Inside Asian Gaming

IAG FEB 2021年2月 亞博匯 66 its iconic Hard Rock Cafés – there are around half a dozen across the country – the first of which opened in Roppongi, Tokyo, in 1983. However Hard Rock is an icon – arguably the industry leader – in tribal gaming in the US. And it’s in expansion mode. With around a dozen casinos around the world, including its flagship guitar hotel near Miami, it has greatly strengthened its Japan credentials with two key hires. The first is Hard Rock International’s Asia CEO, Ed Tracy, whose exceedingly strong industry credentials date back decades and include a particularly successful tenure in Macau as CEO of Sands China Limited. One of Tracy’s early moves was to hire Ado Machida as Hard Rock Japan President. Machida’s credentials in business include Goldman Sachs and Boston Consulting Group and in politics include a range of senior policy positions and advisor roles for US presidential campaigns. It doesn’t hurt that he is fluent in Japanese and English, having graduated from Kyoto and New York Universities. Last month Hard Rock announced the acquisition of The Ritz Club casino license in its spiritual home of London, the first Hard Rock Café being established there in 1971. Previously focusing on Hokkaido, Hard Rock continues to officially lobby in favor of Tomakomai City in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, but we would not be surprised to see them emerge as a contender in Nagasaki or indeed any other regional location in Japan. Tracy and Machida make a formidable team to be taken seriously and have the confidence and backing of Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen, who has worked with Tracy on and off for decades. In 2018 Rush Street Gaming founder and Chairman Neil Bluhm committed to investing US$2 billion in a Hokkaido IR. At the time the Chicago-based US real estate and gaming giant had said it would focus exclusively on Hokkaido, but that was before Governor Suzuki effectively pulled Hokkaido out of the race due JAPAN Suncity Group recently launched its Vietnam IR, Hoiana. 太陽城集團剛剛推出越南綜合度假村會安南岸。