With no competitors, Wynn UAE casino could ring up $8B a year

Wynn Resorts expects a windfall approaching $8 billion a year from its perch as the first casino operator in the UAE.

The Las Vegas-based company disclosed last week that it had initially expected to be competing with other gaming resorts when it won a license in 2024 to build a casino-hotel in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

Instead, Wynn will open on Al Marjan Island in 2027 with a monopoly that analysts expect to yield $5 billion in annual revenue, while suggesting the turnover could reach $8 billion, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Wynn CEO Craig Billings said during the company’s second quarter earnings call that the casino’s revenue model was originally structured “assuming there would be multiple competitors in the market.”

Now, Billings said, “It looks like we’re going to be the only one for quite some time.”

The UAE gave Wynn the country’s first 15-year casino license three years ago.

While no other license has been granted, rival casino operator MGM Resorts International has cited “expectations regarding the potential opportunity for gaming expansion” for its $2.5 billion beachfront development at Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach, according to AGBI.