For the moment, the central government says its schedule isn\u2019t changing,\u201d Wakayama Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka said at a press conference on Monday. \u201cIf that\u2019s the case, unless we start the request for the proposal process, we won\u2019t be on time, so we are proceeding. But if the central government\u2019s schedule changes, we\u2019ve said we\u2019ll adjust.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nCurrently, interested local governments must submit proposals between January and July 2021. The central government will then approve three integrated resorts later that year.<\/p>\n
On that timeline, Japanese officials expected to open the first casinos around 2025. But Osaka recently extended its window for proposals, as MGM Resorts and its partner, the Orix Corp. \u2013 the only group to make a bid to build a casino in the prefecture \u2013 requested a delay because of the impact of the coronavirus in the United States and worldwide. Osaka officials now say that they want a casino to open by 2027.<\/p>\n
Casino Timeline May Conflict with Olympics, Elections<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe COVID-19 pandemic recently prompted organizers to delay the 2020 Summer Olympics until July 2021. Assuming that timeline remains intact, that means Japan will be ramping up for the Tokyo Games at the same time that prefectures and cities are meant to be putting together their casino proposals. Japan also plans to hold its next general election by October 2021.<\/p>\n
In this situation, there are a lot of people for whom the January to July 2021 IR certification application period will be extremely inconvenient,\u201d<\/strong> Takashi Kiso, CEO of Japan\u2019s International Casino Institute, told The Japan Times<\/em>. \u201cLocal governments and integrated casino resort operators who are dealing with the shock of the coronavirus in their home countries will find it very difficult to move their preparations forward.<\/strong> The Japanese government should revise the application period.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSome operators may welcome these delays. While opening resorts later means losing out on revenues for some period of time, gaming firms will also have far more certainty about the future after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has come and gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMGM has a lot of challenges right now on their plate,\u201d Global Market Advisors partner Brendan Bussman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those [situations] where if I could take a breather off one element while I figure out others, I\u2019d gladly take a pause.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As far as the Japanese central government is concerned, the process for approving integrated resorts is still going forward on schedule. But the coronavirus pandemic has local officials and gaming firms increasingly uncertain as to when they will be able to build and open the first casinos in Japan. Recent statements from government and corporate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":131974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,33810],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Japanese Casino Timelines Increasingly in Doubt Due to Pandemic<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n