Japan is set to open three integrated resorts in the next decade and some of the world’s gambling giants are eyeing expansion into that lucrative market
Caesars Entertainment Corp. is positioned to enter the lucrative Japanese gaming market, the company’s Executive VP of Government Relations and Corporate Responsibility, Jan Jones Blackhurst, said on Nevada Newsmakers last week.
The executive pointed out that the newly regulated Japanese casino market is “hugely important” not just to her company, but to the entire gaming world. She went on to say that Japan was “the single most important market to open in the last decade […], maybe the last two decades.”
The Japanese government legalized casino gambling in the country in 2016. It also passed this summer a bill that sets out the principles under which Japan’s nascent casino industry would be regulated. Under the nation’s newly crafted gambling law, up to three casino licenses would be issued to three interested operators. The casinos must be part of larger integrated resorts. The licenses are expected to be issued in 2020, and first resorts are anticipated to open doors by 2025.
Ms. Jones Blackhurst said last week that the gambling potential of Japan is enormous, because the government has been very thoughtful when putting together the new legislation.
The Caesars exec also pointed to the fact that the Japanese love to gamble. Pinball-like gambling machines that are locally known as pachinko are the most popular gambling activity in the Asian country. In addition, the Japanese have boat and horse racing and “probably the biggest lottery in the world,” Ms. Jones Blackhurst went on.
Problem Gambling Concerns
Japanese politicians and other involved parties have expressed concerns about the impact the legalization of casino gambling would have on a nation that is already hooked on another form of gambling. According to estimates, there are 44 million pachinko machines around Japan. A 2017 study commissioned by the Japanese health ministry found that there were around 3.2 million gambling addicts in the country.
To minimize the ill effects of casino gambling, the government has crafted a legislation that contains significant restrictions to Japanese residents’ access to the gaming floors that are to be opened. For instance, Japanese would not be allowed to visit casinos more than ten times a month.
Ms. Jones Blackhurst said last week that the three integrated resorts will add no more than 12,000 gaming machines and that the establishment of such properties really was a solution, as “big gaming brands have become very seasoned with responsible gaming programs, outreach, and education.”
A number of major gaming and hospitality companies have expressed interest in entering Japan’s gaming market, even though the official bidding process is yet to commence. Las Vegas giants Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts International have said that they could invest more than $10 billion into an integrated resort scheme, if they are among the winning bidders. Others have pledges similarly large investments.
Aside from Japan, Caesars has been eyeing expansion in other jurisdictions including Brazil and India. Ms. Jones Blackhurst said last week that she thinks Brazil is an opportunity, but not an opportunity in the immediate future. Of India, the Caesars exec said that it would be a great market, but that she doesn’t see it coming on line in the next decade.
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