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How to play Spirit Wolf Wins
Japan’s gambling landscape has remained an enigma. It began as a seismic opportunity sought after by international casino giants following the enactment of its Integrated Resort Implementation Law in 2018, but as progress slowed potential bidders withdrew, and MGM Osaka emerged as the only new kid on the IR block, with a launch date of 2030.
Now, with Japan promising to open two more IR licences in 2027, ambitious bidders are craning their necks for a leg up over the competition. But Japan has telegraphed mixed messaging on the casino industry.
Depsite it having liberalised gambling in pursuit of the economic benefits that casinos can bring, its regulatory architecture and deeply ingrained social attitudes are not particuarly pro gambling.
How to play Spirit Wolf Wins
The AiA hosted the first Africa Safer Gambling Week this week, bringing together stakeholders such as regulators, operators and industry associations on a range of issues relating to safer gambling.
As Kesitilwe explains, a key theme of the week has been turning conversations on safer gambling into practical actions.
He says the signs have so far been “very encouraging”, telling iGB: “The initiative demonstrates that cooperation does not have to remain at the level of conference and policy discussion.
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“There are valid arguments to be made in relation to raising the barriers to licensing, but this may come at a cost of diminishing competition and entrepreneurship,” he says.
In any event, successive regulatory tightening and tax increases have already created a “reasonably effective deterrent” to market entry.
There is a second complication. The relentless flow of Commission statements may eventually make enforcement less damaging rather than more.
