FIRST.bet appoints former DraftKings SVP Ian Bradley as co-CEO

Ian Bradley and founder Tom Light form a co-CEO partnership to lead FIRST.bet, reuniting two former SBTech executives to drive the next phase of B2B growth.

Press release.- FIRST.bet announced the appointment of Ian Bradley as co-CEO. Bradley – most recently SVP at DraftKings, and a former colleague of Light’s from SBTech – joins as a partner in the business alongside founder Tom Light, the two leading FIRST.bet together as the company enters its next phase of growth across LatAm, Europe and beyond.

Bradley brings more than 20 years of B2B sportsbook and trading heritage, beginning in spread betting and trading at Sporting Index and Sporting Solutions before joining SBTech – the B2B sportsbook business whose technology became part of DraftKings through their 2020 merger. As SVP at DraftKings, he was a central figure in the company’s sportsbook success in the years that followed, with responsibility for all of its consumer sportsbook revenue.

FIRST.bet was itself founded by former SBTech leaders, making Bradley’s appointment a return to the B2B roots where he built his career.

Bradley joins not simply as a senior executive but as a partner in the business alongside Light, the two sharing ownership of FIRST.bet’s strategy and direction as co-CEOs. Having first worked together at SBTech, they combine Light’s vision and product leadership as founder with Bradley’s track record in scaling sportsbook businesses, jointly driving growth across product, technology and trading as the company expands across its core markets.

Tom Light, founder and co-CEO of FIRST.bet, said: “Ian is one of the most respected leaders in our industry, and I worked alongside him at SBTech, so I’ve seen first-hand what he builds. I’ve wanted him alongside me at FIRST.bet for some time – that he’s only now free to join tells you how highly DraftKings valued him. Asking Ian to run the business with me as co-CEO is the clearest statement of intent we could make: FIRST.bet is building the platform serious operators choose, and together we’ll get there faster.”

Ian Bradley, co-CEO of FIRST.bet, commented: “FIRST.bet has built something rare – a world-class team and genuinely Tier-1 technology, with the trading depth and product to back it. I wanted to work alongside a team like this and help build on the success they’ve already created. Running the company alongside Tom as co-CEO is exactly the challenge I wanted next, and the opportunity in B2B right now – across LATAM, Europe and beyond – is enormous.”