FIRST.bet dismisses Brazil ban fallout, eyes European and African growth

Sportsbook technology supplier FIRST.bet has rejected suggestions that Brazil's provisional ban on online sports betting and online casino threatens its survival, telling SBC News it is pressing ahead with expansion into Europe and Africa.

President Lula's order halted a regulated market that had been building steadily since January 2025, creating difficulties for operators that had set up local entities and hired staff to meet compliance requirements. Suppliers behind the market were also exposed to the fallout.

FIRST.bet chief executive Tom Light told SBC News at SBC Summit 2026 that some had predicted the company would go bankrupt as a result. "We're not dying, we're fortunately very well funded, with or without Brazil," he said.

FIRST.bet had established itself as a category leader in Brazilian sportsbook technology since the regulated market's launch, and Light acknowledged the ban represents a genuine hit, though not primarily a financial one. "My main issue is not the hit on the revenue. We're an extremely profitable company, we're extremely well funded, it's just we invested so much to create a product that really fits the taste buds of the Brazilian crowd," he said.

He added that the market's difficulty had been made clear to him from the outset. "When I entered Brazil, they told me Brazil is not for amateurs. They were right, it's not. We had a lot of excitement about growing this market, now it's been put on hold."

Light said the company would wait out the disruption. "Patience is a virtue and we have that patience and the length of soul to really go and wait, then come out a winner on the other side," he said.

Having spent its first two years focused on Brazil and the wider Latin American region, FIRST.bet is now turning to Europe, where it had deliberately delayed entry until securing the appropriate B2B licences and certifications. "We waited with Europe because we wanted to get the licenses and the certifications," Light said, adding that the company is now expanding into regulated European markets.

The firm is targeting operators it describes as sportsbook-first, rather than those treating betting as a secondary product line. "We want to work only with the people that have the passion to win, that have the passion to be the best in their space," Light said.

Beyond online operators, FIRST.bet is also offering retail solutions aimed at building an omnichannel experience across physical and digital channels, spanning cash management systems, cashiers, terminals, self-service betting terminals and handheld devices. Light described entering the sector later as an advantage, allowing the company to bring modern tools to what he called an old industry with old technology.

In Africa, FIRST.bet is promoting SportOS, a sportsbook operating system it says gives operators full control, alongside two features developed specifically for the region, FlexiBet and MultiCat, which can deliver a partial payout on multi-leg combo bets even when not every selection wins. "If we're just going to dictate a Western, Betano style product in Africa, it will not work," Light said.

Light said the company's longer-term ambition is for major consumer-facing operators to move away from running sportsbooks in-house and instead rely on specialist B2B suppliers, as has already happened in verticals such as live dealer, slots and crash games.

The Brazil setback has not altered that trajectory, Light indicated, as FIRST.bet looks to replicate the market position it built in Brazil and Latin America across Europe and Africa.