The UAE Prepares To Legalize Gambling With New Regulatory Body
Abu Dhabi CNN -
With its glitzy high-end resorts and a world-renowned horse racing industry, the United Arab Emirates soon might have a brand-new card to play in attracting visitors - gambling.
The UAE introduced a new regulatory body to oversee industrial video gaming on Monday, comprised of casino and betting experts from the United States. Gambling is currently unlawful in the UAE, where some laws are based upon the Quran, which forbids the practice.
The new federal body, called the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), would produce a "regulatory structure for a national lottery game and industrial gaming," according to Emirati state media WAM.
" [GCGRA will] facilitate opening the economic potential of business gaming responsibly," WAM said.
Industry veterans Kevin Mullally and Jim Murren have been worked with for crucial functions as CEO and chair respectively in the GCGRA, according to WAM.
The 2 executives have a combined 32 years of experience in the gaming industry according to LinkedIn - Murren is the previous CEO of MGM Resorts International (MGM), while Mullally held different positions at Gaming Laboratories International.
"I anticipate developing a robust regulative body and structure for the UAE's lottery game and video gaming market," Mullally said on his brand-new visit, according to WAM.
In 2015, gambling establishment operator Wynn Resorts tattooed a deal to develop a high-end resort in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates with a "gaming location." A declaration by Wynn Resorts (WYNN) did not elaborate on whether betting would be involved, but Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Hotels, told in a revenues call on August 9 that the resort anticipates to have a license for gaming operations in Ras Al Khaimah "imminently."
"There ought to be no concern that there is a wider legalization process in order for video gaming to take place because property," Billings informed investors.
Global casino company Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has run a non-gambling hotel in Dubai considering that 2018.
Legalized betting 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 betting is restricted in UAE waters, so gambling establishments are forbidden from operating while docked, according to Costa Cruises and Oceania's FAQ pages.
Dubai prides itself as the "cruise center of the region," harboring 1,750 cruise liner each year. The UAE's capital Abu Dhabi saw a record number of 700,000 cruise tourists between May 2022 and 2023.
Overall tourist currently accounts for 9% of the UAE's GDP. If 1.6% of the UAE's GDP was based upon gaming - as it remains in Singapore - it would bring in $6.6 billion dollars of earnings every year, Bloomberg analysts reported on Monday.