- Wynn Al Marjan Island opens in September 2027, months later than the spring date Wynn carried into this year.
- Construction costs rose about $600 million to roughly $5.7 billion, and half of that traces to the war with Iran.
- Wynn holds 40% of the joint venture behind the resort and has contributed $1.06 billion of cash to it.
- The property holds the first commercial gaming facility operator license the UAE issued, granted in October 2024.
Half the overrun traces to the war with Iran, and the Emirates’ first casino floor is now just over a year out.
RAS AL KHAIMAH, United Arab Emirates – Wynn Resorts set September 2027 as the opening date for Wynn Al Marjan Island, the first casino resort in the United Arab Emirates. The company also raised the project’s construction cost by about $600 million, to roughly $5.7 billion.
Half The $600 Million Increase Traces To The War With Iran
Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Craig Billings told analysts on the company’s Aug. 4 earnings call that roughly half the increase came from disruption tied to the war with Iran. He named higher material costs, higher shipping costs, and the pre-opening and capitalized interest costs that pile up when the schedule runs longer. Billings put the rest down to remeasurement, trade coordination and other costs he said anyone would expect on a project of that scale and duration.
The date moved with the money. Wynn had been pointing at a spring 2027 opening and now says the doors open in September 2027.
Wynn’s 40% Stake Grows While Las Vegas Earnings Slip
Wynn owns 40% of the joint venture developing the property, alongside Marjan and RAK Hospitality Holding. It put another $48.1 million of cash into that venture during the quarter, lifting life-to-date contributions to $1.06 billion, its second-quarter results show.
The rest of the business paid for it comfortably enough. Operating revenues reached $1.86 billion for the quarter, $119.1 million ahead of the same period last year. Net income attributable to Wynn Resorts, Limited landed at $140.1 million, better than double the $66.2 million it posted a year earlier.
Las Vegas was the soft spot. Adjusted property EBITDAR there fell $19.6 million to $215.2 million on essentially flat revenue of $643.2 million. The Strip is grinding while the desert bill climbs.
The Country’s First Casino Floor, Inside 1,530 Rooms
The resort will carry 1,530 rooms and suites, 22 restaurants, lounges and bars, a theater, a five-star spa and a shopping esplanade, on a man-made island about 50 miles from Dubai International Airport. The gaming area sits inside that, and the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority issued the joint venture the first commercial gaming facility operator license in the UAE on Oct. 4, 2024, after what the federal regulator described as an extensive review.
Wynn has about 425 people on the project and needs roughly 3,000 before the doors open, with gaming supervisors, table-games area managers and gaming-equipment technicians among the roles it is recruiting. That is a dealing staff being built from scratch in a country that has never had a table to deal.
A floor built for a market with no gambling history is a floor where almost nobody walks in knowing which bets are cheap and which are expensive, and the prices on a casino floor are not close to equal. That is a familiar problem in the American markets where legal online craps competes, and a brand new one in the Emirates.
Craps’ Pass Line Costs 1.41%, And The Odds Behind It Cost Nothing
Craps prices that gap most plainly. The pass line carries a 1.41% house edge, meaning the game pays a made point slightly less than the true odds of making it, and that sliver is the entire cost of the bet.
The free odds wager placed behind it pays at true odds, no gap at all, which makes it craps’ only zero-edge wager and drags a well-backed pass line toward 0.6% or lower.
The rest of the floor spreads out behind it. Banker in baccarat runs 1.06% after the 5% commission, the best price in that game and still costlier than a backed pass line, and it bleeds a player slowly all the same. Player sits at 1.24%. The tie pays 8:1 against a 14.36% edge, the worst value most newcomers reach for first, because the payout looks generous.
A single-zero roulette wheel costs 2.7% and an American double-zero wheel costs 5.26% for identical bets. At blackjack, paying a natural 6:5 instead of 3:2 adds about 1.39 percentage points to the house edge, and the hand still arrives on about 4.75% of deals, because the probability belongs to the game and the payout belongs to the house.
Wynn has not published the game mix, the table limits or the rules it will spread. It will set those before the doors open in September 2027.