MGM May Become “Sole Operator” in Japan Casino Market

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Executives at MGM Resorts International have publicly hinted that their casino resort planned for construction on the manmade island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay may become the only one licensed in the Japanese market of over 125 million people.

In an investor earnings call conducted this week, MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle dropped the hint two times.

In his opening presentation, he stated, “we’re extremely excited for the [return on investment] opportunity in a market in which we may be the sole operator for some time in the future.”

Later, during the question and answer session, he added, “I’m excited to think that we may be the only player. And so, instead of a market of 19 million people, we’re talking about a much larger market.”

The 19 million people is clearly reference to the Kansai region; the “much larger market” is, presumably, all of Japan.

Given the context, two points stand out.

First, given that the central government, in Hornbuckle’s words, “is going through and consistently asking us questions about the project, about the contract with the government of Osaka, etc.,” this strongly suggests that MGM fully anticipates that its Integrated Resort (IR) is on track for approval.

It also suggests MGM believes that the Casinos Austria International casino resort project in Nagasaki Prefecture will not be approved. If it were, then Hornbuckle would not be talking about becoming “the sole operator” in the Japanese market, but rather he would be emphasizing its likely status as the largest operator.

However, Hornbuckle also made clear that MGM feels no confidence about exactly when the central government will make its licensing decision public, and that the continuing delays are probably pushing the opening of the MGM-Orix IR into the early 2030s.

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