Texas Convention Centers: Major Venues by City

Texas's major metropolitan areas host convention centers scaled to their economic gravity. Here are the primary facilities, all owned/operated by public authorities.

Tier 1: National/International Scale (>500K sq ft exhibit)

• George R. Brown Convention Center (Houston) — 1.8M sq ft total, 862K exhibit. 36 meeting rooms. Theater district. Super Bowl LI, Offshore Technology Conference.
• Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (Dallas) — 2.3M sq ft total, 1M+ exhibit (largest contiguous in TX). 200+ meeting rooms. Connected to 1,100-room Omni. SXSW, NTCA.
• Henry B. González Convention Center (San Antonio) — 1.6M sq ft, 514K exhibit. River Walk adjacency. 2017 expansion. ISTE, TCEA.

Tier 2: Major Regional (200-500K sq ft exhibit)

• Austin Convention Center — 881K sq ft, 247K exhibit. 54 meeting rooms. Downtown. SXSW anchor. Expansion planned.
• Fort Worth Convention Center — 600K sq ft, 185K exhibit. Will Rogers Memorial Complex adjacency. FW Stock Show.
• El Paso Convention Center — 300K sq ft, 80K exhibit. Border location. Juarez maquiladora industry events.

Tier 3: Regional/Specialized

• Galveston Island Convention Center — 150K sq ft, 45K exhibit. Beach tourism, medical/energy conferences.
• American Bank Center (Corpus Christi) — 180K sq ft flex. Arena + convention. Port industry.
• Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas — 275K sq ft, 100K exhibit. LEED Silver. DFW airport proximity. Tech/medical.
• Plano Event Center — 85K sq ft. Collin County corporate events.

Other Notable

Amarillo Civic Center, Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, McAllen Convention Center, San Marcos Conference Center, Tyler Rose Garden Center, Waco Convention Center.

Economic Impact

Texas convention business: $20B+ annual direct spending. Centers compete aggressively for national rotations. Public funding (hotel occupancy taxes) standard model.