FIRST.bet makes debut in “hard to impress” Sweden market

FIRST.bet has unblocked another market, taking its platform into Sweden for the first time. The Bulgarian sportsbook technology company has made its SportOS betting operating system available to Swedish companies. Services provided include pricing, trading, risk, bet acceptance and settlement services. Under FIRST.bet’s model, operators retain ownership of frontend code, design and user flow, with the B2B running backend capabilities behind the scenes. The firm asserts that this enables operators to retain full control of their sportsbook’s image, how it is presented to customers, and how its customers use it. The launch comes as FIRST.bet prepares to enter its next planned phase of business development. “Sweden is the right place to start this phase because it is a hard market to impress,” said Tom Light, founder and Chief Executive Officer of FIRST.bet. “Every operator there works under the same strict rules, and a bonus is only allowed the first time a player plays, so the product is what sets them apart.” FIRST.bet’s expansion into Sweden comes amid a wider global push by the Sofia-based company. However, this push has seen a prominent focus on Latin American markets – particularly Brazil, which just announced a ban on online betting and gambling. Although the ban could be lifted depending on the outcome of the upcoming Brazilian election, it has still led to many job losses in the local industry while operators and suppliers alike are preparing for return on investment to be dashed. Europe may become a much more important collection of markets for FIRST.bet as a result. In Sweden’s case, the market is small but very lucrative, being home to a number of well-established and profitable brands, including state-owned Svenska Spel and ATG, and private firms Unibet, LeoVegas, bet365 and Paf, among others. FIRST.bet is expressing a lot of confidence that its operating model will find favour among Sweden’s B2C industry. “The strongest operators want to own their product and their frontend,” Light continued. “You do not build a whole gym just to work out. Operators should not have to build their own trading operation just to own their sportsbook. They own what the player sees, and we run the engine behind it.”