Inside Asian Gaming

IAG FEB 2021年2月 亞博匯 60 JAPAN is the country’s official national sport), and some Japanese have been known to refer to their country, only half in jest, as “the 51st state.” Some experts have postulated that Japan may prefer major Las Vegas operators over major Macau operators, given its at-times antagonistic relationship with China. The only problem is three of the four major Las Vegas operators – Caesars, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts – have withdrawn from the Japan IR process. In the first earnings call after Las Vegas Sands announced its withdrawal from Japan, then-President and COO (now-Chairman and CEO) Rob Goldstein said, “We couldn’t make it work. We sure tried … We wish the construct was more welcoming to the investor, but it wasn’t.” Goldstein’s boss, then-Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson added, “… there were just too many negative regulations that we couldn’t live with.” This should be a danger signal to Japan – there are serious commercial issues regarding ROI given the prevailing regulations and investment levels required. Timing is also an issue with the global pandemic decimating the industry. Some feel the resultant nine- month delay in the process should be extended to get a better long-run outcome for all. The one remaining major Las Vegas operator – MGM Resorts – finds itself as the sole qualified bidder in Osaka’s RFP process. Such a lack of competition will surely change the dynamic for MGM Resorts and their Japanese consortium partner, ORIX. Former Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts, Jim Murren, was very upbeat on Japan, but his successor, Bill Hornbuckle, appears much more circumspect. On an MGM earnings call in July last year the new Chairman said, “… we like the fact that there is probably going to be a delay and a reopening of some of the conversations that will hopefully make this a better investment for anyone that is interested in it, most notably us.” MACAU OPERATORS Of the six Macau concessionaires, three have US links: MGM, Sands and Wynn. The other three – Galaxy, Melco and SJM – have all expressed interest in Japan at various junctures. 產生了很大的影響，時至今日，美國還在日本設有23個軍事基地 及約5萬名駐軍，若算上家屬和合同工，這個數字會激增至10萬。 棒球被普遍認識是日本最受歡迎的運動（儘管公認的國民運動是 相撲），無怪乎有些日本人會半開玩笑地稱他們的國家為（美國的） 「第51個州」。 有些專家推測，有鑒於日本與中國之間不時形成的敵對情 緒，日本可能更鐘情於拉斯維加斯而非澳門的營運商。現在唯一 的問題則是拉城的四大營運商中有三家——凱撒、拉斯維加斯金 沙集團和永利渡假村——皆已退出日本IR的競逐。 在拉斯維加斯金沙集團宣佈退出日本競賽後的首個財報電 話會議上，時任總裁兼首席運營官（現任主席及行政總裁）Rob Goldstein表示：「我們無以為繼。我們的確努力過……我們希望 這種結構更適合投資者，但事實並非如此。」Goldstein的上司、當 時的主席及行政總裁蕭登·艾德森補充稱：「……有太多令我們無 法接受的條條框框。」 這對於日本而言是個危險的信號——有鑒於現行的法規及所 需要的投資水平，投資回報率方面存在嚴重的商業隱憂。此外，時 機也是個問題，現在全球疫情正在衝擊行業。一些人認為，應在（ 競標）流程延遲9個月的基礎上再做延長，以便為所有人帶來更好 的長期結果。 而僅剩的拉斯維加斯大型營運商美高梅國際酒店集團發現， 自己是大阪競標賽道的唯一適格的競標者。如此缺乏的競爭必將 改變美高梅及其合作夥伴、日本財團歐力士的格局。美高梅前任 主席兼首席執行官Jim Murren對日本市場十分看好，但他的繼任 者Bill Hornbuckle則似乎更為謹慎。這位新主席在去年7月的電 話財報會議上說：「……我們樂見可能出現的延遲以及一些重新 打開的對話之門，對任何有興趣的人而言，這將令這裡成為更好 的投資，尤其是對我們。」 澳門營運商 在澳門的六大博企中，有三家與美國有關聯，分別是美高梅、 金沙及永利。另外三家博企，即銀娛、新濠及澳博，都曾在不同的 時刻表現出對日本的興趣。 銀娛 可謂是上述三家博企中具最大的優勢，最明顯的原因是 其資產負債表上的巨流現金——超過60億美元。新冠疫情席捲全 球之際，在其他博企都需要舉債來維持現金儲備的時刻，銀河卻