Houston’s most beloved baseball team, the Astros, is getting a ballpark name change.
The previous name was “Minute Maid Park” and has been owned by Coca-Cola since 2002. The new name is “Daikin Park”, with Daikin being the name of a Japanese conglomerate and is currently the world’s largest air conditioning manufacturer. Daikin North America is headquartered in Houston and employs around 10,000 Houstonians.
The Astros signed a 15 year contract with Daikin which will run through the 2039 season. This new change does not come with a warm welcome, as explained by Brady Logan “the renaming of the park takes away from the fan culture.” Minute-Maid has had an everlasting impact upon Houston, but the name change echoes the slump that the Astros are currently in. By changing the name, it marks a new era for the Astros and for the Houston area.
