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The Brownsville Independent School District will start the 2025 boys varsity football season without Sams Memorial Stadium, where the playing field is nearing conversion to a football and soccer complex.

The $3.1 million project will see Joe Rodriguez Field at Sams Memorial Stadium converted from a football/track and field configuration into a football/soccer complex to host boys and girls soccer matches from December through April, a full fall schedule of boys varsity football games, and eventually, UTRGV Division I football games.

Originally, Sams Stadium had been slated to host the inaugural UTRGV football game, which was moved back to Edinburg and is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Vackar Stadium against Sul Ross State.

Meanwhile, the weather has set back progress at Sams slightly.

“We were supposed to be on here week three, but we had some rain the last couple of weeks that set us behind. So, our projected first game here is going to be Sharyland Pioneer versus Porter Thursday night, followed by Roma and Pace Friday night, Sept. 25 and 26,” BISD Athletic Director Gilbert Leal said Wednesday.

Leal said significant rain on Tuesday set the project back, with the contractor now waiting for a four- to five-day window to pour concrete at the back of each end zone.

“We’re going to have a wall in the back of the end zones. It’s kind of like a college-style wall wall on both sides, in the back of the end zone on the south side and the north side. The south side wall is complete. The north side wall is going to start construction, and the turf is scheduled to get delivered here next week on Wednesday, and that’s going to be about a three-week project to put the pad down and get that all sewn in together,” Leal said.

“Right now, we’re on our count-down of about 30 days before we can get on here, exactly one month away.”

BISD has four home games scheduled this week, two of them at the Brownsville Sports Park and two at Veterans Memorial Early College High School, and four games the following week.

In all, six games are scheduled at each location during the first three weeks of the season, with Veterans Memorial getting to play at their home stadium.

Leal said BISD appreciates the opportunity to play games at the Brownsville Sports Park. He said he was at a game Tuesday, and fans should appreciate the shade.

“I was at a middle school football game at 5:30 p.m., and the entire bleachers, every spectator, is going to be in the shade, which is a nice relief because the natural design of Sams Stadium has the home crowd in the sun until sundown. At least our spectators are going to be in the shade for the first month of the season,” he said.

Later this year, BISD will host a full slate of soccer games at Sams for the first time. Games will be every Tuesday and Friday from December through April, with boys and girls teams playing back-to-back games.

After that, the first game of the 2026 UTRGV football season is penciled in for Brownsville, with the team playing its spring football game at Sams in April to get used to field conditions.

The post Brownsville ISD to start 2025 football season without Sams Stadium appeared first on MyRGV.com.