UAE iGaming demand has not grown since April

From January to March 2026, UAE iGaming demand measured by Blask Index was 44% higher than in the same months of 2025. From April to October it was only 0.1% higher, while average CEB, Blask's projected revenue, grew 24% year on year to $864.5M.

The slowdown began in April, when TrueWin's demand halved from March, and that one brand made up 54% of the market's fall that month. Since then, monthly demand has hovered around last year's level: above it from April to July and in September, below it in August and October. October ended 11% under October 2025.

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Behind that flat total, two brands grew fast. Compared with April–October 2025, demand for betPawa rose 63% and demand for SportyBet 62%, while all other brands combined lost 20%. The losses were broad: 103 of 155 brands shrank, including Dubibet, Stake and Fortebet. Play971, the first iGaming site licensed by the UAE regulator, is the only brand in the top eight that had almost no demand a year earlier. Its share of country's Blask Index peaked at 6.6% in June and was 3.2% in October.

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Projected revenue follows the same split. betPawa and SportyBet account for 89% of the $170.1M increase in average CEB against April–October 2025, while CEB of all other brands combined rose only 3%, even though their demand fell.

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