Three years ago the UAE had no gaming regulator, no lottery and no legal way to place a bet. It now has all three, a licensed online sportsbook and casino that residents can use today, and a casino resort rising on the Ras Al Khaimah coast. Here is what is live, what is coming soon, and what it means if you want to take part.
The headline item is already here. Play971, the UAE’s first licensed online betting platform, launched publicly on 5 June 2026 after a supervised trial that began the previous November in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. It is operated by Coin Technology Projects LLC, an Abu Dhabi company in the Momentum group (which also runs the UAE Lottery), under internet gaming and sports wagering licences from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA).
What it offers: a sportsbook covering football (including the UAE Pro League), horse racing, cricket, tennis, basketball, baseball and ice hockey, with data from Sportradar; and a casino with slots from OneTouch, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, poker and bingo, plus live dealer tables streamed from a GCGRA-licensed studio in Abu Dhabi on Evolution’s technology.
Who can use it: residents aged 21 and over, registered with an Emirates ID, a UAE mobile number and an address, physically in Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah or Sharjah. It does not work in Dubai. Location is enforced on the device with VPNs blocked. Accounts are in dirhams; no crypto. Eligibility terms apply.
The most visible project in the sector is the Wynn Resorts integrated resort on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, scheduled to open in 2027 and expected to house the country’s first land-based casino. The Wynn Al Marjan opening will be the moment the UAE casino 2027 story becomes physical: a resort floor rather than a phone screen.
Its effect is already visible. Al Marjan has gone from a sandbank with a few hotels to the most talked-about stretch of coastline in the country, new hotels and restaurant groups have followed, and RAK’s weekend crowd has skewed younger and more affluent. Anyone wondering what a new casino in the UAE will do to the leisure map can watch it happen in real time.
Horse racing has the deepest local roots of any sport on the platform, and expanded racing markets were flagged as an early product priority after launch. With Meydan’s season starting in November and building to the Dubai World Cup in the spring, expect the racing product on Play971 to grow through the winter. Pools and wider international coverage are the obvious next steps.
The UAE framework allows one online licence per emirate, and each emirate decides whether to opt in. Three are currently inside the footprint. The open question, and the one every Dubai resident asks, is whether Dubai will join. There has been no announcement either way, and anyone claiming to know is guessing. What can be said is that the regulatory machinery is federal and already running; if Dubai opts in, the geofence is a setting.
Less headline-grabbing than a casino resort, but more relevant to most users: the platform’s market depth is expanding through the 2026–27 season. Expect wider Asian handicap and player markets on the major European leagues and the UAE Pro League, fuller in-play coverage as Sportradar’s feed is extended to more fixtures, and the winter cricket calendar, from the international series to the franchise leagues and ICC events, covered with match winner, top batter, top bowler and totals markets. For the platform’s largest audiences, football and cricket fans, this is the “coming soon” that matters most.
The sector’s first full season lines up with the country’s biggest sporting weekends. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina closes the F1 season in early December, in an emirate where the platform is fully available. Meydan’s Carnival runs from January to the Dubai World Cup in March, with the racing markets growing in step. The Dubai Tennis Championships and the DP World Tour golf swing through February. Each is a moment when a licensed sportsbook available to residents changes the weekend, even where, as in Dubai, the platform has to be used from across the border.
The GCGRA was set up in 2023 with leadership from the top of the international industry: Jim Murren, formerly of MGM Resorts, as chairman, and Kevin Mullally, formerly of the Missouri Gaming Commission, as founding chief executive (he stepped down in November 2025). The authority has approved a slate of international suppliers including Sportradar, Aristocrat, TCSJohnHuxley and Yolo Group, and keeps a public register of licensed operators. That register is the only list that counts when someone tells you a site is “UAE licensed”; Play971 is the only online name on it.
2023: the GCGRA is established. 2024: the UAE Lottery is licensed. Late November 2025: the Play971 trial opens in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. 5 June 2026: Play971 launches publicly across participating emirates, ahead of the World Cup. 2027: Wynn Al Marjan Island is scheduled to open with the country’s first land-based casino. Beyond that, the framework allows one online licence per emirate, so the map can still grow.
Go to play971.ae, create an account with your mobile number and email, verify with your Emirates ID, confirm your address and switch on precise location with any VPN off. Set a deposit limit in the responsible gaming settings before the first deposit in dirhams. Dubai residents can do all of that from home and use the account across the border.
You do not have to wait for 2027. Online betting in the UAE is available today on the licensed platform, with the protections the licence requires: deposit limits, session reminders, time-outs and self-exclusion, certified games, verified identity and a regulator to complain to. Play971’s commercial director framed the launch around helping fans “play sustainably”, and the sensible first step for any new user is to set a deposit limit before the first session.
If you are 21 or over with an Emirates ID in Abu Dhabi, RAK or Sharjah, you can register with Play971 today. If you are in Dubai, register anyway and use it on your next weekend up the coast, which, from 2027, may well end at a casino floor.
Is Play971 live now? Yes, since 5 June 2026, in Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah for residents aged 21 and over.
When does Wynn Al Marjan Island open? It is scheduled for 2027 and is expected to house the UAE’s first land-based casino.
Will Dubai get online betting? No announcement has been made either way.
Can I use Play971 in Dubai? Not from within Dubai. Registration works anywhere; play requires a covered emirate.
What is coming next on Play971? Expanded racing markets and deeper football and cricket coverage through the season.
Gaming products in the UAE are restricted to adults aged 21 and over and are not available in every emirate. Please play responsibly.
Living in the UAE as an expat comes with its own set of rules, procedures, and unwritten norms. Whether you've just arrived or have been here for years, there's always something to figure out — from renewing your visa and opening a bank account to finding the right school or navigating the healthcare system. We cover the practical side of life in the Emirates so you can spend less time on bureaucracy and more time actually enjoying it.
