Sands, MGM could lose interest in market
Though Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promoted casinos as a way to generate industry and revenues, opposition from religious leaders and a backlog of other legislation could keep any casino bill from passing in the session scheduled to end in June. And that delay would keep any casinos from opening in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
In what Reuters called “a long shot,” some members of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party hope to resubmit the expired bill to the Land and Transport Committee, an obscure body that also could legally pass it. “As long as the ruling coalition can agree and win support, it doesn’t matter which committee it’s submitted to,” LDP lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya told Reuters.
Casino supporters slightly outnumber opponents in the Japanese Diet, or parliament, but the opposition is vocal and committed and includes the Buddhist-backed Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner.
Osaka and Yokohama are considered the best locations for integrated resorts, according to the Japan Times, but more than 20 municipalities have expressed interest in developing complexes with casino hotels, convention centers, shopping malls, and concert venues. Forbes has reported that if casinos are legalized in Japan, they could generate some $40 billion a year, making Japan could become the third largest gaming market in the world behind Macau and the U.S.
“If this bill doesn’t pass the current session of parliament it will be hopeless,” LDP lawmaker Takeshi Iwaya told Reuters. “I think the time limit will be up.”
International gaming companies such as the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International are interested in Japan, but may move on to South Korea if Japanese lawmakers do not legalize casinos soon. MGM President Bill Hornbuckle said as much last month, telling reporters, “This will take leadership. At some point someone is going to have to say, ‘This is important to us, let’s push this thing forward.’ I think it does lose the momentum of a significant opportunity… so we would look elsewhere.”
