Betsson retires betFIRST brand in Belgium for eponymous platform

Betsson has shelved the betFIRST brand in Belgium, replacing it with its eponymous Betsson platform, according to EGR.

The Stockholm-listed group acquired betFIRST in a €120m deal announced in the summer of 2023. The Belgian operator, founded in 2011, held a 3% market share in 2025, according to figures from H2 Gambling Capital cited by EGR.

Under Betsson's ownership, betFIRST had continued to expand, launching an online casino brand in Belgium through a partnership with Group Partouche in February 2024.

Betsson said the new Betsson-branded business in Belgium will continue to operate under the betFIRST licence, with the betfirst.be domain now redirecting to Betsson's Belgian website. The company will offer both online sports betting and igaming in the market, and has a live job listing for a Belgian country manager.

The rebrand follows a period of leadership change in the market. Former chief executive Alexis Murphy left the business in January and was succeeded by chief operating officer Philip Wilson, who himself departed in June, EGR reported.

Betsson has separately built brand visibility in Belgium through a front-of-shirt sponsorship with Club Brugge, one of the country's leading football clubs, featuring its infotainment and news portal Betsson.sport. The arrangement allows the operator to secure shirt exposure despite a Belgian ban on gambling companies holding front-of-shirt sponsorships. Betsson uses the same approach in Italy, where Betsson.sport appears on the shirts of Inter Milan under comparable restrictions.

The Belgian move mirrors a rebrand Betsson carried out in Lithuania last year, where it phased out its Betsafe platform after eight years in the market in favour of the Betsson name. Betsafe continues to operate under its own brand in other jurisdictions. Betsson's wider portfolio includes Inkabet in Peru, Jalla! Casino in Sweden, StarCasinò in Italy, Rizk and NordicBet.

Betsson said in a statement reported by EGR that the move "further strengthens Betsson's position in regulated markets and reflects the group's ambition to drive greater consistency, scalability and brand recognition across its international operations."

Group chief executive Jesper Svensson said the rebrand was "a natural next step in our journey," adding that aligning the group's presence under one name would help it "unlock broader marketing synergies, strengthen our global identity and continue delivering the high-quality experience that our customers know and trust."