WELL DONE!
How Houston Texans are bucking the trend with more changes coming in 2022
Aug 11, 2022, 3:19 pm
Texans fans won't have to worry about inflation at NRG in 2022. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.
You want to repeat that? Are you seriously telling me that the Houston Texans are lowering the price of hot dogs and beer for the entire 2022 season at NRG Stadium?
Swear?
The Texans and their concession partner Aramark are taking this extraordinary, actually shocking, step to lure fans back into NRG Stadium. They’re not only lowering the price of dogs and beer, they’re also slashing the cost of chicken tenders baskets and Cokes. These are the four major food groups of stadium cuisine – the building blocks of “gotta support the team.”
These “Fan First Deals” start with Saturday night’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are favored by 1-1/2 points and the over/under number is 33-1/2. However, if you put any money on an NFL exhibition game, particularly the first one, you need to be committed to the home for the terminally dumb.
Here’s Texans president Greg Grissom explaining the how and why of lowering prices on concession prices.
“We’re excited to unveil an innovative approach to concessions pricing this season. In a world of increasing costs, we chose to decrease the price of selected items on game day. Based on conversations with our fans and insights from our analytics team, we identified the four most-ordered items and adjusted their pricing,” Grissom said on the Texans website.
Here’s the Fans First Deals lineup:
All beef hot dog – was $5.49, now $3.75.
Crispy chicken tender basket - was $10.09 now $7.75.
20-ounce Coca-Cola in a cup - was $4.79, now $3.75.
16-ounce domestic beer - was $8.69, now $7.95.
On average, that’s about a 20-percent, pre-tax saving from last year. While not looking a gift horse in the mouth, obviously this is a ploy to lure Texans fans back to NRG Stadium and turn the page from recent performance and public relations disasters. You know what they say, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” The same goes for female football fans. Dig in.
I caught up with Chris Devore, the Baron of Beer Nuts for Aramark at NRG Stadium. His last name sounds very close to “devour,” so he’s in the right job.
How did the Fan First Deals happen? Did the Texans come to you or the other way around?
Devore: The Texans came to us with the idea and we worked together to bring this to life.
When did you start the process of lowering certain concession prices?
Devore: It started with the Data Analytics vice-president looking at our units sold and determining these four items would have the most impact on fan cost and overall value.
How much back and forth did you do figuring out which items to discount?
Devore: We agreed from the get-go on the four items for this year.
Are these really the four most-ordered items at Texans games?
Devore: Yes.
How did the Aramark home office react when you told them you were cutting the price of the favorite food items?
Devore: Our collective priority is to be the best possible partners to the Texans as well as the fans. So we were all aligned that this would be a beneficial program.
What does Chris Devore order at a football game?
Devote: My go-to is a footlong chili cheese dog. But lately I have been digging the Nacho Grande.
As Dr. Rick says, people expect high food prices at movie theaters and sports stadiums. What’s been the response to NRG Stadium and the Texans lowering prices?
Devore: Since it was announced on Monday, I’ve had colleagues and friends reach out to me asking about the program. I'm hopeful that indicates the same buzz is also generating throughout our fan base.
What brand of hot dogs do you sell at NRG Stadium?
Devore: Holmes Smokehouse.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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