Betsson launches online casino in Belgium with Betfirst and Middelkerke Casino
Betsson bought betFIRST last year for €120m.
Belgium.- Betsson has announced that it has launched its online casino offering in Belgium under the betFIRST brand, which it bought last year. Online casino is being provided in partnership with Groupe Partouche land-based venue Middelkerke Casino.
Betsson entered a €120m deal to buy Betfirst Group in June of last year. It announced the deal with Groupe Partouche’s Middelkerke Casino at the same time. Reporting its financial results last week, Groupe Partouche said that its Casino Middelkerke land-based casino received a licence to offer online casino games in Belgium as of January.
Betfirst CEO Alexis Murphy said: “betFIRST already has the best performing and fastest sports betting app on the Belgian market. We want to replicate this success with the most comprehensive mobile casino offering in Belgium.”
Betsson operations chief executive Jesper Svenssen said: “We acquired a Belgian market leader last summer, and we are delighted to already be able to add value to the business through this unique partnership.”
The future of the Betsson and Groupe Partouche partnership
Betsson and Groupe Partouche have said that they will explore the possibility of expanding their partnership in other regulated markets. That exploration is likely to include France and Switzerland, where Groupe Partouche operates land-based casinos.
For now, online casino gambling is not legal in France, but there have been proposals to add it to the regulated sector due to estimations about the amount of money being lost to the black market. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), of which Betsson is a member, has been encouraging such a move. Betsson picked up a licence to provide online sports betting in France in September.
