Wynn Resorts appears to have officially withdrawn its interest in Yokohama with local media reporting the company was a notable absentee from the city’s recently launched RFP process.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, Wynn has opted out of the process due to uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic and a determination to focus its resources on key markets in the United States and Macau instead.
“We have decided that it would be difficult to update our previous proposals with the current timing and also to complete the application documents required by the city,” a representative was quoted as saying.
Yokohama launched its RFP on 21 January.
The absence of Wynn doesn’t come as any great surprise, although it does throw into question any future involvement in Japan’s current moves to develop its first integrated resorts.
The company revealed last August that it had closed its Yokohama office with Matt Maddox stating on an earnings call that Wynn was ceasing its Japan efforts.
When contacted by Inside Asian Gaming at the time, the company insisted it was “not withdrawing from Japan,” adding, “We continue to be interested in the Japan market and IR development there.”
That view was in stark contrast to Las Vegas Sands which made it quite clear last May that it was out of the Japan IR race completely due to concerns over what it called restrictive regulations.
IAG contacted Wynn Resorts again over the weekend but had not heard back at time of publication.
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