Thanks to the coronavirus, the global gambling industry has been taking a beating. Forced shutdowns of operations and a shift in priorities has brought the gaming world temporarily to its knees; however, everything will eventually return to normal. Japan’s goal of introducing integrated resorts (IR) to the country has been hit by COVID-19, as well, but the show must go on. Nagasaki, one of the leading contenders to host a new casino resort, isn’t going to be completely deterred by the pandemic and is ready to move forward with its plans to start receiving applications from private-sector businesses looking to get involved in the fledgling market. While the prefecture is forging ahead, Osaka is reportedly prepared to put its plans on the back burner once again.
Nagasaki officials released this week the Kyushu-Nagasaki IR Basic Concept. It is the prefecture’s policy of how it envisions an IR contributing to the economy, as well as how the entire system will work. It covers revenue projections, facilities that should be included in the IR, how the prefecture plans to address gambling addiction concerns and much more. The release of the document was initially expected to take place last month, but the coronavirus forced it to be delayed.
As part of the plan, Nagasaki forecasts an IR will bring in $5.6 billion in economic benefits related to the construction of the resort, according to the report. When the property is operational, it could then produce anywhere from $2.93 billion to $3.85 billion in economic benefits. The latter is based on the revenue generated by the IR, and the impact it will have on employment and regional spending.
The prefecture also wants to move ahead with a request for proposal (RFP) initiative to find private-sector partners that want to get into the casino operations business. The RFP has been expected to start this spring, as Nagasaki alluded to this past January, and local officials don’t see any reason to alter those plans. The coronavirus may be disrupting almost all forms of routine activity, but the prefecture’s RFP could be launched even if the entire country were on lockdown.
Osaka’s government might not share that sentiment. According to Mainichi, a Japanese media outlet, Osaka mayor Ichiro Matsui is considering another delay in the RFP process in the region. One delay was already introduced toward the end of last month because of COVID-19 and, as a result, there’s a good chance that any launch of an IR in the region, should Osaka be chosen, might have to be pushed back, as well. The deadline for responding to the RFP had been delayed until July, three months after the initial date had been established, and this deadline once again may be extended.
When Japan’s government approved legislation to allow the casino resorts to be built, the initial goal was to have the first three properties up and running between 2024 and 2025. However, those plans soon proved to be a little too ambitious due to the amount of work involved in establishing the requisite framework, and slight delays became inevitable. With COVID-19, these delays became more pronounced, with current expectations centering more on 2027 at the earliest.
