Play971 talks up competitive advantage as betting launch marks new chapter for UAE

Horse racing has long occupied a special place in the Gulf. The sport is deeply embedded in the region’s culture and identity, supported by substantial investment and celebrated through internationally recognised events. Yet one feature common to racing jurisdictions from Britain to Australia has until now been absent from the United Arab Emirates: legal wagering. 

That changed in June 2026 with the launch of horse racing betting through Abu Dhabi-based Play971, the UAE’s first licensed sports-wagering and iGaming platform. It launched its iGaming proposition in the Emirate last November, as first reported by iGB. Its wagering offering was subsequently launched in June.

The development is significant not simply because it introduces a new way for racing fans to engage with the sport, but because it represents one of the clearest signs yet that the UAE’s regulated commercial gaming market is beginning to take shape. 

At the centre of that effort is the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), the regulatory body overseeing the country’s emerging gaming framework. Play971 has been developed within that structure and, according to Philippa Bowland, commercial director for iGaming at the brand, the process involved creating something for which there was little precedent. Bowland’s career spans similarly senior roles at global gaming operators Pinnacle Sports, Flutter Entertainment and Entain.

“Launching the UAE’s first and only licensed sports wagering and iGaming platform has been a significant undertaking,” she says. “Beyond the platform itself, we were establishing an entirely new category of regulated entertainment.” 

A challenge beyond technology 

Momentum, the company behind Play971 and the UAE Lottery, worked closely with the regulator while building a platform designed around compliance and consumer protection, it insists. The company uses locally licensed payment providers and gaming content independently tested and certified by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), a GCGRA-approved certifier. 

The challenge, Bowland says, extended well beyond technology. “Building the first regulated commercial gaming platform in the UAE means, by definition, that there is no existing blueprint to follow.” She adds that “every decision, from regulatory compliance to player onboarding, payment infrastructure to content localisation, had to be constructed carefully from the ground up, in close alignment with the GCGRA’s framework.” 

Education has also formed part of the launch. In a market where regulated commercial gaming is new, operators must explain not only what they offer but why regulation matters. 

“Commercial gaming is a new and formally regulated category in this market,” Bowland says. Part of Play971’s role has been helping players understand “what a licensed platform means, the player protections it affords and why it is meaningfully different from unregulated alternatives”.

According to the company, consumers have responded positively. Since its announcement, Play971 says it has seen strong growth in registrations and interest. “What has been most encouraging is the appetite from players who, until now, simply had no legitimate, locally rooted option available to them,” says Bowland. “That demand was always there. Play971 is the answer to it.” 

Message centred on trust and transparency 

The arrival of horse racing wagering is particularly significant because racing already occupies a strong position within the region’s sporting landscape. Unlike some betting products that depend on imported sporting cultures, racing enjoys longstanding local relevance. 

“Horse racing in this region has always been more than a sport – it commands genuine passion and has produced world-class events that draw global attention,” says Bowland. “Play971 adds a new dimension to that already vibrant scene.” 

For the company, the key development is not the sport itself but the framework through which fans can now engage with it. “For the first time, wagering on horse racing is possible, legal and safe through a fully licensed and regulated platform,” she says. “This is a significant moment.” 

That distinction matters because Play971 is entering a market where regulation itself may prove to be a competitive advantage. Much of the company’s messaging has centred on trust, transparency and consumer safeguards rather than on betting products alone. 

Bowland argues that regulated wagering enhances rather than changes the racing experience. “We are giving fans who want to engage more deeply with the sport a trusted and protected way to do so,” she says. 

Why Abu Dhabi? 

The choice of Abu Dhabi as the launch point is also notable. Asked why the Emirate became the first location from which horse racing wagering was introduced, Bowland points to both racing’s established place within the UAE and the location of Play971’s licensed operations. 

“Horse racing in the UAE has long been an established and celebrated sport,” she says. “What Play971 brings is something new: for the first time, fans can legally and safely wager on it through a fully licensed, regulated platform operating under the GCGRA’s framework. As the home of our licensed operations, Abu Dhabi was a natural starting point.” 

The platform’s target audience reflects the diversity of the UAE itself. With more than 200 nationalities living in the country, sports interests vary considerably, from cricket among South Asian communities to football and racing among many European expatriates. 

“Our player base reflects the diversity of the population it serves,” says Bowland. “From South Asian fans with a deep passion for cricket, to European expats who follow football and racing closely, our players span a wide range of backgrounds, nationalities and interests.” 

That diversity also creates opportunities beyond sports wagering. Customers using Play971 for sports betting can also access casino-style games, proprietary titles and live-dealer products streamed from the company’s Abu Dhabi studio. 

Yet Bowland stresses that the strategy is not built around aggressive cross-selling. “The approach is not about pushing players from one product to another,” she says, “but about offering a complete entertainment experience.” 

UAE framework still in its infancy 

Early indications appear encouraging from the company’s perspective. Bowland says interest has exceeded expectations, particularly around major sporting events. “The level of interest, particularly ahead of football’s biggest global stage, reflects growing engagement with regulated entertainment experiences and the importance players place on trust, transparency and consumer protection,” she says. 

Nevertheless, it remains too early to draw firm conclusions about the long-term size of the market. The UAE’s commercial gaming framework is still in its infancy, and both operators and regulators are entering largely uncharted territory. 

Bowland acknowledges as much. “We are still at the beginning of our journey,” she says, “but the early response gives us confidence in both the opportunity ahead and the role Play971 can play in shaping this new category.” 

‘This had never been done before [in the UAE]’

For now, Momentum’s focus remains on expanding its offering around sports with strong regional followings, including horse racing, cricket, Formula One, UFC and football. The ambition, according to Bowland, extends beyond building a single platform. 

“We remain focused on contributing to the local economy, supporting a robust and well-regulated ecosystem, introducing regional firsts and maintaining strong global relevance,” she says. 

The launch itself was the culmination of years of work. “We launched in June 2026, the culmination of considerable work building something we believed in, navigating complexity and solving challenges without a roadmap, because this had simply never been done before in this region,” Bowland says. 

The broader significance of the project may lie less in the launch of a betting product than in what it says about the UAE’s changing regulatory landscape. Horse racing already possessed a substantial audience. What has changed is the creation of a legal and regulated mechanism through which that audience can engage with the sport. 

As Bowland puts it: “More than anything, we felt a quiet recognition that we were adding a genuinely new dimension to a sport that deserved it – and the sense of responsibility that goes with it.” 

Whether the market develops into a major commercial opportunity remains to be seen. But for the UAE, and for an industry watching closely from abroad, the introduction of regulated horse-racing wagering marks an important milestone.