On November 19, 2013, the Houston Dynamo began talks in the initial stages with the intention of bringing a top flight women's professional soccer franchise to Houston. Just a week later, the effort was bolstered when the Dynamo began accepting refundable deposits for a potential NWSL expansion team. On December 11, 2013, the National Women's Soccer League awarded the Houston Dynamo and the city of Houston an expansion franchise.
Team name, crest, and colors unveiled
During a press conference on December 12, 2013, Houston Dynamo President Chris Canetti announced that the club would be named the Houston Dash and would share similar colors to the Dynamo: orange, black, and sky blue. The crest features a soccer ball along with the words "Houston Dash" with sky blue lines in the background. The name Dash refers to the fast running speed of a horse, which was a historical mode of transportation for Texans in the 1800s.
Houston Dash is owned by the same ownership group as the Dynamo, Gabriel Brener, Jake Silverstein, Ben Guill, multiple World and Olympic boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya, and Houston Rockets star and NBA MVPJames Harden On December 23, 2013, Former Houston Dynamo player Brian Ching was named Managing Director, in charge of day-to-day duties on both the business and technical sides of under the supervision of Houston Dash and Dynamo team president Chris Canetti. On January 3, 2014, Randy Waldrum was named as the Dash's first head coach, having previously coached the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's soccer team to two national titles since joining the team in 1999. On May 29, 2017, Randy Waldrum and Houston Dash agreed to part ways. Assistant coachOmar Morales was named interim coach. On November 27, 2017 Vera Pauw was hired as the new head coach. On September 20, 2018 Vera Pauw departed from the club. On December 11, 2018, James Clarkson was hired as the new head coach.
Stadium
The Dash play their games at BBVA Stadium, a stadium opened in May 2012, that features a 22,039-seat capacity. For the team's inaugural season, 7,000 seats in the lower seating bowl are available for home games. When the stadium opened in 2012, it became the first soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer located in a city's downtown district.
As of the 2017 season, Dash games are streamed exclusively by Go90 for American audiences and via the NWSL website for international viewers. As part of a three-year agreement with A&E Networks, Lifetime broadcasts one NWSL Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons. For the 2017 season, the Dash will be featured in five nationally broadcast Lifetime NWSL Game of the Week broadcasts on May 6, May 3, and September 23, 2017. During the 2014 season, games were broadcast locally on CSN TV in Houston.
