Integrated resorts (IRs) with gaming were first approved by Japanese lawmakers in December 2016. Since then, the government has been working to develop a regulatory framework and win over a resistant public. Cities and prefectures have been weighing the benefits and drawbacks of hosting massive resorts. And global and domestic companies have been positioning themselves to be part of a legal casino industry in Japan, which will license three IRs to start, and possibly open more over time.
Now the coronavirus has called everything to a halt. Public meetings, essential to the process of vetting possible operators and winning public support, are no longer possible, and may not be for some time. Of course, potential timelines for opening have been thrown into question.
“In this situation, there are a lot of people for whom the January to July 2021 IR certification application period will be extremely inconvenient,” Takashi Kiso, CEO of Japan’s International Casino Institute, told the Japan Times. ““Local governments and integrated casino resort operators who are dealing with the shock of the coronavirus in their home countries will find it very difficult to move their preparations forward. The Japanese government should revise the application period.”
According to reports, some operators may welcome the delays as they grapple with the effects of the coronavirus on operations at home.
MGM Resorts International, for instance, considered the favorite to build an IR in Osaka, “has a lot of challenges right now on their plate,” Global Market Advisors partner Brendan Bussmann told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s one of those situations where if I could take a breather off one element while I figure out others, I’d gladly take a pause.”
Osaka officials, which had hoped to fast-track their IR development so it would be open before the 2025 World Expo, have now conceded the plan is impossible; Osaka officials now say that they hope to open a casino by 2027. In fact, staff who had been focused on the IR development have been shifted to concentrate on the virus response. The Wakayama government, however, is still moving forward with its original timeline, while recognizing they must be flexible.
“For the moment, the central government says its schedule isn’t changing,” Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka said at an April 5 press conference. “If that’s the case, unless we start the request for the proposal process, we won’t be on time, so we are proceeding. But if the central government’s schedule changes, we’ve said we’ll adjust.”
As it now stands, interested local governments must submit their proposals between January and July 2021. The central government will then approve three integrated resorts later that year.
