“It will be highly competitive, but I think the cards are stacked in the favor of those who are prepared, who have been working hard, who will have the best program, best strategy, the best understanding of the country, of the prefecture, 
and I like a lot MGM’s chances.” So said MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren, pushing all of his companies chips onto Osaka, as it seeks a foothold in Japan. Given the amount of heat around Osaka, two competitors, Groupe Barriere and Bloomberry Resorts, have turned their focus to little-spoken-of Wakayama. Meanwhile Yokohama and long-shot Tokyo are the backup choices of Las Vegas Sands, which is also pursuing an Osaka-first strategy. That included Managing Director for Global Development George Tanasijevich dangling the prospect of a joint venture, adding with a squirt of flattery that the company needed what was described as “Japanese business savvy.”
Tanasijevich also articulated a buy-Japanese policy when it came to building and equipping the hotly sought resort. “The ingenuity, determination and diligence of the millions of small- and medium-sized local companies is part of what made the ‘made-in-Japan’ label so highly regarded in the world today. We are committed to work with these companies to continue this foundation of Japanese commerce. We 
believe that through a local-first supply chain, the integrated resort will being significant economic benefits to the local regions.” What was left unsaid would be how large of a seat at Sheldon Adelson‘s table any Japanese partner could expect. As we have seen in Macao, either things go Sheldon’s way or they do not go, period. And where the Japanese subcontractors are concerned, we hope Sheldon doesn’t stiff them when Venetian Osaka (or whatever) is finished.
As for MGM, it started its cost-cutting program at the top, with CFO Dan D’Arrigo taking a voluntary buyout. He will also step down from the MGM China board. The move will save MGM a million dollars and change per year. The company is shuffling executives, returning COO Corey Sanders to his old job as CFO and moving President Bill Hornbuckle into Sanders’ newly vacated chair. It’s nice to know that not all of the cuts will be borne by the worker bees.
* Ocean Resort can use all the business it can scrounge up and it just was thrown a lifeline by the Arena Football League. The AFL has designated 
Ocean as the official host hotel for Atlantic City‘s franchise. As The Press of Atlantic City reports, “Special rates and discounted tickets will be offered [by Ocean Resort] to visiting teams’ fans. More information on special rates and discounted tickets will be announced at a later date.” The Boardwalk’s as-yet-unnamed team kicks off the season May 4 at Boardwalk Hall against visiting Columbus. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, in a perfect example of its role, is currently doing capex maintenance on the venue in order to make it AFL-ready.
* We tend to be pretty hard on the sport of kings but horse racing might actually expand … into Utah, of all unlikely places. State Sen. David Hinkins is putting forward a bill that would allow local initiatives to be held on whether or not to allow 
parimutuel racing. Hinkins says that not only are Beehive State horse breeders suffering from Utah’s bluenosed attitude toward gambling (well, he wasn’t quite so blunt about it) but so are farriers, hay growers and veterinarians. Horse racing was upheld as legal by the Utah Supreme Court, and Hinkins points to Idaho and Wyoming as neighboring states that offer it and haven’t gone to Hell. Since Hinkins owns racehorses himself, he is likely to be pilloried as a flawed messenger but it’s high time somebody took on Utah’s backward attitude toward gambling. And where horse racing goes, ‘instant racing’ inevitably followed by racinos and … well, you know the drill.
* It’s the first step in journey of a hundred miles (at least) but a bill enabling sports betting, DFS and Internet poker made it out of committee in the Kentucky Lege. Three other sports-betting bills are in the hopper, so the idea is one that enjoys critical mass. (A bill to legalize casinos at $50 million apiece does not seem to be going anywhere.) Under state Rep. Adam Koenig‘s bill, sports-betting licenses would go for $500,000–DFS would be a bargain at $5K a license–and would be regulated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. (The state lottery would be oversight of online poker.) Companies guilty of Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act violations would be barred from the state but PokerStars would skate, as it has never been convicted of breaching UIGEA. There’s money to be made in sports betting but we suspect Kentucky solons will be sadly surprised when the i-poker revenues start trickling into the lottery’s coffers.
