Few UAE companies launched in the past two years have attracted as much attention, or as much confusion, as the one behind Play971. Residents ask who owns it, whether it is a foreign brand with a local front, which authority supervises it, and why it works in some emirates and not others. This profile answers those questions in the format a business directory is used to: the legal entity, its ownership, its licence, its regulator, its timeline, its footprint and its customers.
Legal entity and ownership
The Play971 operator is Coin Technology Projects LLC, a limited liability company registered in Abu Dhabi. It is part of the Momentum group, the Abu Dhabi-based group whose companies hold the UAE’s federal licences in the regulated leisure sector. It is an Emirati company under UAE law, with its licence, accounts, customer records and production studio inside the country. That is the plain answer to who owns Play971: an Abu Dhabi company in an Abu Dhabi group, not an offshore operator trading under a local name.
Regulator and licence
The company holds licences from the GCGRA, a federal regulatory authority of the UAE government established in 2023 with a mandate covering all seven emirates. The authority licenses operators and their suppliers, maintains a public register, sets standards for identity verification, consumer protection and data security, and can inspect, fine and withdraw licences. Coin Technology Projects LLC was licensed in late 2025 and is the only online operator of its kind on the register. The regulator’s framework is two-tiered: federal standards, with each emirate’s leadership deciding whether the licensed activity is permitted within its borders.
Timeline
The regulator was established in 2023 and spent its first two years building the framework. The company’s licences were granted in late 2025. A supervised trial ran in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah from November 2025. Public launch followed on 5 June 2026. Since then Sharjah has been confirmed as a participating emirate.
What the Play971 company does
Play971 is a sport and entertainment platform for adult UAE residents. Its sport coverage spans the UAE Pro League, the major European football competitions, horse racing and other events, with live data and statistics supplied by Sportradar, the data company used by leagues and governing bodies worldwide. Its live entertainment is produced in a purpose-built, licensed studio in Abu Dhabi and streamed in real time to verified account holders. The studio is licensed and inspected as a supplier under the same federal framework as the operator.
Where it operates
Play971 Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah access is confirmed for eligible residents. The platform does not operate in Dubai, which has not opted into the federal framework, and Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah are unconfirmed. Location is verified on the device at every session, VPNs and proxies are detected and blocked, and the operator is obliged to geofence any emirate that has not opted in. A website offering similar services that works in Dubai is, by that fact, not this company and not licensed.
Who it serves
UAE residents aged 21 and over, verified with an Emirates ID, a UAE mobile number and a residential address. Nationality and visa type are irrelevant; the Emirates ID is the test. Tourists cannot register. Verification, including a live face check, is completed before any money can be added. Accounts run in dirhams only, cryptocurrency is not accepted, and every payment method must be in the account holder’s own name. Each account is tied to one Emirates ID, so duplicate accounts are impossible and a permanently closed account cannot be reopened under a new email.
Licence obligations
The company operates under conditions that UAE residents will recognise from banking. Identity before money. Dirhams only. Mandatory account controls: spending limits set by the account holder in advance, session reminders, temporary pauses and a permanent exclusion tied to the Emirates ID. Promotion constrained by licence conditions. Monitoring of accounts for patterns of heavy use, with a duty to intervene. Accurate, auditable transaction records. Customer data held in the UAE under the federal Personal Data Protection Law. And a complaints route that ends at the regulator for anything the operator will not resolve.
How it differs from foreign operators
For years, foreign websites reached UAE residents with no licence and nobody in this country answerable for them. They are licensed, if at all, in jurisdictions whose rules do not apply here; they register anyone with an email, accept crypto, ignore emirate boundaries, demand documents after a withdrawal request rather than before a deposit, and have no regulator a resident can complain to. Coin Technology Projects LLC is the first operator in this sector that answers to a federal authority of the UAE government, and that accountability, rather than the product, is what distinguishes it.
The group behind the company
The Momentum group is the Abu Dhabi group that holds the UAE’s federal licences in the regulated leisure sector, and Coin Technology Projects LLC is its online operating company. The group structure matters to residents for one practical reason: it means the operator is not a thinly capitalised special-purpose vehicle but part of an established Emirati group with other licensed businesses, offices and staff in the capital, which is what a federal regulator looks for before granting a licence of this kind. The group’s other licensed activities are regulated by the same authority, under the same standards.
Suppliers and partners
The regulator licenses suppliers as well as operators, and the company’s principal suppliers are on the register alongside it. Sport data and statistics come from Sportradar, the supplier used by leagues and governing bodies worldwide for official data and integrity monitoring. The live entertainment studio in Abu Dhabi is licensed and inspected as a supplier in its own right. Payment processing runs through UAE-regulated channels in dirhams. For a business evaluating the company as a partner, the supplier register is the quickest way to confirm that every link in the chain is inside the framework.
What the profile means in practice
For a resident, the profile answers the question that matters: if something goes wrong, who in this country is answerable? The answer is an Abu Dhabi company with a federal licence, supervised by a federal authority with the power to fine it and withdraw the licence. For a business, it means the company can be dealt with as any other licensed UAE entity, with a legal name on a public register, a registered address in the capital, and obligations under UAE law.
What the company is licensed to offer
In plain terms, Coin Technology Projects LLC holds the UAE’s first online sports betting licence and online casino licence. The Play971 sportsbook covers football, horse racing and other sports, and the Play971 online casino streams live dealer tables from the Abu Dhabi studio. It is the only licensed sportsbook in the UAE and the only legal online casino in the UAE on the federal register, which is why the question “is online betting legal in the UAE” now has a one-word answer for eligible residents in participating emirates: yes, on this operator’s platform and nowhere else.
Key people and public statements
At launch the company’s commercial leadership spoke of helping residents use the platform sustainably, and the account controls above are where that is made concrete. The group’s wider leadership is Abu Dhabi-based; the regulator’s leadership is federal.
Contact and verification
Residents can verify the company’s licence by matching its legal name against the GCGRA’s public register, which takes a minute. The platform’s own terms and eligibility page state where it operates and who may use it. Registration for eligible residents is at play971.ae, through the official site and app stores only; lookalike apps and copycat sites using the name are the most common way residents are caught out.
Why a single licensed operator
Residents sometimes ask why the UAE licensed one online operator rather than several. The regulator’s framework allows one online licence per emirate, and the emirates that have opted in have so far activated the same operator, which keeps supervision concentrated and standards uniform. For the company it means a market without licensed competitors; for the regulator it means a single point of accountability; for residents it means the register is short enough to check in seconds.
At a glance
Legal name: Coin Technology Projects LLC. Registered: Abu Dhabi, UAE. Group: Momentum. Regulator: GCGRA (federal). Licensed: late 2025. Trial: November 2025 (Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah). Public launch: 5 June 2026. Operates in: Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah. Not in: Dubai. Customers: UAE residents 21+, Emirates ID verified. Currency: AED only. Data: held in UAE. Complaints: operator, then regulator.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Play971? Coin Technology Projects LLC, an Emirati company registered in Abu Dhabi and part of the Momentum group.
Who regulates the Play971 operator? The GCGRA, a federal regulatory authority of the UAE government.
Is it a foreign company? No. It is an Abu Dhabi company whose licence, accounts, records and studio are inside the UAE under UAE law.
Where does it operate? Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. Not Dubai.
Who can be a customer? UAE residents aged 21 and over with a valid Emirates ID, in a participating emirate.
How do I verify the licence? Match the legal name against the GCGRA’s public register.
Play971 is restricted in the UAE to adults aged 21 and over in participating emirates. Residents should set spending limits before adding money and keep their use occasional.
