Today, MGM is the only globally recognized casino unit that has an active IR pitch in Japan. The Clairvest Group and Casinos Austria — the respective IR development partners of Wakayama and Nagasaki — certainly don’t carry the same esteem and brand awareness of MGM Resorts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Should Japan carry on with its IR and commercial gambling ambitions, the odds are good that MGM Resorts and Orix will receive licensure. The central government will field IR tenders from prefectures next month through April 2022.<\/p>\n
Economic experts in the Osaka area believe the multibillion-dollar MGM property will provide much-needed economic diversification.<\/p>\n
“Up until now, the Kansai region’s economic axis has been the electrical and electronic component industries. But, from now on, the focus will shift to the tourism industry,” opined Atsuhito Wakabayashi, director of the Kansai Economic Research Center of the Japan Research Institute.<\/p>\n
MGM Resorts, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, announced earlier this year that it would seek a reduced investment role in Osaka. During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said MGM and Orix would control equal parts of the integrated resort.<\/p>\n
\nThe program with Orix is for 40-40-20, meaning a consortium of other Japanese companies will make up to 20 percent. If not, we both fill to 50 percent,”<\/strong> Hornbuckle told investors and analysts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe MGM boss said the company’s investment would be around $2 billion, with a cap set at $2.5 billion.<\/p>\n
If MGM-Orix and Osaka are issued one of the three IR licenses by Japan’s central government, the casino destination would target an opening date in the latter part of this decade.<\/p>\n
Though there are three IR licenses and currently only three IR pitches, Japan isn’t required to award all three permits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MGM Resorts and its Japanese partner Orix have secured Osaka’s lone integrated resort (IR) development opportunity. With the prefecture and city blessing, the group will work with government officials to finalize its pitch to Japan’s central government for licensure. According to Japanese news service Nikkei, the Osaka Prefecture IR Selection Committee this week accepted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":186082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
MGM Resorts Secures Osaka Casino Rights, $9B Project Moves Forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n