By TAKAO SHINKAI/ Correspondent
November 20, 2024 at 16:15 JST
A future image of Daikin Park, home to an MLB team Houston Astros (Provided by the Houston Astros)
NEW YORK--The U.S. subsidiary of Daikan Industries Ltd. announced on Nov. 18 that it obtained the naming rights to the Houston Astros’ stadium, the first time for a Japanese company to do so for a major league ballpark.
Currently, the stadium is named Minute Maid Park but starting from Jan. 1, 2025, it will be Daikin Park for the next 15 years.
Daikin, a major air conditioning company, is aiming to increase its brand recognition and expand sales of its air conditioning systems in the North American region.
Houston is a major city with the fourth largest population in the United States.
The Astros are a perennial MLB contender, having won the World Series in 2017 and 2022.
Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi played for the team during the 2024 season while Japanese players Norichika Aoki and Kazuo Matsui also played for the Astros in the past.
Daikin built a air conditioner production facility near Houston with a $500 million investment (77.53 billion yen) in 2017 and has been employing about 10,000 employees.
Sales of Daikin’s air conditioning business in the Americas regions including those in Central and South America are expected to total 1.795 trillion yen ($11.55 billion) in fiscal 2024. This represents about 38 percent of the company’s global consolidated sales for that fiscal year.
This is nearly three times the scale of its business in Japan, and sales are growing steadily.
Satoru Akama, CEO of Daikin Comfort Technologies North America Inc., said it is important to increase his company's name recognition among users to further boost sales.
Akama said obtaining the naming rights for the stadium will be the best marketing method for that purpose.
Japanese companies have previously acquired naming rights for major U.S. sports venues, including Toyota Motor Corp.’s Houston Toyota Center, home to the NBA’s Houston Rockets; Nissan Motor Co.’s Nissan Stadium, home to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans; and Honda Motor Co.’s Honda Center, home to the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.
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