The industry media outlet said it had spoken to several sources who confirmed that the online market would be limited to one operator license per emirate and pending each emirate’s own determination of whether or not to proceed.

A similar model is in place for land-based gaming facilities licensees although only one such license has been issued so far – for Wynn’s US$5 billion integrated resort development in Ras Al Khaimah. Abu Dhabi has been suggested as a likely home for a second land-based license but it is not expected that all seven emirates will issue gaming licenses.

Similarly, Vixio GamblingCompliance said it expects no more than two or three emirates to opt in for online gaming operations, adding that the recent issuance of related B2B supplier licenses suggests the relevant regulatory and commercial groundwork has been laid and that operator licences for online gaming and sports wagering are imminent. The two most recent gaming-related vendor licenses issued have been to iGaming platform provider Hub 88 Holdings Ltd and sports data firm Sportradar AG.

Speaking at SBC Summit in Lisbon in September, the GCGRA’s CEO, Kevin Mullally, said he wanted the UAE to become a leader in technological innovation for the gaming industry and as such encouraged suppliers to get creative with what they presented to the regulator.

“Our message to the industry and the technology providers is don’t design your game around the regulations,” Mullally stated.

“Technology should lead, not the regulations, so if you can design a game that uses new concepts, uses reflexive math, combines elements of skill with elements of chance, integrates social media and figures out how to entertain your customers – the operators’ customers – in the best way you can, we will figure out a way to regulate it.

“Whatever you bring us, we will design a way, we will make sure it’s safe, we will make sure that we have data to ensure that the customer experience is protected. We want the technology providers to focus on entertainment, not look at the regulations and say, ‘I have to design my games within this box’. We want innovation to lead and regulation to adapt, not the other way around.”

The UAE, Mullally added, “is going to redefine what gaming is for the rest of the world.”