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- Fanatics Enters UAE Sports Gaming Market; Tabby Secures New Saudi Licences; OSN Proposes $3.39 Take-Private Bid for Anghami
Fanatics Enters UAE Sports Gaming Market; Tabby Secures New Saudi Licences; OSN Proposes $3.39 Take-Private Bid for Anghami
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Monday, July 6, 2026
Happy Monday everyone!
Gulf digital consumer and entertainment platforms are executing major strategic expansions and consolidations. Michael Rubin’s Fanatics is entering the international gaming market through an Abu Dhabi-based joint venture with Momentum Group, absorbing existing UAE lottery and sportsbook assets following its surge to $2 billion in 2025 gaming revenue. Concurrently, Riyadh-headquartered fintech Tabby, led by CEO Hosam Arab, has secured consumer and SME financing licences from the Saudi Central Bank to offer Shariah-compliant credit limits up to SAR 50,000. Meanwhile, OSN Streaming has submitted a preliminary $3.39 per share cash proposal to acquire the remaining 33% stake of Nasdaq-listed music platform Anghami in a take-private transaction.
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ADX | 9,809.64 | Closed |
Tadawul | 10,798.97 | 0.26% |
Fanatics Partners With Momentum Group for UAE Digital Lottery and Sportsbook Operations
What Is It About
American sports retailer Fanatics has selected the UAE for its first international gaming expansion. The firm is partnering with Abu Dhabi's Momentum Group to set up a localized joint enterprise following regulatory sign-off from the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority. The venture integrates Momentum's existing asset base, including the UAE Lottery, sports betting permissions, and the Play971 iGaming system, with Fanatics' core technology platform.
Global Scale Integration: Fanatics is injecting its digital infrastructure into a market where its gaming revenues jumped from $300 million to $2 billion over the past year.
Established Local Assets: Momentum Group provides an immediate operational foundation, having run the country's licensed lottery and digital gaming structures since 2024.
Broader Regional Network: The expansion aligns with founder Michael Rubin’s growing list of regional ties, including a separate sports partnership in Qatar.
Why It Matters
The move signals a major shift in the Gulf's approach to regulated digital entertainment and wagering. By setting up an official federal framework, local authorities are establishing a transparent, monitored system to capture entertainment spend that previously went to offshore platforms. For global digital entertainment firms, the transaction proves that the region's strict regulatory standards can accommodate major corporate entrants if they coordinate with vetted local operators.
Regulated Consumer Capture: The venture creates a safe, onshore destination for digital entertainment, reducing the influence of unauthorized gaming networks.
Corporate Validation: The entry of a major US sports brand validates the commercial viability of the newly established Gulf gaming guidelines.
Economic Diversification: The entertainment sector adds a fresh, non-oil tax and fee revenue stream to the local municipal balance sheet.
Infrastructure Localisation: The joint framework ensures that consumer data and gaming technology remain hosted within regional regulatory boundaries.
What’s Next
The joint venture will begin merging its engineering backends to transition the Play971 platform onto Fanatics' global technology architecture. Compliance monitors will observe initial user registration trends to ensure strict adherence to local consumer safety laws.
Software Migration: Technical teams will shift local user profiles to the new corporate system over the coming months.
Product Expansion: The entity plans to debut updated sports data tracking tools for local application users before the winter season.
Regulatory Audits: The gaming board will run ongoing security checks on the payment gateways to maintain data protection compliance.
Apple’s Starlink Update Sparks Huge Earning Opportunity
Apple just secretly added Starlink satellite support to iPhones through iOS 18.3.
One of the biggest potential winners? Mode Mobile.
Mode’s EarnPhone already reaches 490M+ users that have earned over $1B, and that’s before global satellite coverage. With SpaceX eliminating "dead zones," Mode's earning technology can now reach billions more in unbanked and rural populations worldwide.
Their global expansion is perfectly timed, and investors like you still have a chance to invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.52/share.
With their recent 32,481% revenue growth and newly reserved Nasdaq ticker, Mode is one step closer to a potential IPO.
Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering.
Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
Saudi Central Bank Grants Expanded Lending Authorities to Fintech Firm Tabby
What Is It About
Shopping and financial services app Tabby has received official consumer and small-business finance licences from the Saudi Central Bank. The fresh regulatory clearance allows the Riyadh-headquartered firm to move beyond its traditional short-term buy now, pay later options. The company is introducing longer, Shariah-compliant payment terms for larger consumer transactions ranging from SAR 2,000 to SAR 50,000, while simultaneously providing direct working capital loans to merchant partners.
Larger Funding Caps: Customers can now access fixed-cost financing limits up to SAR 50,000 for high-value personal expenses.
Expanded Service Sectors: The long-term payment options open up new categories, including used car sales, private school fees, and vacation bookings.
Corporate Working Capital: The secondary enterprise licence lets the fintech group issue operational growth loans to its 65,000 corporate clients.
Why It Matters
This expansion reflects the changing landscape of consumer credit in the region's largest economy. By moving interest-free structures into high-cost categories like education and housing rentals, the company is competing directly with traditional commercial banks for consumer loans. The transparent, fixed-cost Murabaha model offers an alternative to credit card debt, aligning with state goals to increase access to transparent financial utilities.
Displacing Credit Cards: The fixed-fee structure protects shoppers from compounding debt cycles and unpredictable penalty charges.
Retail Growth Capital: Local merchants gain immediate liquidity to fund inventory purchases without waiting for traditional bank loan reviews.
Financial Inclusivity: The regulatory clearance broadens consumer access to safe, state-backed personal credit alternatives.
Market Consolidation: The move strengthens the firm's market share among its 25 million regional users by capturing high-ticket transactions.
What’s Next
The extended checkout plans are launching immediately for an initial group of verified users before expanding to all eligible customers. The corporate lending division will begin accepting working capital applications from retail partners through its digital merchant portal.
Gradual User Rollout: Full system access will expand across the app's entire Saudi user base over the coming weeks.
Merchant Integration: Large-scale partner brands like noon and IKEA will update their checkout software to show the new funding terms.
Portfolio Risk Assessments: Risk teams will monitor early repayment data to adjust internal credit scoring algorithms for larger loan amounts.
OSN Streaming Submits Take-Private Cash Proposal to Buy Out Anghami
What Is It About
OSN Streaming has filed a preliminary, non-binding proposal to purchase all outstanding shares of Anghami it does not already own for $3.39 per share in cash. OSN currently holds a controlling 67% stake in the Abu Dhabi-headquartered music and podcast platform. To evaluate the take-private bid independently, Anghami's board of directors has established a special committee consisting of three newly appointed independent corporate executives.
Premium Cash Offer: The proposed acquisition price provides an immediate buyout route for minority public shareholders.
Independent Board Review: A new three-member special committee has taken full authority to review, negotiate, or decline the corporate offer.
Sovereign Corporate Staking: Saudi media group MBC maintains a separate 13.7% minority stake in the Nasdaq-listed streaming company.
Why It Matters
The buyout attempt highlights ongoing consolidation within the regional digital media and entertainment market. Operating a public tech company on international exchanges brings high compliance costs that can weigh down regional firms during market corrections. Pulling the streaming brand back into a private corporate structure allows the parent firm to integrate its music and television media platforms without public disclosure pressures.
Operational Synergy: Combining video streaming with audio libraries creates a unified media ecosystem capable of competing with global platforms.
Reduced Corporate Costs: Delisting from the Nasdaq eliminates expensive international regulatory filing fees and administrative overhead.
Strategic Asset Alignment: The unified structure allows the media group to package cross-platform advertising campaigns for regional brands.
Localized Content Protection: Private ownership allows long-term investments in regional audio and podcast production without quarterly margin pressures.
What’s Next
The independent special committee will retain legal and financial advisers to review the fairness of the $3.39 cash offer. Anghami will maintain its standard public listing on the Nasdaq exchange until a final boardroom decision is reached.
Financial Evaluation: Independent advisers will deliver an asset valuation report to the special committee over the coming weeks.
Boardroom Negotiations: Corporate leaders will meet to review whether to accept the current cash price or demand revised terms.
Shareholder Notification: The firm will issue an official voting notice to its public investors if the committee recommends the take-private transaction.
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Smashi Business Exclusive: Al Haboob Racing Founders On Turning Camel Racing Into A Global Franchise Model
Ahmed Al Haboob and Safwan Modir, founders of Al Haboob Racing, spoke on Smashi Business about building the world’s first professional camel racing team in Saudi Arabia. They explained how they are transforming a traditional, individual sport into a structured, franchise-style model inspired by Formula 1, with teams, sponsorships and long-term commercial value.
The founders discussed leaving corporate careers during the pandemic to pursue entrepreneurship in a “virgin” sports market, despite high operational risks tied to livestock performance. They also highlighted media ventures like their Netflix series Camel Quest, partnerships including Paul Pogba, and their vision to modernize the sport using data and technology.
👨💻From Smashi Business’ Desk
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Oil prices erased most of their early gains after the US and Iran agreed to pause attacks and resume talks over the Strait of Hormuz.
Tabby has apologised after mistakenly telling UAE customers they had won an Emirates flight voucher before later admitting the email "was sent in error."
Ben & Jerry Israel has launched what it calls its “most Israeli flavor ever.”
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