{"id":181049,"date":"2021-07-27T13:26:38","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T20:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=181049"},"modified":"2021-07-28T10:19:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T17:19:29","slug":"melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Melco Resorts CEO Ho Reiterates Commitment to Yokohama Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call earlier today, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) reiterated its desire to bring an integrated resort to Japan.<\/p>\n

\"Black
Melco Resorts CEO Lawrence Ho, seen speaking above. Ho says his company is still committed to Japan. (Image: Forbes<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Yokohama wasn’t mentioned specifically by CEO Lawrence Ho, that is the city in which the operator is interested in developing a gaming venue. In Japan’s second-largest city, Melco is competing with Genting Singapore, which is widely viewed as the front-runner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Japan, we remain committed to bringing a world-leading integrated resort there and continue to pursue opportunities within the market, where we remain actively engaged with our partners,\u201d<\/strong> said Ho on a conference call with analysts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Melco boss points out that the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting challenges in Japan \u201cin terms of process timing and travel.\u201d But he adds that integrated resort development is moving forward.<\/p>\n

Melco, which owns and operates integrated resorts in Macau and the Philippines, has long been optimistic about Japan as a new market. But it’s the only operator competing against a rival for one of Japan’s first three gaming licenses. In Osaka, MGM Resorts and local partner Orix have the field to themselves, and in Wakayama, Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group<\/a> is the lone bidder.<\/p>\n

Ho, Melco Enthusiastic About Japan<\/h2>\n

While the Japan integrated resort process is lasting longer than operators previously hoped — with the pandemic creating more delays — Ho remains enthusiastic about bringing a high-end gaming venue to the world’s third-largest economy.<\/p>\n

\n

Melco’s Asia-Pacific operational experience could work in its favor because that’s a trait Japanese officials covet. However, rival Genting Singapore has that as well, and there’s speculation Japanese authorities prefer the Singapore gaming model to that of Macau.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Last week, MGM and Orix submitted a $9.1 billion proposal<\/a> to Osaka, which is a more favorable price point than was originally expected. However, it’s estimated that that venue, assuming it’s approved, wouldn’t open until 2028 at the earliest.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Election Factor<\/h2>\n

As Melco executives acknowledge, there are factors in Japan they simply cannot control, including mayoral politics. Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi<\/a>, the pro-casino candidate, is seeking another term. But there are no guarantees she’ll be reelected.<\/p>\n

“The incumbent mayor has come out and is running on a pro-IR platform,” Melco President Evan Winkler said.\u00a0\u201cThere are a variety of other candidates who have come out against IR. As Lawrence articulated, some of these things are simply beyond our control. And we’ll know more after the election takes place in Yokohama on August 22.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call earlier today, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) reiterated its desire to bring an integrated resort to Japan. While Yokohama wasn’t mentioned specifically by CEO Lawrence Ho, that is the city in which the operator is interested in developing a gaming venue. In Japan’s second-largest city, Melco is competing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":178097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,62],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMelco CEO Ho Says Company Still Wants to Be in Japan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Melco CEO Lawrence Ho says company still wants to bring an integrated resort to Japan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Melco CEO Ho Says Company Still Wants to Be in Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Melco CEO Lawrence Ho says company still wants to bring an integrated resort to Japan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-27T20:26:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-28T17:19:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Melco.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"935\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/\",\"name\":\"Melco CEO Ho Says Company Still Wants to Be in Japan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Melco.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-27T20:26:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-28T17:19:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Melco CEO Lawrence Ho says company still wants to bring an integrated resort to Japan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/melco-ceo-ho-says-company-still-wants-to-be-in-japan\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Melco.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Melco.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":935,\"caption\":\"Melco Resorts CEO Lawrence Ho. 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