{"id":291,"date":"2025-09-10T18:31:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=291"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:08:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:08:48","slug":"mgm-ceo-hornbuckle-surprised-company-hasnt-won-uae-casino-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/10\/mgm-ceo-hornbuckle-surprised-company-hasnt-won-uae-casino-license\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM CEO Hornbuckle Surprised Company Hasn\u2019t Won UAE Casino License"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>MGM is building a $2.5 billion nongaming resort in Dubai<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Wynn Resorts holds UAE\u2019s only casino permit<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) CEO Bill Hornbuckle is astounded regulators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have yet to approve a second casino license.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_314513\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-314513\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-314513 size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts, Macau, foreigner-only, gaming zones\" width=\"858\" height=\"604\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Horn-858x604-1.jpg\"><figcaption>MGM CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle. He&#8217;s surprised the company hasn&#8217;t yet been awarded a UAE casino license. (Image: <em>Bloomberg<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s delaying efforts to add a gaming venue to MGM\u2019s under-construction $2.5 billion beachfront hotel in Dubai. Located on a man-made island, the venue will feature interpretations of the Aria, Bellagio, and MGM Grand &#8212; some of the operator\u2019s most iconic Las Vegas Strip properties. The UAE venue is slated to open in 2028.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>I thought by now, Abu Dhabi would have ruled on what they were doing,\u201d said Hornbuckle at a recent industry conference. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of dialogue around that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thus far, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) &#8212; the UAE\u2019s first gaming regulator &#8212; has approved just one gaming license, Wynn Resorts\u2019 (NASDAQ: WYNN) Wynn Al Marjan Island holds that permit. The GCGRA is helmed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/murren-appointed-chairman-of-new-uae-gaming-regulator\/\">former MGM CEO Jim Murren<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>MGM Wants a Casino in the UAE<\/h2>\n<p>MGM has made clear it wants to be part of the UAE casino scene. The company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-ceo-bill-hornbuckle-positive-on-vegas-bullish-on-japan\/\">set aside 150K square feet<\/a> of space at the Dubai property that could be used for a casino in the event the UAE leadership signs off on gaming.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>At the 2023 Global Gaming Exhibition (G2E), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-ceo-sees-uae-approving-four-casinos\/\">Hornbuckle said<\/a> the Emirates represent a compelling opportunity and that MGM would love to be in Dubai with a casino. He\u2019s also referred to it as a \u201cfascinating\u201d region, indicating the operator will be ready to act when it gets the go-ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have permission yet from the ruler of Dubai to go forward. I don\u2019t know when we\u2019ll hear, but I do believe this \u2026 If this gets a casino, and I believe it will over time, we think it\u2019s a massive opportunity,\u201d said the MGM boss by way of <em>Arabian Gulf Business Insight <\/em>(AGBI).<\/p>\n<h2>UAE Casino Competition Could Intensify<\/h2>\n<p>For now, the prevailing consensus is that when it opens in 2027, Wynn Al Marjan Island will enjoy a multiyear casino monopoly in the UAE because the GCGRA isn\u2019t in a hurry to approve another casino license. That doesn\u2019t mean operators won\u2019t jockey for position for upcoming permits there.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>While Wynn Al Marjan Island isn\u2019t yet open, there are signs the UAE will be a competitive casino market. MGM could be ready to go at a moment\u2019s notice, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wynn-could-evaluate-uae-ipo-second-casino-there\/\">the door could be open<\/a> for Wynn to potentially add a second gaming venue down the road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some industry executives and experts have estimated that the UAE could eventually become the world\u2019s fourth-largest casino market by gross gaming revenue (GGR), trailing only Macau, Las Vegas, and Singapore, though it\u2019s widely believed that getting to those heights will require having a minimum of three or four integrated resorts.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-ceo-surprised-company-hasnt-won-uae-casino-license\/\">MGM CEO Hornbuckle Surprised Company Hasn\u2019t Won UAE Casino License<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MGM is building a $2.5 billion nongaming resort in Dubai Wynn Resorts holds UAE\u2019s only casino permit MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) CEO Bill Hornbuckle is astounded regulators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have yet to approve a second casino license. MGM CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle. He&#8217;s surprised the company hasn&#8217;t yet been awarded a UAE casino license. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}