The retractable-roof home of the Houston Astros will have a new name next season. What we've called Minute Maid Park since 2002 will now become Daikin Park beginning in the 2025 season, the Astros announced Monday morning.
Daikin is a multinational conglomerate based in Osaka, Japan, that is the world's largest air conditioner manufacturer. It has a large presence in the Houston area, employing more than 10,000 people in the region. Via the Astros' press release:
Overall, Daikin has invested more than $1 billion in the Houston area, including more than $500 million in building Daikin Texas Technology Park. Also, in August 2024, Daikin launched an initiative with the City of Houston to equip low-to-moderate income homes with advanced air conditioning and heating solutions, providing more comfort and energy efficiency for homeowners.
The name rights deal runs through the 2039 season.
"We are excited to be partnering with Daikin for our ballpark's naming rights," team owner Jim Crane said in a statement. "Daikin is an international company that proudly calls the Greater Houston area its North American home. The Houston Astros and Daikin share the same values, a commitment to excellence and a desire to give back to our local community. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this ballpark in 2025, I am proud to have Daikin alongside us to create even more special memories for our fans now and in the future."
The ballpark opened in 2000 as Enron Field, but that unraveled quickly in the face of the scandal. The courts had to get involved, but the Astros temporarily renamed the stadium Astros Field while pursuing another naming-rights sponsor. Minute Maid came through with a 30-year, $100 million deal and the venue has been Minute Maid Park ever since.
The deal was supposed to run through at least 2030, but Minute Maid appears ready to move on from the sponsorship, though the company will remain a team partner. In comes Daikin.
The Astros' years in that ballpark as it was named Minute Maid Park were quite eventful. In 2005, it saw one of the most famous postseason home runs when Albert Pujols took Brad Lidge deep to shock the home fans, but the Astros still won the National League pennant that season. Within the next decade, the Astros would bottom out as one of the worst teams in baseball -- playing in front of nearly empty crowds regularly -- and then get moved to the American League.
Since then, they've been one of the best teams in baseball and established an AL dynasty, winning four pennants in six seasons, including two World Series titles, and making the ALCS seven straight years. They've now won seven AL West titles and they've only been in the American League for 12 seasons.
"The Astros are the pride of Houston, an organization that has built resiliency in hard times, and have succeeded to be a winning team. The coming together of both our organizations is a symbol of our love for our hometown and the communities of the Greater Houston area," Takayuki "Taka" Inoue, executive vice president of Daikin, said in a statement.
It'll take some getting used to, but the Houston Astros now play in Daikin Park.