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.

Al Zeyoudi goes to Las Vegas to pitch Emirati tech at CES

Every October, the tech world floods into the UAE for GITEX. This week, the UAE joins the global crowd in Las Vegas for CES, the mother of all tech conferences.

Leading the Emirati corporate leaders and policymakers on the U.S. pilgrimage to the annual Consumer Electronics Show is Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s globe-trotting Minister of State for Foreign Trade.

In Las Vegas, Al Zeyoudi participated in a CES panel on geopolitical challenges to global trade, where he described the UAE’s efforts to bridge markets and facilitate trade flows, according to an Emirates News Agency dispatch.

He also highlighted the country’s three-year-old campaign to sign more than two dozen free trade agreements around the world.

“The UAE’s dynamic tech ecosystem… offers fresh opportunities for US companies looking to scale their operations and access high-growth markets,” Al Zeyoudi said at CES on Wednesday.

“As we expand our partnerships in advanced technology, we aim to foster innovation, create jobs, and accelerate the adoption of next-generation technologies.”

During the three-day visit, Al Zeyoudi met with executives from tech companies specializing in AI, health, and automotive technologies, including Accenture, Qualcomm, the Consumer Technology Association, Skylo and MGM Resorts International, the state news agency said.

Wynn Resorts to outline plans after getting UAE gaming license

Wynn Resorts will spell out its plans in Las Vegas tomorrow for the UAE’s first gaming location, offering a progress report on the $3.9 billion venture that is under construction and set to open in 2027.

The briefing for investors follows the granting to Wynn last week of a commercial gaming operator’s license by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority for its Al Marjan Island hotel and casino resort off the coast of Ras Al Khaimah.

The UAE has long been seen as a potential regional gaming center because of its oil wealth, its growing number of high-net-worth residents and its recognition of one of the Middle East’s top tourist destinations.

MGM Resorts International said last month that it had applied for a gaming license for a property it’s building in Abu Dhabi.