Bally’s Corp. has thrown its hat into the ring as Japan prepares to court bids for integrated resorts including casinos, a process that has dragged on since passage of the IR law in 2018.
At a press conference, top Bally’s executives announced the company’s proposal for an IR in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, on the northern shore of Kyushu Island. It is the nation’s sixth largest city and third-largest island.
The plan was announced without any signal from the city or the prefecture of an intention to court a gaming resort. In fact, the city’s mayor has said publicly he is not interested in the city hosting an integrated resort.
Bally’s is pressing on with the plan to court the city with a plan to develop a JPY480 billion (US$3.9 billion) project at the preferred site of Uminonakamichi Seaside Park. At the press conference, Christopher Jewett, Bally’s vice president of corporate development, said Fukuoka “has tremendous potential as a host community for an integrated resort. The project can raise the stature of this historic region into a true international destination in keeping with its long and rich heritage,” according to GGR Asia.
According to presentation materials shown at the press conference, the complex would feature 2,000 hotel rooms, and a 161,459-squar-foot casino. Bally’s officials predict around 4.6 million annual visitor and an annual gross profit of JPY71 billion (US$572.9 million).
April 28 is the closing date for local governments to submit bids to the national government for the right to host a casino resort. Nagasaki, Wakayama and Osaka are likely to submit applications for a casino resort. Fukuoka will miss this initial bidding round. Jewett said the company is hopeful the government will approve a second round of bids, which would allow for more time to court local officials.
“There’s the possibility that after the national government assesses the initial round of proposals, that it will choose to reopen the bidding process,” he said. “If this happens, Fukuoka has the potential to position itself as a strong candidate for selection. It is clear, however, that no proposal is possible without the strong support of the many constituents in the community.”
Following the joint press conference, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim clarified in an interview with Inside Asian Gaming that the company has no expectation to join the first round of bidding, and that its executives’ visit to Japan was simply meant to test the waters.
“This was the first time we were in Fukuoka, (and was) purely to understand where the process stands,” Kim said. “There is no commitment around what we think, what project we would ultimately support or even what our involvement in that project would be.
“I think there are a lot of very interesting possibilities, but we know there is very little time left. This is really groundwork that we are doing to see if we can pick up the process (at a later date).”
