Fanatics has signed a joint venture agreement with Momentum Group to take over the UAE’s only licensed sports betting and iGaming operation, giving the US sports commerce company its first foothold in the Middle East’s emerging regulated market.
Under the deal, Fanatics will assume Momentum’s operator licences and integrate its technology and product capabilities into the existing operation. Momentum, which received regulatory approval in 2024, runs Play971 — the UAE’s sole licensed sports betting and iGaming platform, regulated by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA).
What changes under the joint venture
The agreement transfers operational control of the licences to Fanatics while Momentum retains a stake in the venture. Fanatics brings its B2C technology stack and what it describes as speed-to-scale capabilities; Momentum contributes local regulatory relationships and two years of operational experience in the market.
Momentum COO Scott Burton said the rationale was straightforward:
“Combining Momentum’s regional experience with Fanatics’ global product capability creates a partnership well placed to grow alongside this market for the long term.”
Play971 operates under the GCGRA, which was established to oversee commercial gaming in the UAE. Momentum remains the only entity to have received a sports betting licence from the authority since it began issuing permissions in 2024, making this joint venture the only legal route into UAE sports betting for any operator.
Fanatics’ Middle East expansion
The UAE deal is the second Middle East move Fanatics has announced in quick succession. In early June 2026, the company confirmed plans to open a new office in Qatar, which it intends to use as a regional hub for its operations across the Gulf.
Conor Grant, President of Fanatics Gaming, said:
“The UAE is establishing one of the most thoughtfully regulated commercial gaming markets in the world, and Momentum has demonstrated what a responsible, credible operation within it looks like. We are entering this market for the long term, committed to building something genuinely category-defining together.”
Fanatics’ approach in the UAE mirrors the structure it has used in other markets where it has entered via existing licensed operators rather than pursuing licences from scratch. The UAE’s tightly controlled licensing environment — with a single operator permitted under the GCGRA framework — makes the Momentum route the only realistic entry point for any incoming company.
The UAE market context
The UAE’s commercial gaming sector is among the newest in the world. The GCGRA began granting licences in 2024, and the market operates under strict controls: a single sports betting and iGaming licence has been issued to date, currently held by Momentum. The country’s approach differs substantially from more open frameworks — operators cannot simply apply and enter; permissions are granted selectively and are tied to specific regulatory conditions around responsible gambling and market conduct.
The Fanatics-Momentum joint venture is the first major foreign operator partnership to emerge from this framework. Earlier in 2026, 1win drew attention for organising private jet evacuations for UAE VIP clients, a sign that unlicensed operators have been actively targeting the market despite the absence of a legal route. The arrival of a licensed, internationally backed operation changes the competitive landscape, at least for players willing to use a regulated platform.
For Fanatics, the UAE is part of a broader international push. The company built its reputation in US sports merchandise and betting, but has been seeking footholds in regulated markets outside North America. The Middle East, with the UAE’s new framework and Qatar’s developing infrastructure, represents one of the few new regulated commercial gaming jurisdictions to open in the past two years. The UAE does not yet feature among the largest iGaming markets globally, but the GCGRA’s deliberate, restricted licensing model is designed to produce a controlled market rather than a rapid volume play.
What comes next
The joint venture has not disclosed a timeline for product upgrades or a launch of an expanded Play971 offering under Fanatics’ technology. The Qatar office, announced separately, suggests Fanatics is building regional infrastructure rather than treating the UAE as a single-market bet. Whether the GCGRA will expand its licence pool or keep the single-operator structure in place will be a key variable for anyone watching how commercial gaming develops in the country.
Source: Fanatics
