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 quickly might have a brand-new card to play in bring in visitors - gaming.
The UAE introduced a brand-new regulative body to manage business video gaming on Monday, made up of casino and betting specialists from the United States. Gambling is presently prohibited 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 lotto and commercial gaming," according to Emirati state media WAM.
" [GCGRA will] facilitate opening the financial capacity of industrial video gaming properly," WAM stated.
Industry veterans Kevin Mullally and Jim Murren have been employed for essential roles as CEO and chair respectively in the GCGRA, according to WAM.
The 2 executives have a combined 32 years of experience in the betting market according to LinkedIn - Murren is the previous CEO of MGM Resorts International (MGM), while Mullally held various positions at Gaming Laboratories International.
"I eagerly anticipate establishing a robust regulative body and structure for the UAE's lotto and gaming market," Mullally stated on his new appointment, according to WAM.
Last year, casino operator Wynn Resorts tattooed a deal to construct a luxury resort in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates with a "gaming area." A statement by Wynn Resorts (WYNN) did not elaborate on whether betting would be included, but Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Hotels, informed investors in an incomes contact August 9 that the resort anticipates to have a license for gaming operations in Ras Al Khaimah "imminently."
"There must be no issue that there is a wider legalization procedure in order for gaming to occur in that home," Billings informed investors.
Global casino company Caesars Entertainment (CZR) has run a non-gambling hotel in Dubai given that 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 gambling is prohibited in UAE waters, so gambling establishments are forbidden from operating while docked, according to and Oceania's FAQ pages.
Dubai prides itself as the "cruise center of the area," harboring 1,750 cruise liner each year. The UAE's capital Abu Dhabi saw a record variety of 700,000 cruise tourists 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 on gaming - as it remains in Singapore - it would bring in $6.6 billion dollars of profits yearly, Bloomberg analysts reported on Monday.