{"id":322,"date":"2026-03-14T17:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T18:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=322"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:37","slug":"mgm-believes-japan-casino-could-compete-with-marina-bay-sands-on-profitability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/mgm-believes-japan-casino-could-compete-with-marina-bay-sands-on-profitability\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM Believes Japan Casino Could Compete with Marina Bay Sands on Profitability"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Marina Bay Sands, operated by Las Vegas Sands, is the most profitable casino in the world<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>MGM believes its Osaka integrated resort could eventually compete on that level<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>MGM Osaka is expected to open in 2030<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Executives from MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) believe it\u2019s possible that the company\u2019s Japanese casino hotel project could eventually evolve into the one of the most profitable gaming venues in the world.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_350449\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-350449\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-350449 size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"MGM Osaka Japan casino gambling\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7b26a70c-mgm-osaka-overview-rendering-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>A rendering of MGM Osaka. The operator believes the venue could eventually rival Marina Bay Sands in terms of profitability. (Image: MGM Resorts International)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the J.P. Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant, and Leisure Management Access Forum earlier this week, MGM executives waxed bullish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-osaka-breaks-ground-9-billion-resort-japan\/\">on the under construction<\/a> MGM Osaka, noting it could eventually be a viable competitor on a profitability basis to Las Vegas Sands\u2019 (NYSE: LVS) Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>We&#8217;re allocating this year, probably $450 million in equity investment to our Japan project, and that will grow next year and the year after,\u201d said MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard at the conference. \u201cBut we think that, that&#8217;s going to be the largest and most successful integrated resort globally since Marina Bay Sands. So it&#8217;s &#8212; we&#8217;re very happy to put capital there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s a lofty comparison because the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/marina-bay-sands-extending-lead-over-resorts-world-sentosa\/\">Sands-operated integrated resort<\/a> is consistently the world\u2019s most profitable venue of its kind &#8212; a competition that isn\u2019t particularly close and one with a widening gap because earnings at the Singapore casino hotel are steadily rising.<\/p>\n<h2>MGM Sees Singapore Similarities in Japan<\/h2>\n<p>MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle is optimistic about the company\u2019s future in Japan, noting it\u2019s possible the casino market there \u2013 one in which MGM will be the only operator for at least a few years \u2013 could eventually be comparable to Singapore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cLook, there&#8217;s a market, if it just manifests itself what&#8217;s going on today in Singapore, if we start with a $2 billion cash flow business, we&#8217;re going to net about $800 million given our stake and given our share. It&#8217;s a meaningful business,\u201d he said at the J.P. Morgan conference.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>He needs to be right or at least in the ballpark on that assessment because by his own acknowledgement, he\u2019s betting his career on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-osaka-to-begin-construction-main-resort-april-2025\/\">the Japan project<\/a>. The MGM boss added Japan could eventually be a bigger casino market than Singapore because the former has geographic advantages that beat Macau, which is the world\u2019s top gaming market as measured by gross gaming revenue (GGR).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIf you put it in perspective, 120 million people. We are 1.5 hours closer from Shanghai and Beijing than Macau,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Japan Is a Compelling Casino Market<\/h2>\n<p>Credible global growth opportunities are hard to come by in the gaming industry. That situation is exacerbated by Macau and Singapore being closed off to new concessionaires for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the countries where large-scale operators, such as MGM, can forge new growth frontiers. Both jurisdictions are starting off as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wynn-resumes-construction-at-uae-casino-site\/\">single casino markets<\/a>, but that\u2019s expected to change over time. Japan could open a new round of integrated resort bidding next year and data indicate the country can accommodate multiple gaming venues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cSo the proximity, the scale, what&#8217;s happening in the Pachinko business to this day in Japan is over $30 billion, that we&#8217;re pretty sure about,\u201d said Hornbuckle at the J.P. Morgan conference. \u201cThe infrastructure is there. It works. I think the product we&#8217;re going to build is going to be exceptional world-class over the use term, but it will be, given the things we do and what we&#8217;re known for.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-believes-japan-casino-could-compete-with-marina-bay-sands-on-profitability\/\">MGM Believes Japan Casino Could Compete with Marina Bay Sands on Profitability<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marina Bay Sands, operated by Las Vegas Sands, is the most profitable casino in the world MGM believes its Osaka integrated resort could eventually compete on that level MGM Osaka is expected to open in 2030 Executives from MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) believe it\u2019s possible that the company\u2019s Japanese casino hotel project could eventually&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}