday 20 July, with kick-off scheduled for 19:30 local time (01:30 BST).
The match is available to watch live on CITY+*, while you can also keep up to date with all the action as it unfolds via our Matchday Centre on mancity.com and our official app as well as over on Twitter: @ManCity.
Ahead of our 2022/23 curtain-raiser, here are ten things you may not know about the first stop on our US tour…
Raising the roof
When the NRG Stadium first opened in 2002, it became the first NFL facility in the United States to have a retractable roof.
One of the reported reasons for the ground-breaking innovation was to allow the stadium to host rodeos, a regular feature to this day.
Another obvious advantage of the roof is as a means of combatting the late summer heat that Texas is also known for.
2002
The NRG Stadium is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, having first been opened back in August 2002.
Originally called the Reliant Stadium, the venue’s inaugural sporting spectacle saw the Houston Texans lock horns with the Miami Dolphins in a pre-season friendly.
It was the visitors who would come out on top on the day, winning 24-3, but the Texans would come out on top in their first competitive fixture, beating the Dallas Cowboys 19-10 two weeks later.
There’s no place like home
The NRG Stadium is the home ground of American Football outfit, the Houston Texans.
After initially being formed in 1999, they remain the youngest franchise currently competing in the NFL having taken part in their first season in 2002, the year that the stadium was first opened.
They have won six American Football Conference South Championships since then, but a first Super Bowl appearance still alludes them.
The NRG Stadium also plays host to the Houston Cougars, who compete in the highest level of college football in the United States.
80,108
After opening with an original seating capacity of 69,500, that figure has now been increased at the NRG Stadium to 72,220 over the following two decades.
However, the venue is capable of holding up to 80,000 spectators for special events, meaning the Stadium’s record attendance currently stands at 80,108.
That incredible figure was reached in March 2019 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo which also saw George Strait – ‘the King of Country’ – headline the event.
Just under 16 years prior to that, a sell-out crowd of 69,582 watched the United States take on Mexico in an international friendly – an attendance which remained the US men’s national soccer team’s largest home crowd of the decade until the 2009 Gold Cup final.
Familiar territory
This won’t be the first time that City have played at the NRG Stadium.
Indeed, 67,401 supporters witnessed Pep Guardiola’s men lock horns with Manchester United in July 2017 in our first ever overseas derby.
It was our opponents who would eventually come out on top on the day, running out 2-0 winners.
However, the match saw a couple of significant members of our current squad make their City debuts…
Debutants
Our only previous fixture at the NRG Stadium saw Ederson and Kyle Walker make their City debuts following summer transfers from Benfica and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
The match against Manchester United also saw a 17-year-old Phil Foden make his senior bow for Pep Guardiola’s men.
And despite falling to defeat against our rivals, the young midfielder put in an eye-catching display despite his tender years.
Memorable moments
There have been plenty of famous sporting events taking place at the NRG Stadium over the years.
In terms of American football, the 2004 Super Bowl saw the New England Patriots edge out the Carolina Panthers 32-29 in Houston, while the NRG Stadium also played host when the Patriots once again came out on top in 2017, this time against the Atlanta Falcons.
However, it’s not just American football and soccer which supporters have witnessed at the famous venue.
The NRG Stadium also hosted Wrestlemania 25 back in 2009 while, for the past 18 years, it’s also played host to Monster Jam, a live motorsport event including Monster truck freestyling and two-wheel skills competitions!
Rodeo Houston
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has been held at the NRG Stadium since 2003.
The 20-day festival is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world and includes a professional rodeo competition as well as the World Championship Bar-B-Que contest.
Live music, livestock auctions and a carnival offer further attractions at what is widely considered Houston’s ‘signature event’.
World Cup 2026
Football fans will be seeing a lot more of the NRG Stadium in a few years’ time, with the venue selected to host matches at the 2026 World Cup.
Chosen as one of 16 venues across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the stadium is sure to grace some of the beautiful game’s biggest stars when the famous tournament returns after this winter’s edition in Qatar.
NRG Park
The NRG Stadium is just one attraction of a wider collection of venues known as NRG Park.
The complex also includes the NRG Center (a convention center), the NRG Arena (a 350,000 square feet sports center) and the NRG Astrodome (the world’s first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium when opened in 1965).
In total the facility spans across an incredible 1.4 kilometers.
