mikebv

A Polish top tier team gets, according to AI, a minimum, $8M dollars a year... If they followed the UK model, then they would be lucky to earn 5% of that, given TV, Sponsors, and Fans wouldn't be engaged.. As for the GP's? The riders earn plenty from sponsors, and can use their GP position to negotiate better terms in Poland's top tier..

The bottom line is this... If there were several million pounds in prize money available then the sport would be seen as relevant, and would have consequence and jeopardy in every meeting, and would be followed by far, far many more people.. Even if NDL was the standard.... (Athough if there was big money in the UK sport then, naturally, that wouldn't be the case).... Darts is a perfect example of a sport which was followed by an older demographic and took place in big pubs, nightclubs, leisure centres and hotels around the country... With minimal prize money on offer, it took place in front of a few hundred, who sat often in silence during the throws, "best of order please", and then politely applauded when a game or set was won.. Then Sky, and more importantly, Barry Hearn came on board.. Big prize money brought big crowds, full of a much younger age demographic, in city centre venues, and also brought noise, atmosphere, and relevance, with olayers having to fight each season to keep their place in the top 16/32... Consequence and Jeopardy completely changed Darts, with even qualification tournaments being incredibly important to get through... Major sponsors and TV networks then organically came on board as the sport grew.... And more and more people have taken up the sport as they see the riches on offer,which then raises the standards... It will matter hardly one iota what UK Speedway does to race nigbts, league numbers, averages, admission prices etc etc etc.. Without that question of, (pardon the pun),... "What's actually riding on this meeting?"... Being answered with... "A hell of a lot!"... Without any prize to make the sport look relevant, and of a reasonable size, it will just keep ambling along, and just keep going through the motions of putting Speedway meetings on, regardless of being whether it is a credible offering or not.. And the fans wlll continue to vote with their feet..

The very fact we often mention changing race nights on here to "attract a crowd" speaks volumes doesn't it?.. And, as Plymouth has shown, it can work when moving to a weekend... The major issue of what they are actually racing for won't be resolved though... At the moment the only prize worth winning in UK Speedway the "Decent Crowd In The Play Offs"... However, how many of those attending the PO's have given "dead rubbers" a miss during the season is a valid point to raise, so the extra punters on the night isn't a total gain... Without something "really worth winning" UK Speedway simply won't get enough cut through in a world of huge prizes for a large number of sports... Given how the sport is set up, you can't help thinking that UK Speedway is just there to enable riders to earn by doing the sport, and to give Speedway loving people a chance to run a Speedway team as an expensive hobby.. With finishing positions in any of the leagues irrelevant due to no major prizes, no relegation, and, you can even swap your leagues if you so wish... Changing nights to weekend racing should give a short term boost, but changing much more will also be needed if long term improvement is the vision...

Wasnt there someone who was going to get involved, but wanted to see the viability first?.. If so, maybe they will come on board given the venture seems to be a success crowd level wise.....?

Brady lost in with that last place from Gate 3.. Dreadful GP overall.... Do the organisers not have a clue about race track prep?... Regardless of the meeting on Friday, this track is always crap.. There must be at least one better circuit somewhere? If there isn't then time to give up...

This track is a disgrace for such a high level of racing... And it has been "improved"...!!!

Huckenbeck... Everyone rides the inside and he went wide for a whole lap... Then rode the inside... What an idiot...

Enjoyed that four rider final.. Seeing the times adds to the event... Kurtz and Zmarzlik a blink of an eye between them..

Charlie Monk...

Zmarzlik currently 7/5 to become World Champion on B365.. Not often odds against at this stage...

This is sport where clubs will sack riders, with immediate effect, for doing better than they were expected to do, when needing to make two replacements, with zero "offence" being taken by their fanbase.... And also, should riders refuse to ride due to not getting paid, they then get a 28 ban for "withholding their services" hanging over them.. Not sure anyone should expect major commitment from riders....

I think a League with UK Sweden and Denmark just could be an answer for the sport over here .. The "professional teams", could join and let the "hobby teams" ride in their own Championship... If only 3 teams currently want to ride in a top tier then they can join up with the 16 Scandinavian teams, giving 18 home matches, plus any play offs... And that would leave a 12 team Championship with non Poland contracted riders.. Using Denmark's system would mean just 15 riders needed over here.. It would create strong interest from the many who no longer attend regularly I would think, and also likely get TV coverage, and some decent sponsorship... Pay rates are not too different in either of the three leagues below Poland, so rider costs wouldn't be much different, with travel and accommodation being the only add on, however, many riders fly in and out now from country to country so even that wouldn't be too much of a big difference.. You would also get to see every top rider in the world over here, once, or twice if reaching the play offs.. A bona fide sporting league that has kudos, with different teams of only riders contracted to them, some you only get to see once, with regular meetings, ticks a lot of boxes that UK Speedway currently doesn't..

He should have called, latest by 2:55pm...😗 😁

I see Rune Holta is Norwegian again..

That'll teach Poole a thing or two, I'm sure....

And someone else will snap him up.... Self policing works really well doesnt it??

The current way of running the sport has ended up with more ex fans showing zero interest in the sport than still attend... In short. This unfit for purpose operating model and business plan doesn't work.. What amazes me is that almost every season the conference is said to be, by at least one promoter, "the most important ever", and "we all need to work together to improve things"... Which, suggests, just by using those phrases, the promoters know that what they currently do isn't working... Yet, by the end of each conference hardly anything fundamentally gets changed!!! With the changes that are made being things like "riding across the centre green now gets you excluded"!. And obviously we have "the best conference ever", "we are all on the same page" etc etc etc, upon conference close.. Baffling that we end up with pretty much the same operating model and business plan each year, which naturally, and obviously, will deliver pretty much the same results each year, and, at the end of the season the promoters recognise the issues, then do nothing to sort them.. Using the same plan will only keep the sport going the same way it has so far...

So much actually goes back to that lack of independent strong leadership for the sport... Riders can get bans but still have every possibility that even before they ride for either of their teams again, some promoter will call and ask them to guest... Riders, of a certain level, know they are far too much in demand to have any real sanction against them... And, in a sport with so little to "play for" I am not sure why bans are in place, given it is the rider who hasn't earned money, so he is the main loser due to the situation.. And some bans can mean the rider misses no meetings...

The race to the bottom began a fair few years ago but, sadly, no one would recognise and accept this, therefore fudging and making do and mending became "the only plan", with zero clear direction and growth strategy... It comes across as each season ends then the next season is then planned in, which is probably down to tracks only confirming then that they will run... Which will be no doubt down to the costs incurred, something which has never been focused on and driven down to levels that don't risk the clubs' future.. Big, tough, and probably unpopular decisions, should have been taken a long time ago, resetting the sport to hopefully take several steps back to move several more forwards, however Promoters decided to keep doing the same old, same old, until we (inevitably), have ended up where we are today...

All conjecture... Maybe he did have a solution and that, for whatever reason didn't happen? Hence he then had to call later in the day?... When my wife was ill the night before I was at work, I always waited till the next morning before making a decision given she may have improved... I don't get fans almost taking a rider missing a meeting personally, no one will lose out more than the rider himself, both on the night and possibly whilst serving a ban...

Why would anyone link it to taking drugs???.. His baby needed looking after and he had to do it due to nobody else being available... A very common occurance when I worked, several times myself I had to do it, and I went in work later once I had found someone to look after my kids.. Hard to go in later if there isn't the opportunity to do so.... These lads simply ride Speedway to earn money, it isn't some kind of emotional tie in for them, eg Kyle Howarth said he didn't miss not riding in the Final of one of only two competitions when he stopped riding before the second leg... Some people seem to take UK Speedway very seriously, which baffles me...

UK Speedway is getting like my lads Sunday League Football team... ie. You wait to see who turns up before naming the side... I was having a bet on 365 then read about Lawson, lord knows what a multi billion pound business like B365 must think of UK Speedway, laying odds must be a nightmare... Still, as John Campbell said in the Speedway Star... Doubling up (which is self inflicted),, and laydowns have ruined UK Speedway.. Really?.... Finger on the pulse!!!!

Has he got some bonding that hasn't dried?...

Riders with Polish contracts, as it stands, cannot DU next season... And not too many of them will decide DUing over here is better than accepting a Polish contract I would suggest. Especially as the signing on fee helps them fund their racing outside of Poland too...

Whatever it is can it be any worse than the current "Donald Ducked", unaffordable system?... In the Speedway Star John Campbell also mentioned more teams want to go to Fridays... Don't let a certain Promoter know!!!... The bottom line is what we have simply doesn't work, and, given where we are now hasn't for years.... No matter how many times the dead horse gets flogged by certain Promoters... The UK version of Speedway is almost in a position to just forget what has gone before and completely start again, with affordability and ultimately growth being the sole initial aim. Ipswich v Belle Vue v Northampton would make a good tri team tournament, but 10 times each per season, with all reaching the final, and I am not sure it would be a grower, and TV might not be interested......