MGM Osaka on track for 2030 opening
Ed Bowers, president of Global Development at MGM Resorts, says the venue is progressing as planned.
Japan.- Ed Bowers, president of global development at MGM Resorts, has said construction of MGM Osaka, Japan’s first integrated resort (IR) with a casino, is on track for completion in the summer of 2030, with an anticipated opening around autumn of the same year.
Bowers made the remarks during a speech on Wednesday (May 7), the first day of this year’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia in Macau. He said the project has faced complex regulations and rising construction costs but is progressing as planned.
The IR will be built on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay in the Kansai region, which is hosting the 2025 World Expo. Bowers recently visited the Expo and praised Osaka for completing the preparations on time.
Expected to cost JPY1.27tn (US$ 8.9bn), MGM Osaka will feature a hotel with around 2,500 rooms. It will also include about 400,000 square feet of conference facilities, 330,000 square feet of exhibition space and a theatre with around 3,500 seats. The casino will feature 470 table games and 6,400 slot machines.
Bowers said that it will contribute JPY160bn (US$1.1bn) annually to Osaka through casino taxes and entry fees. It is also projected to generate around JPY750m for Japan’s national government.
Currently, Osaka is the only approved site for an integrated resort in Japan. Bowers says it is unlikely that any new licences will be issued before 2027.
Las week, Jonathan Halkyard, the chief financial officer and treasurer of MGM Resorts International, said the casino operator raised its equity commitment for the IR to JPY428bn (US$2.96bn).
