A world class sporting venue similar to New York’s Madison Square Garden and state of the art arena for musical performances were among the new facilities spruiked by Las Vegas Sands (LVS) at a press conference in Tokyo aimed at wooing Japanese lawmakers this week.
The global casino operator wheeled out the big guns on Wednesday, with football legend David Beckham and The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh among those talking up the opportunities LVS could provide should it win a casino license in Japan.
As reported by local media, the lure of hosting NBA games was one of the company’s key selling points. Tim Leiweke, the CEO of Oak View Group which is currently looking to revamp Seattle’s KeyArena so it can host NBA and NHL teams, said LVS could build specially designed stadiums in order to attract the world’s biggest sporting teams.
“The NBA needs that kind of facilities to make that kind of trip worth it,” he said.
Music icon Walsh added that major Japanese venues such as Tokyo’s Budokan were among his favorite places to play but said new, more modern venues were needed to cope with the demands of today’s visually demanding shows.
“The logistics to make a good performance in Japan are just too much. It’s just too hard,” he said. “As an artist, that’s the way we feel. We feel sad because it’s too hard to come here.”
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had originally hoped to push the IR Implementation Bill through parliament before the end of 2017 but those plans have been put on hold after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election last month, to be held on 22 October.
Sanford C Bernstein analyst Vitaly Umansky said the election “means both gaming bills slated for discussion (the Implementation Bill and the gambling addiction bill) will have to wait at least until the 2018 Ordinary Diet Session, after the fiscal year budget is enacted.
“The delay may be helpful if it allows all sides to re-evaluate the most recently discussed proposals that would have a negative effect on market potential. However, the delay also may lead to a potential lack of passage as popular support for casinos remains relatively low and other legislative efforts may trump gaming legislation.”
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