mikebv

I was surprised when in John Campbell's interview in the Speedway Star that he said no current Championship teams were interested in going into tier one.. Next years standard in tier two could be a lot different if the "two league" rule comes in.. The better teams, like Poole, and their fans, have been used to seeing top tier heat leaders riding for them, which may no longer be the case, and that could be a difficult sell, and also difficult to price point, with a reduction on current prices unlikely I would think... The other scenario could be though that, if the top tier increases their standard with more "Top 20" riders coming in, then maybe some DU'ers may elect to stay in tier two given their earning potential in tier one could be threatened by an increase in better riders... It will interesting to see how it goes...

Initially, no Doyle, no Sayfutdinov, no Holder for a large part of the season, no Bewley also for a large part of the season, and Fricke leaving a track he was well dialled in at, and taking up a new circuit.. Several absolute top level riders that are not this season taking points of other HL's and second strings like they did last season... The Aces have this season, with less top level talent in the league, seen Zischze, Blodorn and Cook, riders they have invested in, win many more heats than last season, and when allied to unrivalled strength in Ht 13 and Ht15, it has meant the Aces scoring big in several meetings.. The bottom line is though, all teams started closely together according to the team averages, but, as every season shows, very quickly the teams from top to bottom become a long way apart... This season is no different...

A "perfect storm" this season... The Aces kept two out of the world's top three, and the loyalty shown to Blodorn, Cook and Zischke is paying its dividends, and having one of the best RS's is an obvious plus... Sheffield lost Holder and didnt replace him, Leicester chose not to go with Fricke and didnt replace him like for like, and Ipswich lost Sayfutidinov and Doyle, and also couldn't replace them LFL... Northampton cobbled together a team due to the short notice and, of a level that the obvious understandable uncertainty around crowd numbers reflected,, and KL didn't maximise having Fricke... Signing Kurtz and Bewley also meant the opportunity to bring in very good riders to replace them when missing... Keeping that team together next season sadly won't happen, but, like any and every year, it really should, as dumbing down each season doesn't push the standard forwards..

Food and Drink purchases will be considered important... Even if only renting as it will keep the landlord happier... A nice hot evening could mean a few visits for some cold drinks...

Was it last nights guest appearance in the Championship?..

I think the Aces will get the bonus point ..

100%... The rehab would have cost them a fair few quid!! You can also understand why they want to restrict the amount of racing "their riders" do, given the contracts and support that they give them... An incident in Denmark directly, negatively, impacts their own business... A business with big money at stake...

A good decision by Dan... And a fair one given Poland has sorted his rehab.... A good job though that it wasnt Brady who had gone through the same and made that decision... Some on here would have gone into meltdown...

Spot on... Strong viewing figures bring sponsorship to the sport... And adverts to the TV company... If the sport is ever to turn around the tanker then it has to start somewhere... Saturday being that first opportunity...

Wow....

15 clubs sharing what after VAT? £30k - 40k?... Hardly worth it is it?.. Not up against the longer term opportunity to make the sport look far more popular than many watching would even consider.. Including the key target market, ie the ones who used to attend regularly... £2k per club is worth circa 100 fans entrance... If the sport can sell itself well on Saturday, and, reading between the lines, at the the other meetings planned (the play offs maybe?)... Then far more than £2k can be gained over a season...

As Meat Loaf may have said... "Now, don't be sad, coz four out of seven ain't bad"...

I actually think "less is more"... The NSS holds the PCMT at the start of the season, featuring top level GP riders. This attracts a 2000+ crowd... They also then host two GP's with more than 3,000 Aces fans attending both nights.. The BF, no disrespect to it, is the equivalent of the "Football League Cup" when compared to the "Champions League" of the GP's... And, the League Cup is always a tough seller for the Premiership clubs compared to their Premiership matches.. Moving it around could give it a new lease of life...?

There are seven teams, BV, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berwick, Workington, Redcar, and Sheffield, that are "Northern" however there never appears to be too many from any of them at the BF, even Sheffield.. To be fair, not too many turn up from Sheffield for play offs.. Maybe moving it to somewhere like Glasgow one year, and Ipswich or Kings Lynn the next would get more interest? Given they have current tracks around them, and/or reasonably recently closed tracks around them... Poole would deliver a decent crowd too I would think, as the likes of Lambert and Bewley will be, like if any Championship team had it, a novelty so would generate interest... Whatever happens they need to do some marketing and, like with all the UK Speedway titles, make the competition actually worth winning, as currently, riders can just pull out such is their lack of desire to win it.... And that cannot be good optics for a National Championship if they want to engage a decent following... As for being Central? Manchester is probably the most Central point from the Scottish teams to the South Coast ones... It's more the lack of prestige in the BF title, and the level of riders on view nowadays, that keep people away for me, more than the venue location...

Or the size of the crowd...

It is a National Championship... Fans should be there, in numbers, from any track that has a competitor, and even if they haven't... Like used to happen.... The reality of course is that the BF is no longer what it was once, and the Aces fans will make up the majority of a small crowd.. If Dan Bewley gets confirmed it will attract more Aces fans to the event, (plus others), however, possibly, the Aces only have a RS rider in the meeting.... This is the third meeting in less than three weeks at the NSS, which I would say is a gamble in today's economic climate... To be honest, I do feel that the BF should move given the NSS holds two GP's which, whilst being great, and much more expensive, do deliver VFM and massively take the shine of the BF, especially when so many RS's and Championship riders are included... There is minimal advertising for the event, if any, locally, but that aligns with the usual Aces lack of marketing.. I am baffled why every track doesn't try and flog, at least 100 tickets each (since April), with these tickets being discounted heavily to offset the high travel costs... Maybe clubs should even organise coaches to get their fans there?.. The BF should be a "Festival of Speedway" pushing the sport forward, instead it becomes just another Speedway meeting...

If they have advertised it locally, I haven't noticed... The opportunity exists for every team to have fans there in reasonable numbers which just may get some recognition from anyone watching in their locality... A British Championship in any sport should have followers from all those competing, and the more teams' fans there the more UK Speedway looks like a "National sport", which, for many non followers it currently won't register as such..

There are about 20,000 to 25,000 who attend the 15 tracks I would suggest.... Most of those people will watch which should give a decent reach for a Saturday evening slot on Itv4.. A shame there hasn't been any coordinated fans travel from each club, even if a reduced admission price was needed , to get some rvisual representation there, which could be mentioned on comms.. And made the place look more full, and the sport more popular.. It's basically a free advert for UK Speedway on Saturday, one that should be used well...

Maybe they didn't announce it earlier just in case fans didn't buy tickets?.. If so, that didn't work out too well did it...? And if they did that for that reason, it hardly speaks volumes of their own belief in their own product does it..? Personally, if the tickets sales are poor, then I would close down a third of the Grandstand and put out some huge Aces, and Sponsors flags across the empty seats... Close up the Grandstand attendees together... Or just close the South side and let everyone sit down and put the adverts across there, like football does on Champions league nights... Getting good coverage for the sponsors... The place needs to look full even if it isn't...

Spot on... It's THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! The flagship of the sport for domestic UK Speedway.. It it looks as if hardly anyone can be arsed to attend this then the competition itself looks irrelevant.. And if the supposed pinnacle prize of the sport in the UK looks irrelevant, then heaven help the league racing...

Or get out tomorrow, Thursday Friday and Saturday into city centre Manchester and flog them... Give 100 x £10 tickets to every track and see if they can sell them... It is a British Final, not a Belle Vie individual meeting, so every track should have a presence there..

It seems to be a view that is a Belle Vue thing .. It isn't, it is a national event, jointly ran by all the promoters... It is the BSP as a collective that needs to ensure a decent crowd.. Personally holding an event of a Championship level, at a track that held two GP's quite recently, isn't the best idea for me..., Even more so when that track is running it's third meeting in less than 3 weeks.. When the British Final ran at Coventry, it was packed, as World Title hopes were on the line, World Class talent was in every race, and Supporters clubs ran coaches from over 30 tracks... No one relied on Coventry to sell out the event by themselves... This, if no Dan B is possibly the lowest standard of BF to be held ever... A tough sell, and one it doesn't look like any promoters around the country have done anything about at their own track... A coach from each would have got a thousand or so there..

Hopefully the start of a longer term relationship... Good to get it on free to air.. Only concern is the optics of it playing out in front of loads of empty seats.... They may to take a hit and do several hundred very cheap seats... "Speedway is that still going?" Will be something many watching will be saying.. Therefore, make it look ultra popular... And ensure every track with a rider there gets mentioned... A "Golden Ticket" to be played..

100%, all very much live for now given the landscape... But a signing like this, later in the season, will always give some fresh impetus to a club, which can only be a positive when attracting people into the stadium.. Especially one that could have a few "dead rubbers" as they are pretty much nailed on for the play offs...

Transparency indeed... I don't know. Some on here seem to expect far too much... Let's hope when the "big reveal" takes place re TV coverage, (have I missed it as it was said to be this morning?), that Dan will also be confirmed as the major surprise to ensure a decent crowd...