Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAR 2022年3月 亞博匯 96 10 YEARS AGO billion in revenue on a population of just 5 million compared to Japan’s 128 million. “Given the number of favorable gaming factors in Japan, we believe IR operators could spend as much as US$7 billion to US$8 billion on each resort compared to US$5 billion to US$6 billion in Singapore. If we assume 30% margin on a US$10 billion market, the ROIC for each IR would be 20%; and if we assume the [Japanese] gaming market size is US$15 billion, the ROIC would be above 30%, in line with the ROIC seen in Singapore and Macau.” There is no doubt that the world’s leading IR operators recognizeda similar opportunity, as evidenced by the flurry of interest that followed passage of Japan’s IR Promotion Act in late 2016. Such was their confidence in the market that many even bandied about investments exceeding US$10 billion. But as the rigidity of Japan’s regulatory regime became evident in the years that followed – and all but a handful of jurisdictions withdrew initial interest in welcoming IR development – much of Japan’s attractiveness has since waned. Today, Osaka remains the only major city in Japan to maintain interest in an IR, and MGM Resorts the only major globally recognized IR operator keeping the IR dream alive. “In light of Macau and Singapore’s success, we believe the Japanese market offers huge potential to become the biggest IR nation globally.” 「鑑於澳門和新加坡的成功，我們相信日本 市場具有成為全球最大的IR國家的潛力。」