MGM Osaka targets late-2030 opening as Japan's first integrated resort, with a ¥1.5 trillion price tag

MGM Japan president and CEO Ed Bowers has acknowledged public unease about bringing a large casino to Japan, telling iGaming Business that the company understands the concerns. At the same time, he pointed to local enthusiasm that Osaka, long seen as the country's second city, will be the first to host an integrated resort.

MGM Osaka is a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Orix Group, and it is estimated to cost ¥1.5 trillion, or about US$9.5 billion. It is being built on Yumeshima island, the site of World Expo 2025, with a late 2030 opening planned. Nobuki Watanabe of Orix is chairman and Bowers is CEO. Some 22 mainly local investors hold a combined 12% of the project, including the railway arm of Kintetsu Group, which plans a direct train link between Yumeshima and Nara. Piling work is under way, with around 3,600 support columns being driven into the artificial island, alongside measures to mitigate liquefaction.

According to the latest area development plan, dated 31 July, total floor space will be 780,000 square metres. The resort is projected to have 2,500 rooms across three hotels, with more than 20% of them suites. Its meetings and exhibition facilities will include 400,000 square feet of conference space, 330,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 3,500-seat theatre. Bowers said accommodation and MICE allocations are set by IR regulations, and that MGM, which the plan calls the largest MICE operator in Las Vegas, is confident it can deliver.

Bowers described tourism as the core of the Japanese model. Operators must run a tourism attraction centre that advises visitors, sells tickets and sends them on to destinations elsewhere in Japan. He said the IR is meant to act as a tourism multiplier, and that the casino is where the company will earn its money.

Gaming space is capped at 3% of floor area, equal to 23,400 square metres at MGM Osaka. Japanese nationals pay a ¥6,000 entry fee valid for 24 hours and may visit three times in seven days and ten times in 28 days. The plan puts annual revenue at ¥520 billion, of which ¥420 billion, or US$2.65 billion, would come from gaming. Bowers expects about half of revenue to come from Japanese customers.