Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, Hard Rock Live performance venues and an award-winning website.HRI owns the global trademark for all Hard Rock brands. The company owns, operates and franchises Cafes in iconic cities including London, New York, San Francisco,Sydney and Dubai. HRI also owns, licenses and/or manages hotel/casino properties worldwide.Destinations include the company’s two most successful Hotel and Casino properties in Tampa and Hollywood, Fl., both owned and operated by HRI parent company The Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as other exciting locations including Bali, Chicago, Cancun, Ibiza, Las Vegas, Macau and San Diego. Upcoming new Hard Rock Cafe locations include Reykjavik, Shanghai, Yangon and San Juan.ew Hard Rock Hotel projects include Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Berlin, Dubai, Itapema, London, Los Cabos, New York City, Tenerife, andShenzhen, Dalian and Haikou in China.
Hard Rock International said it has acquired the casino premise license from The Ritz Club in London, UK. This transaction will allow Hard Rock to seek out and establish a new casino premise in London, continuing Hard Rock’s expansion into major gateway cities around the world.
Despite Governor Naomichi Suzuki’s declaration at the end of November that Hokkaido will not be moving forward with an IR bid, Hard Rock Japan is signaling that they are not giving up their campaign to build an IR at Tomakomai city.
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki is expected to announce on Friday that his prefecture will not be going forward with an IR bid, abruptly ending what had seemed to many the strongest IR initiative within Japanese regional markets.
The central government’s delay in firming up the regulatory framework for the IR industry appears to have convinced new Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki that he might as well shift to a slower lane as well, taking more time to decide his basic policy on whether or not to pursue an IR bid.
Hard Rock Japan’s Tomakomai office has now opened—shortly after the election of Governor Naomichi Suzuki and a conservative prefectural assembly has kept the city’s IR hopes very much alive.
Crown Resorts has flagged that it may be open to a potential takeover, even though suitor Wynn Resorts has walked away, with both Hard Rock International and Genting seen as potential bidders, according to reports.
It would appear that the competition to partner with the Tomakomai municipal government has now narrowed down to six serious suitors—Caesars Entertainment, Hard Rock International, Mohegan Sun, Rush Street, Clairvest, and Foxwoods.
Hard Rock has unveiled on ongoing series of events aimed at promoting female empowerment in Japan. The name of the program is “Future is MINE powered by Hard Rock.”
Hard Rock International has pledged US$100,000 to the Japan Red Cross for relief efforts connected with the Hokkaido Earthquake, which killed 41 people and injured many more. Together with the donation came a message of condolence from Hard Rock CEO for Asia Edward Tracy, who hoped that Hokkaido can quickly recover from the tragedy. Hard […]
U.S. casino operator Hard Rock International has emerged as a major contender to the race for Gold Coast’s second casino license, Gold Coast Bulletin reports. In an email to the State Government, city council and Gold Coast tourism leaders, Hard Rock reportedly flagged its plan for an “entertainment-centric” integrated resort, promising to be different from […]
Japan is unlikely to see its first IR open before 2026 and significant hurdles still need to be overcome both from an operational and legislative standpoint, according to panellists at the ASEAN Gaming Summit. According to Jay Defibaugh, senior research analyst at CLSA Securities, the market has the potential to generate GGR of about $25 […]
Hard Rock International has announced that its iGaming division has entered into a strategic partnership with Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) to build a new online casino. “Hard Rock has an ambitious plan to become a global leader in the international online gaming space,” said Kresimir Spajic, SPV, online gaming at Hard Rock. “We are confident […]
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed in principal to allow a casino to be added to the Laguna Lang Co. resort in central Vietnam, with a likely 2021 opening date, local media reports. At a working session with the central province of Thua Thien-Hue authorities on January 2, 2018, the government leader permitted the […]
Hard Rock International unfurled its banner in the Japan IR race with a major concert by Grammy award winning alternative rock band Muse and a press conference. The event also featured a new Japan-oriented logo, “Hard Rock Experience,” with a Japanese-language subtitle which translates as “The Future of a Japan-Style IR.” The Muse concert was […]
Hard Rock International has announced the promotion of Edward Tracy to chief executive officer, Asia. Currently, Tracy is focused on Hard Rock Japan LLC in its efforts to develop a signature Hard Rock Integrated Resort (IR). Tracy’s recent appointment is a strategic move designed to support the company’s growth plans in the region. With the […]
Norio Tomonaga, mayor of Sasebo city, Nagasaki Prefecture, visited Las Vegas on Monday as part of a week-long official tour of the United States. Sasebo is the location of the Huis Ten Bosch theme park, the proposed site for Nagasaki’s IR. Mayor Tomonaga was accompanied by a dozens-strong delegation of city council members and prominent […]
The Tomakomai city government, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, is reaching out to international IR operators from this month with the objective of compiling its “Tomakomai IR Master Plan” by the end of March 2018. These efforts will include a survey of the intentions of IR operators as concerns investment in their city as […]
Concerns are being raised over the shape of the forthcoming IR Implementation Bill in advance of its formal unveiling, expected to occur around August or September. At last week’s Japan Tourism Research Association (JTRA) meeting in Tokyo, speakers tried to gently point out that unless the Japanese government availed itself of the experience that could […]
Hard Rock International has announced the launch of a newly created division of the company, focused on integrated resort opportunities in Japan. According to a statement from the company on Monday, the new division, Hard Rock Japan LLC will be led by former Sands China chief executive Edward Tracy who will serve as its chief […]
Bloomberry Resorts Corp. has confirmed it is considering investing in a gaming business in Japan, according to its filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange. “This possible expansion in Japan is part of the Corporation’s ordinary course of business in searching for business opportunities in the Philippines and abroad,” it said. The company told the stock […]
The Lower House of the Diet (House of Representatives) on Tuesday passed the long-awaited bill that would legalize casinos in Japan. According to Japanese media, the bill cleared the Lower House plenary session with the backing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and conservative opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai. The legislation is likely to be […]
Japanese lawmakers have reopened the debate on a bill to legalize casinos on Wednesday, with key LDP executives saying the party will try to pass the legislation by December 14, local media reports. According to Japan Times, Liberal Democratic Party Diet affairs chief Wataru Takeshita on Wednesday reportedly told junior coalition partner Komeito that the […]
The Melco-Hard Rock consortium may open the doors of its first Cyprus facility as early as mid-2017, local media reports. On Monday, the country’s Minister for Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Giorgos Lakkotrypis promised MPs that they would be amazed once the government unveils its final casino plans. “We have set the bar very high […]
Hard Rock International Inc. says it is prepared to make a “major investment” in Japan, Bloomberg reports. With renewed discussions around the legalization of casinos in the country, the U.S. chain is looking for partners to jointly bid for a license should gaming resorts be approved, said its chief executive officer Hamish Dodds in an […]
The government has given the go ahead for the Melco-Hard Rock consortium to build an integrated resort casino in the Republic of Cyprus, local media reports. According to the ministry of commerce, the coordinating committee, “following the evaluation of the application of the participant in the licensing process of the integrated resort casino in Cyprus, […]
Scientific Games Corporation has secured its third casino-management systems solutions contract with a Hard Rock International-managed casino resort, signing an agreement with Inversiones y Entretenimiento PC to supply a broad portfolio of casino systems solutions to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic after an outstanding service performance review and an […]
The Cyprus government has confirmed that a group led by Melco International Development and including Hard Rock International has made a formal bid for a license to develop a casino on the island. The multinational consortium, which also includes Seminole HR Holdings and Cyprus Phasouri (Zakaki), a member of CNS Group, said it submitted its […]
The consortium of Melco International Development Ltd and Hard Rock International may be the only bidder for a gaming concession in Cyprus as its two competitors have not yet found suitable plots for their projects, Cyprus news outlet Philenews reports. In June, the Cyprus Government granted a three-month extension to bids for its casino license […]
Two of the short-listed bidders for a casino license in Cyprus have begun talks with local property owners in preparation for choosing a location for their developments, according to media reports. The preferred bidders announced in March 2015 are Philippine developer Bloomberry Resorts, Hong Kong-listed Nagacorp, operator of Cambodia’s NagaWorld, and a Melco/Hard Rock Cyprus […]
Cypriot lawmakers are to vote on regulations covering the creation of the first integrated casino resort in Cyprus on March 10. After approval from the House plenum, officials will announce the three shortlisted bidders of the casino licence, local media reports. The regulations were presented at a joint session of the House Finance and Commerce […]
Five bidders, out of 12 who expressed an initial interest, are expected to submit formal official proposals to operate a casino on the island of Cyprus. The bidders include Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp and Bloomberry Resorts of the Philippines, as well as U.S. operator Hard Rock, French construction giant Bouygues and Russia’s Absolute, according to a […]
Malaysia’s Genting and Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp are among six firms to have formally expressed an interest in a license to build a casino resort on the island of Cyprus. Other interested parties include Hard Rock International of the U.S., South Africa’s Sun International and France’s Bouygues, the Cyprus Weekly reported, citing government sources. The operators […]
Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki's decision to drop out of the Japan IR race represents the collapse of the strongest IR initiative outside of the Kansai and Kanto regions.
The increased clarity regarding the terms of IR regulation in Japan following the ruling coalition compromises is also throwing light on which institutions are now advantaged and which are disadvantaged in the race for licenses. Seth Sulkin, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan’s task force on IRs, describes the outcome to Asia Gaming Brief as “a major victory for the major casino operators and large Japanese cities.”
The year 2017 saw a distinct acceleration in the race to obtain licenses to build and operate Japan’s first IRs. While everyone agrees that the potential scope of the market is vast, without the precise locations and the terms of regulation yet being clarified, estimations of the ultimate size of this market remain little more than guesswork. Progress in the year was once again stalled by politics, though operators are hoping to push forward in 2018 with both the legislative framework and their own groundwork.
Brazil and Japan are two of the most hotly anticipated casino markets, but how do they stack up against one another and which country is the most appealing for international casino operators and investors? The two nations have entwined cultural links, mainly due to mass migration throughout the 20th Century. In fact, Brazil is home to the world’s largest Japanese-descendant population outside Japan. One other thing Brazil and Japan have in common is that they both appear to be on the cusp of introducing legalized casino resorts after years of false starts and delays.
Asian operators have been slow to venture into European markets, but that may be about to change, with a consortium made up of Melco International Development and Hard Rock International eyeing a project on the island of Cyprus. The consortium is aiming to bring its own Asian flavor, but how will that go down with the melting pot that constitutes the island's tourism base.
This Dossier results from the “Life After POGOs” editorial project by Asia Gaming Brief which culminated with a pop-up digital forum on 9th December to discuss potentials ramifications in the industry.
Covid-19 forced the rapid and unexpected closure of venues across Australia, changing the operating environment with unprecedented speed and leaving managers scrambling to adapt...
China lottery company 500.com said Zhaofu Tian has resigned as Chief Technology Officer due to personal reasons, effective December 31. The company has no plan to appoint a successor at this point.
Analysts have turned more upbeat about the prospects for Malaysia’s gambling operators, despite a recent upswing in new Covid-19 cases, saying the sector is good value as stocks are still down between 15 to 26 percent on the prior year.
Frederic Jean-Marie Winckler, executive vice president and chief creative and brand officer of Melco Resorts & Entertainment, talks with Michael Penn, executive editor of AGB Nippon, about the future of the luxury market in Macau and beyond. Among the topics addressed are the growing importance of digitization and the direction of luxury trends within the premium mass segment.
Over the years, many of the answers have been remarkably prescient in their forecasts for the near-term direction of Asia’s gaming industry. However, we can safely say that no one came anywhere close to guessing
what 2020 may have had in store.
While nowhere in the world has escaped the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis, Macau has been hit harder than most, with forecasts for gross domestic product to shrink more than 50 percent this year.
Before the Covid-19 crisis, tourism in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region was at a record high, on track to welcome 80 million visitors in 2019, generating some $90 billion in revenue.