Play971 signs content deals with IGT and Endorphina after first UAE gambling license

Play971, the United Arab Emirates’ first licensed online gambling platform, has added IGT and Endorphina content under deals announced on 21 July. For PSPs and other high-risk payment providers, the point is simple: the UAE market is now moving from licensing headlines to actual product breadth, which usually means more transaction volume, more compliance scrutiny, and more pressure on counterparties to understand who is allowed to offer what.

1. Play971 first gained its UAE license late last year and launched its football betting offering to customers last month. It is still the country’s inaugural licensed gambling operator, so every expansion step it takes is part of the market’s first live operating playbook rather than a mature, settled setup.
2. The new partnerships bring in IGT’s PlayDigital catalogue and a curated selection of Endorphina’s themed slot games. IGT said its contribution includes legacy titles such as Blackjack, Cleopatra™, and Cats™, while Play971 described the deals as part of its push to raise the standard for gaming.
3. Gil Rotem, CEO of Digital at IGT, said the partnership is “rooted in innovation and integrity” and aimed at supporting the UAE market’s sustained growth. Endorphina’s Head of Marketing, Irina Veselkova, said the company is joining “a market still in its early stages,” which is a useful reminder that the commercial framework is young even if the licensing framework is already moving.
4. Endorphina secured its gaming-related vendor license in May. Under that framework, it is permitted to offer gaming-related products and services across the Emirates within the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority’s compliance and oversight structure.
5. Play971 received its license from the GCGRA, which was established in 2023 to coordinate gambling regulation in the Emirates and manage licensing. The platform has also expanded beyond content, recruiting former Australian cricketer Brett Lee as a brand ambassador and launching football betting for UAE-based customers last month.

For high-risk payment teams, the useful detail here is not just that Play971 has a license. It is that the UAE is now showing the first signs of a licensed ecosystem with operator, supplier, and product approvals all moving in sequence under the GCGRA framework.