When the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) took ownership of the A-League, one of their key strategies was to create a new media platform. This resulted in KeepUp, a platform that was intended to generate media content and add value to the A-League. Since its launch, KeepUp has evolved from what the APL initially intended, and is now providing a service the Australian Football Community desperately needed.
The initial content strategy failed
Australia has millions of football fans that don’t engage with the domestic competition, instead they engage with higher profile competitions like the Premier League. KeepUp intended to attract these fans by providing international football content and then turn these fans’ attention to the A-League content that was also offered on the platform.
When KeepUp launched this content strategy was evident. The APL signed content deals with international leagues and featured that content prominently on the platform. KeepUp even had space on its home page dedicated to the ‘Power Ten’, which was simply a list of popular international footballers.
Unfortunately for the APL, KeepUp couldn’t compete with more established global media outlets. KeepUp’s content was inferior and its platform was plagued with technical and functional issues. KeepUp has since failed to cut through as a stand alone platform, and this evidenced by its meagre audience on its social media channels (it’s Twitter page for example has fewer than 8,000 followers). Despite this strategic failure, KeepUp has found a niche in the media landscape, although not as the APL initially intended.
Overtime KeepUp evolved its content offering. Gone is the ‘Power Ten’, gone are Champions League articles on the home page. In their place are Australian-centric stories that aren’t being told by global football media outlets. Socceroos and Matildas content features prominently on the platform as do feature pieces about Australian players and coaches abroad. By changing its international football content in this way KeepUp has managed to offer something unique to all Australian Football Fans.
This change in focus has also complimented the platform’s A-League content. The A-League is mentioned alongside the the Premier League in KeepUp’s content about Postecoglou. The A-League is mentioned alongside Lionel Messi in KeepUp content about the Socceroos. These connected narratives serve as better leads into stand alone A-League content and increase the perceived value of the A-League to non-fans. Connecting the A-League to a global football ecosystem also enriches the engagement of existing A-League fans by adding new dimensions to the mainstream discourse of the league.
The overall KeepUp strategy addresses a gap in the market
Although the content strategy may have changed, the APL succeeded in filling an important gap in the market by deciding to create KeepUp in the first place. Previous media players like FoxSports, The World Game and FourFourTwo have divested from reporting on Australian football, and the remaining football media outlets are limited in their ability to adequately service fans for many reasons, including:
- Under resourcing A-League journalism (Fairfax),
- Reporting only sporadically (The Guardian, ESPN),
- A perception of reducing quality (FTBL.com),
- Not being professionally run, but rather run by volunteers (The Football Sack, Front Page Football), or
- Limited to produce stories to promote their own football content (Stan, Optus).
Immediately prior to KeepUp, there was no professional outlet adequately telling Australian Football stories, this has a significant impact on A-League visibility in mainstream Australia.
KeepUp’s $30 million investment may not be enough to draw in fans of International Football, but the investment is a game changer when focused on Australian Football. By leveraging existing A-League social media pages KeepUp content is also able to serve a huge and interested audience.
A large and well capitalised platform like KeepUp allows for professional development in football media and ensures stories are adequately told. Already, KeepUp content dominates aggregators like Google News and Reddit when searching for A-League news. The Australian Football media ecosystem would be rather empty without KeepUp and would falsely imply there is little to no interest for the sport in Australia.
The KeepUp Platform must continue to evolve
But there is significant interest in the sport in Australia – and the KeepUp platform allows the APL make sure these storeis are told. However, KeepUp’s dominance in the space also allows the APL to control how these stories are told. KeepUp not only publishes match reports, but also opinion pieces and tabloid style click bait which would have looked out of place on the old A-League websites. This diverse content enriches A-League engagement but cannot tell the whole story. KeepUp is inherently conflicted as it is owned by the APL. This means controversial decisions, such as Grand Final Hosting rights, did not receive appropriate media coverage on the platform. It also means perceived threats to the APL such as the National Second Division may not be reported on or covered by KeepUp fairly.
Although the issue of bias may not easily solvable, fans will hope that KeepUp will solve its other issues including technical faults (including many on its slow app), functional issues (such as its fantasy A-League platform and A-League club website integration) and refining the confusing branding (that often blurs A-League Men, A-League Women and KeepUp content as one).
The good news is the APL has proven KeepUp can solve issues, as evidenced by its changing content offering. As well as refocusing its international content on Australian Football Stories, KeepUp has also reintroduced fantasy A-League competitions and produced the excellent A-League All Access series. These have all improved A-League fan engagement and improved the perceived value of the League to non-fans.
There is plenty more upside for the APL now that is has a platform like KeepUp work on. Its existence creates oppurtunites that were previously out of reach for the A-League to self-direct, including the potential for more diverse video content (such as an AFL360 style commentary show), elevating media personalities (who generate clicks and create conversations like Kane Cornes for the AFL) and even creating online forums and live streaming through the KeepUp platform.
Although not perfect, the APL got something right. KeepUp has to continue evolving but it mere presence and significant investment into professional football media has been a necessary strategic move for the benefit of the Australian Football community.
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