Wynn Resort were awarded a license to operate in the UAE. (Image: Alamy)

Wynn Resorts told investors on Tuesday that it expects to collect as much as $1.67 billion in gross gaming revenue annually from its integrated resort in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, just says after the company was awarded the first commercial gaming license in the nation’s history.

The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority of the UAE awarded Wynn its license on Friday, allowing Wynn to go ahead with its plans for a resort on Al Marjan Island. 

Wynn Ups Spending on UAE Resort to $5.1 Billion

On Tuesday, Wynn used an investor presentation to highlight just how massive it expects its splash into the UAE market to be. According to the presentation, the company expects the UAE market to be worth anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion per year, with Wynn collecting approximately a 33 percent share of the industry. 

That total assumes that two more resorts will eventually be licensed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with a maximum of one casino per emirate. 

The other major news to come out of the presentation was the cost of the resort. Wynn Al Margan is now expected to cost $5.1 billion, up from previous estimates of just below $4 billion in total.

So far, Wynn has spent about $200 million on the project, much of which was spent on acquiring land on Al Marjan Island. The company expects to spend another $900 million of its own money developing the integrated resort.

Wynn says it will also raise $2.4 billion in debt. According to the company, that debt is already “oversubscribed with strong demand from local and international lenders,” with the debt facility expected to close by the end of 2024. 

According to the presentation, Wynn Resorts has a 40 percent equity in the integrated resort venture, which it is developing alongside RAK Hospitality Holding and Al Marjan Island LLC.

“[This is the] first instance of Wynn Resorts getting ‘paid for what we know’ with attractive management and license fees, akin to a luxury hotel brand management agreement,” the presentation stated. 

UAE Sees Resorts as Part of Tourism Strategy

The UAE is attempting to move quickly to approve integrated resorts in an effort to keep a leg up as an international tourism and trade center in the Persian Gulf. 

In 2023, the country launched its gambling regulatory body, hiring veterans from the American gaming industry to run it. 

That was among a series of liberal legal reforms designed to help the UAE better compete against Saudi Arabia and other regional countries that have been raising their own tourism and trade profiles internationally. 

The idea of a casino may not be terribly controversial in UAE or many of its surrounding countries. 

A survey conducted by Wynn in 2023 found that 90 percent of respondents in the UAE said that integrated resorts were “acceptable either for me or others.” Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, that number remained fairly high at 81 percent. 

However, developers have been careful to talk about an “integrated resort” as much as possible, while downplaying gambling elements. For instance, Tuesday’s presentation used the word “casino” just once, continuing a trend of both Wynn and UAE officials avoiding the word whenever possible.