BWitcher

And another one, in an attempt to discredit the new system inadvertently posts in favour of it.

Hilariously you have just defeated your own argument and given the reason why the riders want to have their own number. Let's ask the fans around the track at the end of this season shall we?

You're wrong. It's quite simple. Or perhaps Greg Hancock was pushing for it for the last couple of years just for the fun of it..

Is there any particular reason you follow speedway?

Blimey, you've laid down the gauntlet now. KKS is going to have to work real hard to top this thread.

It's actually a professional career taken up by many women around the world and one in which they can earn good money, or perhaps you would prefer them chained to the kitchen sink. The point of the comments made is that if you are going to employ people in such roles, it would make sense to employ the good ones otherwise it can be counter-productive, as with any role. You clearly have a problem, likely stems from jealousy.

No, you are the one who consistently moans and whinges about every change the sport makes. As I have said earlier, take your argument to the worlds foremost sports marketers. They'll be interested to hear your expert views I am quite sure. Let's also not forget, this is something the riders themselves have requested. I guess they should have consulted with Iris first...

It makes not the one iota of difference. It's a sport, with competitors who wish to achieve brand recognition and sell merchandise. The argument that speedway is not Moto Gp etc is quite frankly, irrelevant. Moto GP isn't Nascar, so it won't work.. oh wait it does. Nascar isn't NBA so it won't work.. oh wait it does. The sport is irrelevant, the marketing principles are the same. Nobody is suggesting that riders are suddenly going to be catapulted into the 'big time' as you childishly state. That one comment alone shows your lack of understanding of the topic. However, to improve and grow a product its a fundamental basic to look at what others are doing. It works in a wide range of sports and is employed by the biggest and most revenue producing sports of all. It's simply one more step in a process to make speedway look more professional, it's not an overnight fix!

http://store.nascar.com/Dale_Earnhardt_Gear/Chase_Authentics_Dale_Earnhardt_White-Black_Fragment_Element_Adjustable_Hat Then take a look at the top, what do you see, a list of drivers names? Wait no, its a list of numbers. Why? Because numbers are far more easily remembered than names. Folk are dragging league racing into this.. which is utterly irrelevant. This if for the GP series. Folk are saying you don't see other competitors in other sports competing in different events with different numbers.. WRONG. You do. Nascar Drivers for instance can race into 3 different races in one weekend in 3 different competitions, with 3 different numbers. Folk can argue against it as much as they wish, but they are arguing against multi million pound industries. Perhaps you think you know more than marketing experts in some of the worlds biggest sports? Even football changed to such a system, doing away with the old 1-11 numbers and replacing them with squad numbers. Numbers that your big name players will in the main try and keep when changing clubs (some even have it in their contracts). The simple fact is the number is part of the brand recognition. Yes, of course you market the rider, but the number makes it far easier to so. It's already been proven. Or maybe the naysayers are right.. maybe speedway has it right now and football/NFL/NBA/MLB/Nascar/MotoGp etc have it wrong.

Are you sure about that? I would have thought the ERC would be an official fixture, Havvy's meeting is for all intents and purpose a 'friendly'.

Ignorance is bliss. Maybe you should inform some of the worlds foremost marketing experts.. as they think different and believe brand recognition to be massive.

There isn't anything negative to it whatsoever, but hey, this is speedway and some folk just want to moan...

No, but they will have their numbers next to their names at all times. You can knock it all you wish, but the reality is, it's a system used in other sports that works. http://www.allstarsdirect.co.uk/brands/46-Valentino-Rossi/ What do we have there, ah even in the name of the website its no 46 Valentino Rossi. All his merchandise has his number. As already explained, its brand recognition. http://store.nascar.com/Dale_Earnhardt_Gear What do we have there, oh look the number once again is prominent everywhere. This is a guy who was killed 13 years ago too, yet to this day anyone who has the tiniest interest in Nascar will know who No 3 was. http://store.nascar.com/Dale_Earnhardt_Jr_Gear And again. But hey, they're idiots, they haven't got a clue how to make money from merchandise have they....

Quite the opposite, the new numbers will do everything for the fans, you will know exactly who your rider is. Any casual fan watching the odd GP here or there will soon know who the riders are. It can be used for riders merchandise (if the merchandise is of good quality) and be a major boost. I can remember owning a Mikael Max cap with the No 5 on it, out of date the season after. The actual numbering system now is confusing, The guy wearing 1 could be in 6th place in the championship. Last season means nothing, so the numbers are worthless anyway. I wonder who the first rider will be to have their number 'retired'. Don't know much then do you. Go to a Nascar race and ask anyone and I mean anyone in the crowd who number 24, or number 48 is, or even who used to be No 3 and they will tell you. Go to a GP and ask who no 7 is and 80% won't know without looking at their programme. Riders retaining the same number creates awareness, continuity and a brand. That can only be a good thing. How it is utilised is something different and it remains to be seen which riders take advantage of it.

I can see where the OP is coming from. Barry Hearn includes an element of 'glamour' but the, for want of a better word, 'quality' is high. As it is in the GP's. The OP is referring to some of the start line 'models' used at certain league tracks who for the most part (not all) are not in the same league as those employed by Hearn and the GP's etc. As another poster said, I think jimmy jimmy, do it right or not at all.

White Knight, You still haven't come up with a reason why its bad? Who are these people who stop going to their local tracks on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday nights etc because they can watch another team race on a Monday? There is no logic in that argument and nothing to back it up I'm afraid. The damage is merely done by broadcasting meetings in front of a paltry, lifeless crowd. Fix that and reap the rewards.

Ward against Wells has produced some of the best races at Monmore in recent times. I can think of 3 absolute cracking races between those two immediately. Indeed, or get replaced. Happened in 1993 when a similar system was used, Wolves had Neil Evitts stuck in main body of the team all year.

Time you renamed yourself The Troller. Well there's been a number of people who have posted they have rekindled their interest because of Sky.. so we're in the positive for Sky

Sam Ermolenko was on it also. You are right, I used to never miss the show in my youth, back in the David Coleman era. As you say since Sue Barker took over it has become a scripted comedy show and I never watch now.

Who are these people WK? Speedway supporters for the most part support their own team. When their team closes, most of them don't go anymore, I'd say 95% at least. You get a few who continue around other tracks. So with that in mind, who are these supporters who would stop going to their own track on a Thursday night because there is a speedway match that most of the time won't involved their team on tv on a Monday night.. I doubt there are anything like a significant number.

You misunderstand him Steve, he's not saying it's 'because' of Sky.

How many fans had the sport lots BEFORE Sky. The sport has also lost many, many more since due to the corrupt/inept way it has been run during that time, some long term hardcore supporters too who finally just said enough is enough. The point that has been made over and over and is blatantly obvious to everyone, bar it seems promoters, is that TV is the most powerful too at their disposal. They HAVE to make it look like a speedway meeting is the place to be at. That means ensuring, by whatever means, there is a big crowd on hand for tv meetings. It's the sheep factor... and it works.

The sport going downhill is not the fault of television. I have outlined already the problems and how they could quite easily be resolved, however you, being utterly ignorant of the power of TV and how to use it, thought the idea was foolish. I have then given you examples of other sports/entertainments that have used it and reaped the rewards. You however, when challenged are unable to respond. For the 5th time I will ask what evidence you have to state that Birminghams crowds improved BECAUSE Radio WM were no longer broadcasting live. I have also asked for the 'loads of sports' that are successful without live TV, you have as yet failed to come up with one. So come on, back up your words.

You should go on tour around some business schools, you'd make a great stand up show for them. You still haven't come back to me on your ridiculous Radio WM claims, mainly because I've blown them out of the water. You mock the idea of free tickets, you should email Vince McMahon and let him know about that, let him know it simply won't work and that the concept of getting on national TV and then ensuring he presented shows with capacity crowds simply won't work. He'll never transform his business from a small (ish) regional operation to a world wide multi million pound entertainment business. I'm looking forward to the list of the 'loads of sports' that do well that don't have live coverage. Weekly sports mind you, not ones that are run once every couple of months, that's a different situation entirely.

They wouldn't care if they saw big crowds, they'd think, wow, I need to check this out. The racing makes bugger all difference. You could have a whole season of amazing racing on Sky, it wouldn't attract anyone if there were only a few hundred in the stadium watching it. Have a whole season of average racing with a packed stadium and some attempts to create an atmosphere and you'd get folk out of their armchairs.