BWitcher

One big league would see an absolutely massive discrepancy in the standard of riders and lead to more strung out races than you see now in any league. The teams at the bottom end of the table would be closing before season end.

The top riders aren't winning races by the length of the straight because they are mainly racing riders around their own level and don't race reserves. The Premier League is a different kettle of fish where you get riders such as Craig Cook and Danny King racing reserves way, way below their level.

Providing examples of events where 'stadiums' aren't great but still draw massive crowds is a 100% relevant example... in fact it can't get MORE relevant.

Ah I was beginning to worry you had forgotten about your trolling pokc attempts, so engrossed with your trolling of the TR rule.. desperately throwing out jibes that people love it, when NOBODY has said that they do. You're going to have to come up with some new material. So desperate were to you try and score pts over the stadium issue, you failed to even read the thread, as my first comments regarding stadium were:- And after some of your pointless trolling you state regarding stadiums:- So after all your claptrap, you think pretty much the same.. it's a factor but not a particularly significant one. As I said to begin with.

So you're suggesting someone who has seen speedway on TV is going to go along expecting state of the art facilities? There it is.. exactly what I have been saying and the crux of the issue. The majority of folk who take the mickey out of speedway fans have no concept of the sport. They've never been, they know nothing of guests, TR bollox, Playoffs or any of the geeky speedway stuff. They just know that speedway is considered an uncool thing and like sheep follow along with that line of thinking. Until that perception is changed, the sport isn't going to pull in the fans.

Stadiums can play a part, but nowhere near as much as some might think. Are facilities great for music festivals? Absolutely not, but it doesn't stop thousands going as its the 'cool' thing to do. You can pay over £100 of a ticket to the British GP in Formula One and sit on a grass bank. Even Wimbledon, people pay to go and sit on a grass bank watching a tv screen! If people perceive that its 'the place to be' cost and facilities are secondary... sadly that's much of the human race, very fickle, very easily led.

I preferred the old system, but it was still daft if you're going to go down that route. If it had never existed and had been introduced now we'd be getting told how "I explained the tactical sub rule to my mate and he burst out laughing when I told him one team could replace a weaker rider with their best one and the other team couldn't"... in other words.. it's a fabricated story more times than not. Speedways issue is its image. In a world where extreme sports are becoming ever more popular, speedway, one of the most extreme sports of all fails to market itself in that manner.

Why are you posting ridiculous statements? Is sarcasm and exaggerating all you have to further your argument? Basically, jumping on something to try and further your own argument, when in actual fact it did nothing of the sort. Of course, there are more guests being used at the moment since the introduction of the fast track system... however, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the the fact people aren't attending the sport now as much as they did in the 'good old days' as when 'fast track riders' were introduced, the crowds had already dropped. As has been explained quite clearly to you.. both guests AND double uppers were around in the 70's. In fact double uppers went out of the sport for quite some time.. interestingly the period of time when the most fans walked away from the sport

Name me one of these 'every other week' meetings where ONE side had SIX guests.

It's great when people can make up such nonsense. There was far MORE contact made in years gone by. As for injuries, they have always been part of the sport and there were NEVER times where there were no injuries to riders 'season after season'. More importantly fantastic to hear Lewis is now breathing unaided.

Cost is also pretty irrelevant. It's all to do with how the sport is regarded. Speedway is deemed as 'uncool'. Until its deemed as a 'cool' thing to do, things won't change.

Why would I get my high horse out? That's your opinion and it's fair enough, he isn't to everyone's taste for sure. I just don't think it's any business of a team manager.

Yep, lets shut up someone trying to create an atmosphere.. Far better for it to be a morgue like experience. Ban cheering as well, just a wave of the hand as riders cross the line will suffice.. maybe lift your programme board in the air too..

Almost Orion, but not quite. The 'great match' is not really relevant. Quality of racing seems to have very little effect on crowds.. you only have to look at tracks such as Scunthorpe and Peterboro for that. In 1975 though there would very likely have been a big, vibrant crowd.. so the likelihood of them returning would have been good. A big vibrant crowd can make an average meeting seem a great one.. a small crowd a great meeting seem an average one. It's part of the reason why we hear how great the racing was back in the day.

Crowds were big in the 70's. FACT There were guests in the 70's. FACT. There was doubling up in the 70's. FACT. I'm not the one saying black is white, so try again and stop trying to rewrite history or, make things up, to suit your argument. I'm also not the one who stormed off because my views were questioned Exactly.. And many people are very fickle, show them people having a good time, they'll be interested.

Pick your toys up on the way out. It's no good spouting rubbish and then when you're shown to be wrong storming off. You've made a claim, its been pointed out to you why that claim isn't accurate. Let's put it this way, a casual viewer flicking through the sports channels comes across speedway, sees there is nobody watching it.. he/she isn't likely to stick around. So double uppers/guest riders/tacticals/quality of racing are all completely irrelevant. Most people, even most of us, are like sheep, we're programmed that way. If we see many other people watching or liking something, we instinctively think it must be something worthwhile. Correct, then once their claims have been picked apart, they storm off in a huff.

Speedway is not suited to live coverage?? It's perfect for live coverage from a TV companies point of view. Natural breaks for advertising and promoting other products. Opportunity to build up tension before the next race, view replays etc. Meetings drag on for far too long?? Have you ever watched cricket? Even NFL, MLB go on for much longer. Premier League Darts will run for 3 hours, sometimes more with lots of talking in between. You're another who has fallen into the trap that it's exciting racing that brings in the fans. Again, an utter myth. Does Formula One have exciting racing? Absolutely not, but millions think its a must watch. The quality of the racing is of secondary importance.. as long as its a big packed crowd the racing will naturally appear more exciting. Riders will naturally be more up for it and determined to put on a good show. So when did it become a barrier? 50's? 60's? 70's? 80's? 90's? Crowds were up and down in those periods, with a particular nosedive taking place from the mid 80's onwards.. incidentally, there was no doubling up in the mid 80's as far as I can remember.. yet there was in the 70's. The problem speedway had is it became lazy. It became too reliant on the existing fan base, did little marketing to attract new younger fans, the presentation remained (and still does for the most part) the same format as had been used for 40 years prior, whilst all around it other sports, less successful sports were adapting and modifying for the new era around them. This meant the sport went further and further away from the mainstream public, leading its fans to be knows as geeks and a speedway track the last place to be seen. THAT is what needs fixing first and how good the racing is, how many double uppers there may or not be has no relevance to it. Fill the stadiums by any means necessary for TV matches and you will start to change public perception. Until you do that, everything else is utterly irrelevant.

Perhaps because the 'guest' rule was around when speedway was packing out stadiums.. So really, its quite simple for people to think otherwise because history has already shown it to be otherwise! Even doubling up was around as far back as 1975 when Michael Lee rode for both Kings Lynn and Boston for example. That isn't to say I don't think there is too much doubling up going on now, but it is categorically not the reason why fans have stopped attending the sport.

Speedway has the biggest advertising tool available, live coverage on a regular basis on TV. However, they don't use it. To attract new, young fans you need to make it appear to be the place to be.. broadcasting meetings in front of one man and his dog send a clear message, this isn't worth bothering with. If every week the tv fixture was played out in front of a big vibrant crowd it again sends a clear message.... this is something worth looking at. It's not complicated. There have been signs just lately that after 15+ years they are starting to work it out.. Sadly 15 years of damage has been done in that time! TV meetings should not be dreaded by supporters.. they should be looked forward to, welcomed.. Brilliant, we're on TV next week, the atmosphere is going to be amazing!

Well they would be disappointed as no such crashes are ever included so your ill timed attack is not only out of place, but totally incorrect. The crashes/cockups on those videos all see riders getting up and walking away. Fantastic to see some signs of Lewis improving.. particularly the results of the head scan.

They are as appropriate now as at any other time.

You must be an awful salesperson.

Doesn't affect my night out at all. Speedway is a very dangerous sport, we all know that and very sadly these things happen. The meeting yesterday was abandoned and I have no qualms regarding that. Now the sport goes on. Were any meetings postponed following Ricky Ashworth's crash? Genuine question as I honestly don't remember.

Whilst agreeing that everyones thoughts should be with Lewis, suggesting that meetings should be postponed is ridiculous. It would be time to close the sport down if that was the case.

It doesn't matter how long you make your posts, or how many excuses you try and concoct. In meetings not involving Kings Lynn being in a winning position you've complained do that meetings were pushed through.. Only now it involves Kings Lynn do you suddenly want that to happen. No judgements have been made on our opinion, only on yours. It's not our fault you give such contradicting opinions depending upon the situation. You're biased to your own team, most of us are, I have been in the past, difference is I'm adult enough to admit it instead of digging deeper holes. Some important factors that seemed to have escaped your attention. The score line is IRRELEVANT. Whether a team has used their TR is IRRELEVANT. Whether a club has to pay refunds or not is IRRELEVANT. All that matters is whether the official feels the track is fit to race safely on. Heat 9 was almost 7 seconds slower, which gives a good indication. The referee deemed the track unfit, end of story. Whether it was heat 9 or heat 1 once again is IRRELEVANT.