Los Vegas Sands Corps CEO and Chairman Sheldon Adelson announce on Friday that a casino resort project in Japan could cost up to $10 billion to build.
“It would be at least what we paid in Singapore, U.S. $6 billion including the land, but it could be as much as U.S. $10 billion,” said Mr. Adelson in a statement. Los Vegas Sands developed and currently operates the Singapore Marina Bay Sands casino property.
The announcement on Tuesday was given in Tokyo at CLSA’s Japan Forum, a conference for investors organized by brokerage CLSA. Previously, Adelson said he expected resorts integrated in Japan to follow the Marina Bay Sands model, which may benefit Las Vegas Sands.
Casino gambling become legal in Japan on December 26. Investment analysts expect to see the first Japanese casino resort open some time beyond 2021. The wait time is due, in part, to the two-fold nature of the legislation legalizing casino gambling. The bill legalized casino resorts at the level of conception, but a second piece of legislation must be passed to determine specific licensing, investment, location and taxation standards.
Adelson revealed in late January conference call with analysts that he believed Las Vegas Sands was in a position to compete for a Japanese casino license. He said, “We believe our pioneering track record of creating the MICE-based integrated resort, our development experience and our financial strength put us in the pole position to take advantage of an opportunity in Japan.”
A Japanese casino industry consisting of two resorts per major city could generate $10 billion in annual revenue, according to an estimation of Brokerage CLSA. Estimated annual revenue could potentially swell to $25 billion with more locations. Within Japan, the major cities of Toyko, Yokohama, and Osaka have been considered as contenders to welcome large-scale casino resorts.
