According to David Bonnet, managing partner for Delta State Holdings, it’s possible that all the strutting and politicking may not help foreign operators too much when casino licenses are finally issued in Japan, Asia Gaming Brief reported. Bonnet feels that the best-case scenario for non-domestic operators is that they will be relegated to nothing more than minority partner status if they’re accepted at all.

During a press conference in Tokyo, Bonnet stated, “How the consortium looks to me is that it’s primarily a Japanese-led enterprise. We know the Japanese government has a preference for public-private partnerships, or working with established Japanese companies.”

He further opined that many Japanese companies have been remaining in the background simply because the government has yet to finalize its decision. He anticipates things to turn around after integrated resorts (IR) are approved and says that there will be “…departments becoming formed, part of their real estate departments, and you can say that a lot of companies will start looking at the IR business much more holistically.”

Bonnett also expects non-gaming operations in an IR to be a major factor that determines who wins the bidding wars. He explained, “The winner will be the group that promises to build the biggest Integrated Resort with the smallest casino.”