Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN FEB 2021 44 JAPAN Osaka has long been favored to win one of Japan’s first IR licenses. 大阪は長く人気候補地として注目されている J anuary 2021 marked an epoch in Japan’s IR race. While Hokkaido confirmed once and for all it was out of the race for Japan’s first round of licenses, Wakayama closed its proposal submission period with Suncity Group Holdings Japan and Clairvest Neem Ventures both tossing their hats in the ring. These two will be narrowed down to one by the end of March. Further south, Nagasaki started its RFP with five operators and consortia entering submissions. They are Casinos Austria, Pixel Companyz in collaboration with Groupe Partouche, a consortium that includes Get Nice Holdings and Current Corp among others, a recently announced partnership between Oshidori International Development and Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, and another between Japan’s THE NIKI and Taiwan’s Chyau Fwu (Parkview) Group. Yokohama also launched its RFP in January and is considered the most attractive location for large operators of the four locations so far. Finally, MGM Resorts has already formed a consortium with ORIX as the sole contender for Osaka. Of these four locations, a maximum of three will be selected by the national government in 2022, meaning the local government IR race is now officially underway. It’s as if the dawn of a new year saw the starting gates spring open with the race towards Japan’s IR finish lane now well and truly back underway. Naturally every locality has its own advantages and disadvantages and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which of the four will make it to the other side at this point. But amid the many questions surrounding all four locations, the biggest for Wakayama is whether it can succeed in such close proximity to one of the hot favorites, Osaka.