In a sign of its continuing commitment to Japan, MGM Resorts International has appointed Jason Hyland as representative officer and president of MGM Resorts Japan LLC.Hyland is a former charge d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in the Japanese capital of Tokyo.
“In addition, MGM will allocate development specialists from the U.S. to Japan as it increases its total development staffing in the U.S. and Japan combined to more than a dozen, reinforcing MGM Resorts Japan’s organizational structure as it works to realize a Japanese resort,” the casino operator said in a news release.
MGM Resorts Japan will also relocate its Tokyo office from Akasaka to Otemachi, with the new office set to open on September 1. MGM Resorts stated it also planned to open a new office in Osaka—considered a leading contender for an integrated resort license—sometime “in the future.”
MGM Resorts Japan CEO Ed Bowers said the firm’s decision to open a new office in Tokyo and to expand its Japan team reflected the company’s “strong commitment” to the Japanese market. “The new office will become our core hub as our team advances toward the realization of a resort that is uniquely Japanese,” he said.
MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO James Murren cited Hyland’s “substantial experience as senior diplomat, his deep understanding of the Japanese culture, as well as his proven leadership and negotiation skills, extensive network and strong command of the Japanese language will be a tremendous asset as we promote activities in Japan.”
In July, MGM appointed a former aide to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Japan as vice president of global industry affairs. Debra DeShong will lead the firm’s global hospitality and entertainment media relations and “messaging strategies,” the company stated at the time.
MGM Resorts first established offices in Tokyo and Osaka in 2014.
“MGM Resorts Japan has been providing information on integrated resorts to government, industry and private entities, and will continue to build relationships and gather information on the domestic market,” the firm stated in the release.
Murren said in February the U.S.-based casino firm may be willing to invest up to $10 billion on a Japanese IR; he has not amended that figure, despite waning confidence in the market, which some operators fear will be strangled out of profitability by onerous regulations. Brokerage Nomura said in a recent report that a Japanese casino industry with “two major integrated resorts” could eventually generate gross gaming revenue of $7 billion per year—much less than the $25 billion figure used in early enthusiasm for the jurisdiction.
Hyland, who has worked and studied in Asia for more than 17 years, has an extensive resume. As Charge d’Affaires and as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Mission Japan, he supervised more than 700 employees, five consulates and a language school, engaging daily with the most senior officials in government, business and academia. He oversaw American participation in the G7 Summit, President Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima, and the revision of the US-Japan Defense Guidelines. He is a strong advocate for US-Japan business partnerships, having worked closely with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), the US-Japan Business Council, Japan Tourism Agency, and other organizations.
He studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the National War College, University of California, Berkeley, the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies and was a visiting foreign scholar at the University of Tokyo.
