The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) is seemingly in crisis mode after announcing that nearly half its staff would be made redundant last week.
Shockwaves were sent to football fans and pundits around the country as the APL and A-League’s financial crisis looked to have hit fever pitch.
Despite sealing a five-year, $200 million broadcast deal with Network Ten in 2021, the APL’s financial struggles have worsened in the early days of 2024, and it isn’t forecasted to get any better.
Socceroos legend Robbie Slater has slammed the APL for the mismanagement of funds and questioned some of the big financial decisions that may have led to this downfall.
“The money’s gone, the money was the private equity firm, Silver Lake, which by the way is a massive deal,” Slater told SEN 1170 The Run Home.
“$120 million or $140 million, US, is not a massive amount of money to them but I still think they’re going to ask questions, or maybe they were involved, this is what we don’t know.
“$30-40 million was spent on KeepUp, a failed app, how do you spend that much money on an app? People didn’t even know (it existed).”
The APL’s digital arm KeepUp, was setup in 2021 and was aimed at being a global football hub for fans in Australia.
“I’ve spoken to two (A-League owners) and they weren’t even aware of what this money was spent on and where this money was spent,” Slater added.
“One owner said that he told them that this KeepUp thing was not going to work, that the name was wrong and that people that want football news aren’t going to go to KeepUp.
“How do you spend $30-$40 million? So, where’s the rest of the money? Even if you take $30-40 million out of that, there’s still $80 or $90 million (leftover).”
Listen to the full chat below