Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming January 2017 8 Cover Story get IRs up and running without a major time gap following the 2020 Olympics.” Upper house elections in July 2016 gave the LDP precisely half the chambers’ seats and control of the body with an independent partner. Still, as late as mid-October, insiders dismissed the possibility of a casino bill during the Diet’s 2016 special session. But new party deputies plus openings in the legislative agenda led the LDP to put political capital behind the IR Promotion bill and with supporters and opponents using strong arm tactics as the session wound down, the bill passed, despite widespread public opposition. NOT ABOUT CHINA Japan has been lurking as a potential casino destination for so long – substantive legalization efforts began during Mr Abe’s first stint as Prime Minister in 2006-07 as a means of helping Japan out of its now quarter century long economic funk – that it’s easy to lose sight of what a unique opportunity it presents. “Japan is the third largest economy in the world and the success of the casinos is not dependent on the Chinese market,” Global Market Advisors Managing Partner Steve Gallaway says. Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson and his MGM Resorts International counterpart James Murren have both stated their companies would spend record amounts, up to US$10 billion, on a Japan IR. For less renowned casino companies, a Japan license could do “what Singapore did for Genting,” thrusting it into the top tier of global gaming, according to Spectrum Asia CEO Paul Bromberg. Morgan Stanley estimates Japan’s 2015 gross gaming revenue from pachinko, the pinball and slot machine games that skirt current gambling prohibitions, at US$35 billion – 20% more than Macau’s casino revenue. Based on that figure and Japan’s US$5 billion in lottery losses, Morgan Stanley predicts casino gaming revenue of US$20 billion by 2025. The report by analysts Praveen Choudhary, “Given the size of the local population and significant interest from nearly all of the world’s top IR operators, there will be plenty of demand to justify, if not necessitate, at least three IRs from the outset.” – Steve Gallaway Tokyo looms as an obvious location for an integrated resort