mikebv

You may be... But the good people of Northampton aren't... (Because they haven't been told much about it yet)...

Well meaning unpaid amateurs doing their best... Allied to a number of promoters who are ex riders, and ex rider sponsors, all having zero skill set in event management and marketing... Pre 2000 you could get away with it, however, as the internet and social media came on board, and immediate scrutiny and feedback started to be the norm, you no longer can just present something in the way you did thirty or so years ago.. (And for some, 40 years and even further back).. People's expectations have risen, and they get influenced by the feedback of others... Do UK Speedway ever do market research? Do they have a "Trust Pilot" where comments can be left, and answers given to the feedback they get? I used to hold several sessions every 13 weeks with 30 customers at a time, and their feedback could be "brutal"... But, it did give my chance to explain why certain situations happen, and why I couldn't change them, but, more importantly, give me "Gold" feedback on things I could change, but hadn't seen many of these issues as a problem... Amazing how much listening, and being honest with your customers, can improve your business enormously...

100%.... If you cannot run it as a bona fide team sport, (which they obviously cannot), then, simply, don't... Instead, promote it (properly), as "Sports Entertainment".... Still a great night out if you can ignore all the current, an ongoing, nonsense infrastructure around it..... Spend less on riders and more on marketing the event if you cannot afford to do both...

Oh, you cynic... But. With your inside knowledge, and my years of following the sport, I can only assume you are very much probably right!.... On a separate note, Mark Lemon in his Speedway Star interview, mentioned how important to the "integrity and credibility of the sport" this sixth team is... Reading further, it apeears that there are several (all, who knows?), other BSP promoters actually running the show, with riders already spoken with, and team planning in an advanced stage... So... This means that promoters of teams in the same top tier competitions are compiling the Northampton team... The very same team that their own team(s), (already announced) will race against.. "Integrity and Credibility"??? Imagine a professional sport being ran that way, with spectators then being expected to take it seriously...?

From the main stand... B Block... You could see that some were unpainted, but some were painted blue, maybe official GKN pallets?.... (But don't quote me on that, they may just have been GKN copies).. I will win the 50/50 draw (if they do it), at the GP and confirm details when I am on the centre green and feedback to everyone..

I started off in Stockport in 1986, and then worked all over the UK, from the North of Scotland, to the South Coast of England, with Stockport again being on the list 18 years ago... Got to watch quite a bit of Speedway too on my travels...

The pallets were covered in some kind of artificial grass... When my lad mentioned them my OCD, hardened by 39 years in retail leadership, kicked in, and I started to analyse them closely.... Whereby, I noticed they were different colours... Those 39 years in the retail game, where first and lasting impressions count for so much, made me come to the conclusion that, for the next time, (the GP's?), the pallets should all be painted Gold, Silver and Bronze...

The "optics" are fundamentally important for any business... UK Speedway sadly is ran, in the main, by ex riders, and friends and sponsors of riders... With well meaning amateur Speedway enthusiasts working for free, alongside them, just so as they can be close to their heroes... Professional Event Management, and Professional Marketing, is a huge opportunity, however, as we know, their huge seven figures outlay will be to riders who are practically unknown to 80 million people... An amazing business plan... Which suggest these ex riders, and rider sponsors, are quite happy with their regular "Social Gatherings" where they meet up for a "Night at the Speedway"....

Literally, seven figures spent on riders, (who Average Joe Public will never have heard of), yet hardly anything on professional PR, Media output, and Event Management.... Absolutely crackers!!!!

Only just read last weeks copy of the Speedway Star and they do a two page spread on Northampton... Mark Lemon is quoted as saying that they needed a sixth team for the "integrity and credibility" of the sport... I do hope when he used those words, he managed to do it with a straight face... Fair play if he did....

To be fair... Their efforts are similar to the other five from what I have heard or read...

At last!!!! Someone who can market an event.. Give Linda a bell and she if she wants to get involved... You'll need her official paper bag for the tombola tickets...

Exactly.... The other night at the PCMT was probably the most Aces fans attendance that they will have all year, except for the play offs... No "first night back" feel about the meeting at all, no promotion of their first actual team meeting either... They do a 50/50 draw that got the winner 400+ quid... I would have raffled off a season ticket... I reckon most Aces fans there in the crowd (1300?) would have spent a fiver... Then do another at the first couple of actual meetings... Or do something like a £500 holiday voucher.. Something is needed on the nights to engage the crowd, with the racing just being part of it... And, do it right, and you can make a fair few quid...

And the interest wasn't too great to start with sadly...

Surprise!!!!!!!! One off gestures don't work... A free meeting needs to be part of a larger enticement programme with gradual imcreases.. Eg next four meetings for a tenner each, next two for fifteen, next two twenty, then full price... With constant communication and feedback sought during this period, from those who are using the discounted tickets.... "Build it and they will come" only works in movies... The sport desperately needs people who can market and engage..