Operators in All-Out Battle for Osaka License

Back in July, a big change was on the horizon in the far-East country of Japan. First, it was announced that the government has green-lighted the gambling ratified the new casino bill…

…Fast forward one month and the race for the three international licenses is on and getting very, very heated!

Winner Takes it All

Representative of numerous international casino brands are actively seeking ways to secure one of the three available casino licenses, even going to the lengths of lobbying before the crucial officials who will be making decisions regarding this.

It is believed, based on the Reuters report, that the city of Osaka is one of the strongest candidates for the construction of the casino resort due to the strategic position, ive business climate and political influence this city of 2.7 million inhabitants has.

Also, Osaka is in some need of money influx, since the city’s economy is not doing so good compared to Tokyo and could use a vital tourism boost. Annual revenue gained from casino tourism could hit the $4 billion mark.

Ichiro Matsui, Osaka Prefecture’s governor, comments: “I want to properly nurture the tourism industry in Osaka as one of its pillars. It’s natural that we need to be fully open and make sure that citizens have no doubts about unfairness or corruption. There’s no doubt a lot of money will be involved and that it’s going to be a big business.”

Who is After It

The city officials have been meeting with the representatives of various casinos such as Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Genting Singapore Limited, among others…

…In fact, Matsui has had about 25 meetings with different gambling firms since the January 2012, while the officials from Matsui office have been meeting with casinos’ officials more than 120 times since May 2017!

It is considered that Melco, MGM and Las Vegas Sands have the upper hand at this point and are firm favorites for the Osaka venue. Each of these operators have claimed they are willing to invest more than $10 billion into the future resort in Osaka Bay.

When asked about the prospects, MGM Resort’s Ed Bowers simply said: “Tokyo has not raised its hand [and] Yokohama has not raised its hand. Osaka has raised its hand.”

Source:

“Foreign casino operators go all in as they vie for Osaka license”, reuters.com, August 20, 2018.