The mayor of Osaka announced that the opening of the potential Osaka integrated resort would be postponed to 2027. He blamed the coronavirus for the delay. The planned casino resort in Yumeshima Island might suffer further setbacks up until 2028.
According to a Sports Betting Solution Asia report, Osaka hoped to open the integrated resort in time for the World Expo in 2025. The event will take place for seven months, starting in May 2025.
However, there are delays in the timeline as local officials failed to meet representatives from the potential operator, MGM Resorts International. At present, there’s still a strict travel restriction in Japan due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Plans for the Potential Osaka Integrated Resort
MGM Resorts International asked for an extension as the pandemic limited its investment capacity. As a result, local officials moved the opening to a later date, according to bookie software sources. The Osaka mayor estimated a delay of one to two years. At present, only Osaka remained as a bidder for the project.
Osaka further delayed the process by six months when it postponed the request for proposal stage. That means that the announcement of the winning bid will be next year. Many gambling firms want to become a bookie and casino operator in Japan. It is an untapped market that’s worth billions of dollars.
The deadline for the submissions from potential casino operating partners will be at the end of July. Some communities interested in becoming hosts include Wakayama Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture.
The latest setback came after the federal government delayed the publication of the qualifications of the cities that want to host an integrated resort. The government limited the casino resort licenses to three. As a result, there’s a fierce competition among cities and prefectures that want to have an integrated resort within their borders.