The UAE Prepares To Legalize Gambling With New Regulatory Body
Abu Dhabi CNN -
With its flashy high-end resorts and a world-renowned horse racing market, the United Arab Emirates soon may have a brand-new card to play in bring in visitors - gambling.
The UAE presented a new regulatory body to supervise commercial gaming on Monday, made up of casino and gambling specialists from the United States. Gambling is presently unlawful in the UAE, where some laws are based on the Quran, which prohibits the practice.
The new federal body, called the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), would create a "regulatory framework for a national lottery game and industrial gaming," according to Emirati state media WAM.
" [GCGRA will] facilitate opening the financial capacity of business video gaming responsibly," WAM said.
Industry veterans Kevin Mullally and Jim Murren have actually been hired for essential functions as CEO and chair respectively in the GCGRA, according to WAM.
The two executives have a combined 32 years of experience in the gambling industry according to LinkedIn - Murren is the former CEO of MGM Resorts (MGM), while Mullally held different positions at Gaming Laboratories International.
"I look forward to developing a robust regulative body and framework for the UAE's lotto and gaming industry," Mullally said on his new appointment, according to WAM.
In 2015, gambling establishment operator Wynn Resorts tattooed a deal to build a luxury resort in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates with a "video gaming area." A statement by Wynn Resorts (WYNN) did not elaborate on whether gaming would be included, but Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Hotels, informed shareholders in an incomes contact August 9 that the resort expects to have a license for gaming operations in Ras Al Khaimah "imminently."
"There must be no concern that there is a wider legalization procedure in order for video gaming to take place in that home," Billings told shareholders.
Global casino company Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has operated a non-gambling hotel in Dubai because 2018.
Legalized gambling in the UAE would likely be of interest to cruise liners such as MSC and Royal Caribbean Cruise, which frequent the UAE's ports with casinos on board. But gaming is forbidden in UAE waters, so gambling establishments are prohibited from operating while docked, according to Costa Cruises and Oceania's FAQ pages.
Dubai prides itself as the "cruise hub of the area," harboring 1,750 cruise liner each year. The UAE's capital Abu Dhabi saw a record number of 700,000 cruise tourists in between May 2022 and 2023.
Overall tourist currently represents 9% of the UAE's GDP. If 1.6% of the UAE's GDP was based upon video gaming - as it is in Singapore - it would bring in $6.6 billion dollars of income every year, Bloomberg analysts reported on Monday.
