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Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The ballpark has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 luxury suites, with a natural grass playing field. It was built as a replacement for the Astrodome, the first domed baseball/football stadium, which opened in 1965.
With an original estimated cost of US$1 million, Union Station was constructed by the American Construction Company for an eventual total of five times that amount. Exterior walls were constructed of granite, limestone, and terracotta, while the interior used an extensive amount of marble. It was completed and opened on March 1, 1911. At the time, Houston, with 17 railways, was considered the main railroad hub of the Southern United States. This is also evident by the Seal of Houston, which prominently features a locomotive. Two more floors were added the following year.
The station served as the main inter-city passenger terminal for Houston for over seven decades thereafter. Passenger rail declined greatly after World War II, and the last regularly scheduled train, the Lone Star, moved its service to Houston's current Amtrak station on July 31, 1974. With this move, the building became only office space for the HB&T as well as the Missouri Pacific Railroad. On November 10, 1977, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service.
Later in 1995, Houston's NFL franchise and joint-tenant of the Astrodome, the Houston Oilers, announced they were leaving for Nashville in order to have a new stadium built for the team there. Citing a lack of adequate , in October, Astros vice-president Bob McClaren claimed that renovations to the Astrodome would help increase revenue. Drayton McLane pointed toward Astrodome renovations as necessary, saying, "It's 30 years old and not a lot of money has been spent to remodel it." According to the organization, the team was in danger of being sold to a Virginia businessman who was expected to move the Astros to the Washington D.C. area because of poor revenue.
In June 1996, University of Houston alumnus, BMC Software and San Diego Padres owner, John J. Moores, who wanted to own the next NFL franchise in Houston, met with Texas State Senator Mario Gallegos, Jr., and other local Hispanic leaders in regard to the future of a football-only Astrodome and a new baseball-only ballpark in downtown Houston. Meanwhile, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels pieced together a plan to build a new ballpark next to the Astrodome in the Reliant Park. The Astros echoed the Astrodomain location sentiment because they believed construction time would be shorter. Eckels, who convinced then Mayor Bob Lanier of the lack of viability for the ballpark in a downtown location, was quoted as saying, "They keep telling me about these miracles in other cities, but it doesn't work in Houston ... If we are going to put this stadium some place, let's stick with a proven place." This plan was considered to be nearly finalized when the Astros and Harris County agreed to a US$250 million county-funded stadium whose overrun costs would be funded by the Astros.
In August 1996, Houston's Union Station received a US$2 million grant from the Texas Transportation Commission for renovation in a separate project. Plans for the new ballpark's location drastically changed by September mostly in response to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay's input and pledge to substantially contribute to funding if placed downtown. It was at this time where the Union Station location was proposed by Lay. Upon an agreement among all of the leadership entities, the idea of a retractable roof stadium was confirmed for the new ballpark. A November referendum was planned for Harris County residents to approve the deal.
The Harris County referendum that took place on November 5, 1996, to help fund the ballpark passed by a narrow margin of 51% to 49%. In response to the referendum, during the 75th Texas Legislature Texas State Senator John Whitmire of Houston sponsored a bill supported by five of the six area Harris County senators that would create the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. With companion House Bill 92 authored by Houston-born Representative Kim Brimer voted upon and adopted by both chambers, the authorization for creation of a sports authority was approved. It was signed into law by Governor George W. Bush on June 2, 1997. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority would assist in financing for the new ballpark as well as allow for renovation of the Astrodome by allowing for special county-wide taxation of rental cars, tickets, parking, and hotel use.
In June 1997, with the ability to create a sports authority signed into law, concurrent votes of the Harris County Commissioners' Court and the Houston City Council to establish the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority on effective September 1, 1997. Its chairman and 12 other directors were jointly appointed by the Mayor of Houston and Harris County Judge. The institution remains in existence today.
The ballpark was named "Enron Field" after a $100 million, 30-year naming rights deal was made with Enron on April 7, 1999. After the Enron scandal of 2001, the Astros and the now-bankrupt Enron came to an agreement to end the deal and rename the stadium in February 2002.
The design of the new park integrated the former Union Station building's main concourse, reutilizing the space for a clubhouse, cafe, team store, and office space. A large model train was also included within the park's design as an homage to the station.
In late 1997, it was announced that local Brown & Root would manage construction of the stadium, while Populous with Walter P. Moore would design it. The electrification of the park's retractable roof was developed by VAHLE, Inc.
Groundbreaking for Enron Field was on October 30, 1997. Its groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, Astros owner Drayton McLane, Harris County Judge Robert Eckles, Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee, and Harris County-Houston Sports Authority Chairman Jack Rains.
Statues of longtime Astros players Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio are located in the exterior of the ballpark in a plaza area. The two former teammates are depicted playing baseball with each other. The plaza also displays pennants for all Astros division and league championships, as well as their World Series titles. There are also several plaques to commemorate notable Astros and their achievements.
The Astros sold naming rights of the ballpark in 2002 to locally based Coca-Cola subsidiary Minute Maid for $100 million over 30 years. Its official name was then changed to "Minute Maid Park".
On January 1, 2025, the stadium was renamed to Daikin Park after Japanese conglomerate Daikin, who owns Waller-based air conditioning manufacturer Goodman Global, agreed to acquire the stadium's naming rights. The agreement is seen to run through 2039.
In 2006, the Chick-fil-A cows were unveiled on the foul poles, saying EAT MOR FOWL, and the cows have Astros caps on. If an Astros player hits the pole, all fans in attendance get a coupon for a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Hunter Pence is the first and second Astros player to ever hit the left field "Fowl Pole" when he did it twice in the 2007 season. Ty Wigginton became the third Astro to hit the left field pole on September 16, 2007. Kazuo Matsui hit the right field foul pole on August 3, 2009, with a two-run homer in the sixth inning to beat the Giants. Carlos Lee hit the left field pole on July 28, 2010, giving the Astros an 8–1 win against the Chicago Cubs. Two days later, Jeff Keppinger hit the left field pole to help the Astros win, 5–0, against the Brewers. In the 2023 Major League Baseball postseason (October 7th, 2023), Yordan Alvarez hit a solo home run to the right field pole which made the game 6-4.
After the 2008 season, the Astros' groundskeepers began installing of a new turfgrass playing surface at Minute Maid Park. The Astros also became one of the first to use the new Chemgrass, later known as AstroTurf after its first well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome in 1966.
In honor of longtime Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton, the City of Houston officially renamed a portion of the Ballpark District to the "Hall of Fame District", and the portion of Hamilton Avenue that runs within that district to "Milo Hamilton Way" on April 8, 2009.
For the 2011 season, the park added a large Daktronics HD screen nicknamed "El Grande" replacing the original one in right field. At high and wide, it is the fourth largest scoreboard in Major League Baseball, behind T-Mobile Park (home of the Seattle Mariners), Progressive Field (home of the Cleveland Guardians), and Kaufmann Stadium (home of the Kansas City Royals). The old screen was taken out and replaced by billboards. Additionally, a smaller HD screen was added on the far left field wall. The ring of advertisement screens around the park were replaced in favor of HD ribbon boards.
After the Astros reverted to their original colors and logo in 2013, much of Minute Maid Park was repainted to navy and orange from brick red. Signs with the previous logo and colors were also replaced. More than of paint were used and over 1,000 signs were replaced.
In June 2015 the Astros announced Tal's Hill would be removed in a major renovation project during the 2015-2016 offseason, to be replaced with additional seating, concessions, and escalators for fans. This would result in center field dimensions of 436 feet (then the longest in MLB) being reduced to 409 feet. In addition, seating sections 256, 257, and 258 in the outfield mezzanine would be removed. However, the project had to be postponed due to the Astros' unexpected American League Wild Card championship and subsequent postseason appearance, along with the stadium's offseason event schedule. The renovation was completed during the 2016-2017 offseason. The flagpoles became out of play.
In April 2022, Daikin Park, then Minute Maid Park, received Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology for two of its concession stands, becoming the first MLB stadium to incorporate cashierless stores.
Its debut as a soccer venue happened during the 2006 edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The stadium hosted the first leg of the quarterfinal between Portmore United of Jamaica (the "home" team) and Club América of Mexico.
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On May 9, 2015, Canelo Alvarez fought James Kirkland in the first boxing match fought in the stadium. Alvarez defeated Kirkland via knockout in the third round.
The University of Houston–Downtown also holds their commencement ceremony in Daikin Park. Commencement from University of Houston–Downtown, retrieved 14 May 2015
Minute Maid Park hosted a cricket match on November 11, 2015, the second in a series of three Cricket All-Stars matches played by retired greats of the game. Shane Warne Warne's Warriors clinched the series 2–0. Keeping with the naming conventions from the previous match at Minute Maid Park, the ends were named after Nolan Ryan and José Cruz, two players that have their numbers retired by the Astros.
On January 30, 2017, the stadium hosted Super Bowl Opening Night for Super Bowl LI at nearby NRG Stadium.
From 2017 until 2020, the park hosted the final rounds of the Houston leg of the FIRST Championship. To avoid damaging the field while the Astros were in season, the competition fields were built on a stage over the infield dirt between first and third base.
While Crosley Field's infamous left field terrace, which was half as steep (only 15°) as Tal's Hill (30°), was a natural feature of the site on which the park was located, Tal's Hill was purely decorative. On June 4, 2015, the Astros announced that they would be removing Tal's Hill as part of a $15 million renovation for the 2016 season. The center field fence was to be moved in from (which from 2000 to 2016 was the longest in baseball) to from home plate, but the center field renovations were delayed until after the 2016 season, due at least in part to the 2015 playoffs cutting into planned construction time.
In a challenge to home run hitters, former Astros owner Drayton McLane's office window, located in the old Union Station and directly above the Crawford Boxes, is made of glass and a sign below the window is marked from home plate.
The home-plate-to-fence measurement there is only , one of the shortest in Major League Baseball. Home runs must clear a 19-foot wall in front of the elevated boxes which houses the hand-operated out-of-town scoreboard, displaying the day's other games.
Landry's, a restaurant group, had bought the naming rights to the Crawford Boxes in 2003, which ran various promotions for its restaurants there.
There is a manually operated out-of-town scoreboard in left, below the Crawford Boxes.
The ballpark features 19,201 seats on the lower level, 7,132 seats on the second level, 880 seats on the suite level, and 13,750 seats on the upper level.
The "Phillips 66 Home Run Porch" is located in left-center field over the field of play. It features a classic gasoline pump that displays the total number of Astros home runs hit since the park opened.
The stadium can be fully air-conditioned when required.
Public transportation allows for accessibility via bus or light rail service. The METRORail light rail system has a station located one block south of Daikin Park, Convention District Station, served by the Green and Purple lines. The Red Line also serves the ballpark at Preston Station, six blocks to the west.
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