Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox has revealed the company has already formed a consortium with local partners in pursuit of a Japan casino license, adding that the group is targeting multiple cities for its IR bid.
Although he didn’t offer any details on exactly which companies were involved in the consortium, he told US news channel CNBC in an interview ahead of Sunday’s opening of Encore Boston Harbor that, “We have a consortium we’re working with in various cities that we think will be one of the best competitors in the bidding process.
“We’ve been working on this for eight years and we typically like to play a little more low profile,” Maddox added when asked about the Wynn’s Japan development strategy. “What I love about our strategy in Japan is that we are known as the high-quality operator. What we deliver is excellence.”
While fellow US operators Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts have made no secret of their desire to target Osaka, Maddox said that Wynn is “looking at multiple cities. We are not just saying we are only going only after once city.
“It’s the same thing that happened in Massachusetts – no-one targeted the Boston area because they thought it wouldn‘t happen. We did and we won it.”
Appearing across a range of US media channels late last week to spruik Wynn’s US$2.6 billion Boston IR, which has itself made plenty of headlines of late due to an investigation by local regulators into the company’s suitability to hold a state gaming license, Maddox also spoke positively about his expectations for Macau in the coming years.
Asked for his thoughts on the looming license re-tendering process, with the concessions of all six operators due to expire in 2022, the Wynn Resorts boss told Bloomberg TV he was “quite optimistic about the future of the Greater Bay Area and our position there.
“We have great relationships in Macau. I think we are a very good partner to the Macanese government, we employ over 13,000 people and we are not in the technology business or some of the other business that have a bit more tension, we are in the business of fun and tourism.
“One of the goals of the Greater Bay region is to create more tourist destination and really transform Macau into a global destination. I think Wynn Resorts is well positioned to help the government achieve its goals.”
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