The Houston Astros’ home stadium, Minute Maid Park, will be renamed Daikin Park starting next year.
Major League Baseball’s official media MLB.com said on the 19th (Korea Standard Time), “The Astros’ stadium will become Daikin Park with a new stadium naming rights.” The Houston Astros and the North American branch of Daikin Comfort Technologies announced today that they have agreed to a 15-year exclusive stadium naming rights contract with the Astros’ home stadium as Daikin Park.”
Houston’s home stadium, Minute Maid Park, is a retractable dome that opened in March 2000. It was called “The Ballpark at Union Station” after Union Station, which was located on the site where the stadium was located, but became Enron Field when Enron, an energy company, signed a contract for the name of the stadium. However, Enron went bankrupt not long after signing the contract, and Coca-Cola took over the name of the stadium and was called “Minute Maid Park” from 2002 to this year.
With the end of the 30-year stadium naming rights signed when Minute Maid Park opened, Houston searched for a new partner and joined hands with Japanese conglomerate Daikin. It is the first time that a Japanese company has secured the naming rights for a Major League Baseball stadium.
토토사이트.com explained, “This contract will commence on January 1, 2025 and will remain in effect until 2039. The contract included official stadium naming rights, benefits from other sponsors, and the return of the Houston community through the development of underprivileged community education programs and youth sports. Daikin Industries has more than 98,000 employees worldwide and 22,000 employees in the United States. It was founded in Japan on October 25, 1924, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.”
Minute Maid Park will be officially named Daikin Park from Jan. 1 next year. However, Minute Maid, which was previously signed, will remain Houston’s sponsor until 2029. “We are grateful for Minute Maid and Coca-Cola’s dedication to the ballpark for a long time. They joined us at a critical time in our club’s history and will continue to be our Astros partner for many years to come. We are thrilled and excited.”
Houston, which won the 2017 and 2022 World Series championships, won the American League West with an 88-73 winning percentage of .547 this year. The first game to be held next year at Daikin Park is an exhibition game between the Astros and Sugar Land, a minor league triple-A team under their wing, on March 25. The first Major League game will be the season opener against the Mets on March 28.