SBC News Sportego's Trevor Keane: Work with the clubs that are innovative and think differently

Sportego’s Trevor Keane: Work with the clubs that are innovative and think differently

sportego-trevorkeane-BOF
Trevor Keane

Sportego is a marketing and gaming development company based in Ireland. Their aim is to help better connect sports clubs with fans via improved engagement and interaction opportunities.

Following on from an extremely insightful interview with Trevor Keane in September 2015, SBC News caught up with the founder and owner to discuss progress made during the back end of last year, feedback from their soft launch period and plans for the year ahead.

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SBC: How did the soft launch period go; did this prompt any changes to your approach towards Baggies fans and other clients of Sportego? 

TK: The soft launch with WBA went very well and we have seen good traction. The weekly numbers playing the game has been brilliant and the feedback has been very positive. As a learning curve it has been incredible; one aspect we are looking it is having micro-mobile responsive websites for clubs, in addition to the club app. We will also look at the possibility of offering cash based games to fans based on their club fixtures.

SBC: We assume that West Brom fans must really enjoy this opportunity to compete against their friends and play for prizes; how well has this been received by them in the first half of the season? 

TK: The feedback has been fantastic; the numbers in weekly games and sign-ups grows by the week and we are overwhelmed by the response. Fans have really bought into the game and with the addition of quizzes and predictor games they have even more reason to get involved. We plan to offer more games as we learn more about the fans and what they like and want.

SBC: As you are aiming to become a big part of the Football club, is the type of club you approach important to your ongoing strategy? So, not just on a financial level, but perception of the club, history of success, receptiveness to innovation etc. 

TK: Yes, the clubs we work with is very important in our decision making. We want to become part of their furniture so to speak and that means we need to work with clubs that are innovative and think differently. Social is a big part of what we look at as is fan base and its current perception of the club. We want clubs that have a strong UK fan base too and also “get it”.

By get it I mean they understand the power of engaging with fans and offering them two way interaction on a match-day. Club’s release fantastic behind the scenes videos and other match day related content but our games are about getting the fans involved.

SBC: How helpful have the clubs you are working with been in terms of pushing your App, facilitating a connection to the fans and helping to maximise your partnership with them? 

TK: So far we have enjoyed a good experience with the clubs we have worked with. WBA and Chesterfield have both being excellent partners and we are glad to be involved with them. We have made videos with both clubs in the last month and enjoyed over 40,000 views with Anders Lindegaard’s ultimate WBA 5-aside team.

SBC: Have you been able to sign partnerships with any more clubs since we last spoke?  

TK: We have a numbers of deals in the pipeline that should be announced before ICE so it really is a case of watch this space.

SBC: Are there any big plans you have for Sportego in 2016? 

TK: The plan at the moment is to continue the good work of 2015. That means building more and more relationships with clubs, getting them on board with our project and moving into other markets. We also want to continue to grow our daily game, www.fanfeud.co.uk, and get people playing that. Our content strategy for FanFeud, which includes blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels will continue to grow and we are also looking at other sports to branch out into.

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