The construction of the facilities needed for Osaka’s World Expo 2025 is underway. MGM Resorts, located on the small island in the middle of the bay, is building Japan’s very first casino. Can both be accommodated?
World Expo is coming to Osaka in Japan next year. On Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay, the global exhibition is set to begin on 13 April 2025. The exhibition will last six months until October 13th.
The Y=235 billion (PS1.267bn/EUR1.472bn/$1.6bn) World Expo project has been touted as a way to redevelop the onetime waste disposal site. The Yumeshima officials of tomorrow envision a resort with hotel, conference centers, residential neighborhoods, and even a casino.
The rub is, as the saying goes, “the problem”.
MGM Resorts International, which is preparing to construct a integrated resort of Y=1.473tn, will be nearby as construction on the Expo begins.
Local media reported that expo organizers wanted to halt construction on the IR during the event’s six-month duration. This could cause the MGM Osaka opening in fall 2030 to be delayed.
Covid interrupts IR Plans First
Osaka Prefecture was awarded the rights to host Expo 2025 in 2018. MGM, meanwhile, was preparing to bid for one of Japan’s first IR licenses. MGM, a US-based company, had a bold plan. It wanted to open MGM Osaka in time for the Expo to cater to its many attendees.
Covid-19 came along and brought everything to a screeching halt. MGM’s ambitious timeline was thrown into disarray by the pandemic. The pandemic also dampened the interest in Japan, which analysts called “the holy grail” of gaming.
MGM was not awarded the lone IR license by Japan’s central Government until September 2021. The grand opening of the resort was scheduled for 2029. Last year the resort’s grand opening date was moved to 2030.
MGM Osaka’s development is at a critical time
Bill Hornbuckle, CEO of MGM, discussed this man-made isle in an interview with Las Vegas Review-Journal from 2023. The island was primarily designed as a port for containers.
He said: “It’s interesting, originally it was built for competition at the 1972 Olympics.” It’s remained there ever since. There are a few things written on the wall. The World Expo will be held there in 2025, and we will then continue to expand and extend that project with MGM.”
MGM has begun site preparation and will begin construction actively in 2025. It hopes to be open by 2030. Hornbuckle stated on an earnings call in March that the process would begin by mid-summer of next year. This will continue for three years while we build.
Once we’re on the right track, the path towards 2030 will be pretty obvious and straightforward. “I think the time between now and summer next year is a crucial one.”
Some people believe that building two massive projects at once is impossible. The Expo organizers fear that it would tax an already overburdened industry, and drive costs up.
Hirofumi Yushimura and Hideyuki Yakoyama, Osaka’s mayor and governor respectively, will reportedly meet MGM officials in the near future to discuss this matter.
