{"id":10647,"date":"2026-04-21T05:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/universal-entertainment-keeps-japan-ir-option-open\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T05:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:03:11","slug":"universal-entertainment-keeps-japan-ir-option-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/universal-entertainment-keeps-japan-ir-option-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Entertainment Keeps Japan IR Option Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Universal Entertainment sees an opening in Japan, but it is not ready to commit. The <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino\/a-world-of-luxury-at-okada-manila-in-the-heart-of-the-philippines\/\">Okada Manila<\/a> parent said a second round for Japan IR bids puts the market back in play, though the group has not decided on any consortium role or investment setup.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Japan will accept second-round IR applications from May 6 to November 5, 2027.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Universal Entertainment said it \u201cremains cautious\u201d and has made no decision on participation or structure.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The group is also building a new gaming machine business as a third pillar beyond its current core segments.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2>Universal Keeps Japan Casino Option Open But Waits<\/h2>\n<p>Japan IR bidding is back on the calendar, and Universal Entertainment does not want to ignore that. Still, the company is not rushing in. In comments tied to its latest shareholder meeting, the group said it is aware of the chance to build an integrated resort with casino in Japan, but \u201cremains cautious\u201d and has made no call on consortium participation or investment structure.<\/p>\n<p>That stance leaves the door open without locking the company into a costly path. Japan confirmed in March that local governments can file second-round bids from May 2027 through early November 2027, reopening the race for the two remaining IR licences.<\/p>\n<p>For now, management sounds more focused on diversification and recovery. Universal said a new gaming machine business will become the group third pillar in fiscal 2026, using entertainment machine technology and resort operating know-how to chase fresh market openings and reduce dependence on any one market.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-logo-title-box box-100 text-left relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-box box-25 relative img-radius\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/betus\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t<amp-img alt=\"BetUS\" src=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BetUS.png.webp\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" layout=\"fixed\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/amp-img><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-title box-25 relative py-10\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/betus\/\" title=\"BetUS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">BetUS<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t<strong><strong>Get 125% \/ $2,500 on 1st deposit!<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-1\">New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of up to $2,500<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating box-25 relative mb-10\">\n<div class=\"rating-box text-center box-100  relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating-box relative\">\n<div class=\"stars\"><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-rating-notice relative\">Casino &#038; Sports<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/betus\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\tVisit Site<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Okada Manila stays central to that plan. The parent said it will keep prioritising service quality and staff training at the Philippine resort, adding: <em>\u201cWe believe customer satisfaction improvement is key to earnings recovery.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/universal-entertainment-keeps-japan-ir-option-open\/\">Universal Entertainment Keeps Japan IR Option Open<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Universal Entertainment sees an opening in Japan, but it is not ready to commit. The Okada Manila parent said a second round for Japan IR bids puts the market back in play, though the group has not decided on any consortium role or investment setup. Good to Know Japan will accept second-round IR applications from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}