9INE. NRG. One Betting Brand – Pusulabet Puts Naming Rights at the Centre of Its CS2 Strategy
Two Counter-Strike 2 teams now carry the same betting brand in their name, and that repetition is the point. Pusulabet has put naming rights at the centre of its esports strategy, titling both the 9INE and NRG rosters rather than settling for the jersey logos and stream overlays that most betting sponsors buy. The community already knows the partnerships exist. What they say about Pusulabet’s intent is the more useful question.
Why Pusulabet’s naming-rights move matters now
Betting brands have poured into esports over the past two years, but most arrive as one of several sponsors on a jersey, cycling in and out season by season. Pusulabet has taken a different route. By securing the team name itself across two organisations, it is buying the most prominent asset an esports sponsorship offers, the one that appears in every match listing, every broadcast graphic and every result posted to social. Doing that once is a statement. Doing it twice, on the same game, points to a plan.
What the 9INE and NRG partnerships actually involve
The 9INE side went live first, with the Swedish organisation competing as 9INE Pusulabet after the partnership was announced in late June 2025, live from 1 July. NRG Pusulabet branding follows in October. Both deals run through to January 2028, giving Pusulabet a fixed multi-year presence across two rosters rather than a rolling seasonal arrangement.
The partnerships reach past the name change. Activations span joint work on FACEIT, dedicated Twitch broadcasts and in-game Counter-Strike 2 integrations, alongside broader digital campaigns. Pusulabet is positioned as global betting partner to both teams, which extends its reach beyond a single regional market and across two distinct fanbases.
What titling two teams signals for Pusulabet
The operator read is straightforward. A single-team jersey deal is a visibility buy; titling two teams on multi-year terms is a portfolio being built. The brand lands in front of two audiences, repeatedly, over a period long enough to compound recognition rather than rent it for a season. That is a different order of commitment, and it fits a brand deliberately constructing a presence across sports and gaming rather than chasing short bursts of exposure. Pusulabet is also understood to have further partnerships in the pipeline, though no detail has been shared.
On the 9INE launch, Fredrik Belstad, CEO of 9INE, framed the ambition in the organisation’s own words:
“Our partnership with Pusulabet allows us to take another big step forward. We share the same energy, ambition, and vision for the future of competitive gaming. This cooperation will bring real value not just to the organization, but most importantly, to our community.”
Why two rosters double Pusulabet’s exposure to CS2 form
Naming rights tie a brand’s visibility to a team’s results, and that cuts both ways. Competitive form is volatile in Counter-Strike 2, and a quiet season across either roster means the brand rides along with it. Spreading the bet across two teams softens the exposure to any single result, but it also doubles the brand’s dependence on the wider esports calendar staying healthy and on both organisations performing well enough to stay visible. The upside of a portfolio is diversification; the cost is that there is now more riding on the game itself.
Is multi-team naming rights the model other betting brands follow?
Pusulabet has committed to a structure most of its peers have not attempted: two titled teams, one game, fixed terms through 2028. Whether that becomes a template depends on what the exposure returns over the next two years. If the repeated, cross-team presence converts into the kind of brand recall a single jersey deal cannot buy, expect other operators to study it closely. For now, it stands as one of the more deliberate long-term plays a betting brand has made in Counter-Strike, and the pipeline hint suggests Pusulabet is not finished.
Source: Pusulabet
