mikebv

You get plenty of one sided matches now anyway.. Might as well have a "Manchester United" who can increase crowds when they go away... Let's be realistic, you won't get a team full of superstars as that club would go bust very quickly, and crowds would drop given fans would quickly get bored with watching hammerings each week.. Make the top league truly "Elite" and run with five or six man teams so there are always replacements.. Even a six team league could work with those six having a "Second Team" to race in whatever contrived league gets cobbled together for the other teams.. 30 to 36 team places only so no issues with a rider shortage or guests needed..

The radical move that should have been done post Covid... Great to see... I believe Garibaldi's were considered but they didn't know if they would need a visa or not after Brexit, and, if a visa was attainable, what assessed quality rating they should give them.... The promoter who wanted them said they should be a four but it was mentioned to him that a few years ago a packet of Frangipanes were brought in and they were given a five..

I want Ipswich to do well as hopefully I will get to see Emil at the NSS again...

I agree to a large extent... But. You would think that those in charge would at least try something different before it inevitably happens wouldn't you? Post Covid really was a huge chance to make the radical changes needed, completely missed.. A gift horse passed up... Presumably, you can only think, it was passed up due to everything being "all good" in the eyes of the Promoters? . Which probably explains a lot, if that was the case.

How Mickey Mouse is it then for all riders being allowed to ride for every team in one country..?...

And sadly down the years, far too many "Nero's" have fiddled whilst Rome burned bit by bit, year by year, around them...

One ex promoter told me that it was something akin to a "bear pit".... Loads of different agendas trying to get what they have planned in, through. Hence, so much compromise and back scratching took place to get what they wanted.. With ultimately no clear independent leadership or long tern direction of travel.. That was a good few years ago now though, and I have read that nowadays it is more about a summary of the past season, and just signing off what has already been agreed in several meetings prior to the AGM Although the odd last minute grenade can still get thrown in...

Test Matches might get some interest..? When Speedway was in its halcyon period the success of the 'England" team and iders were the reason so many attended domestic Speedway. . Hardly any domestic Speedway was shown but fans knew of the sport via what they watched on TV on Saturdays... Individual meetings and WTC.. The RFU and ECB grew their domestic sport by centralised contracts ensuring that the top players prioritised the national team. They knew that whatever success Leicester, Saracens, Lancashire and Yorkshire cricket etc etc etc had, it would have little impact overall, and not grow the sport... Maybe an "elite" Test Match series could help generate domestic interest the same for Speedway? It could definitely get more wider media coverage, and maybe a decent sponsor.? Bomber couldn't represent Australia or Poland though if he didn't get picked for GB. GB v Poland at the NSS, Poole and Glasgow for example, would deliver the best crowds in years I would suggest, and paint the sport in a very positive light via the TV. ..

And all the riders due to be there actually turned up..

Maybe UK Ice Hockey is a model that could be followed? Clear demarcation through the leagues... With the top league being the one that sells the sport... And the other division being very much a feeder league... 8 teams of "top level" riders with maybe five, or six per team.. The other league very much a second tier level with "old hands" and aspiring newcomers.. Ice Hockey has a similar minority profile like Speedway, but seems to get better crowds... You don't need many teams to be successful but do maybe need a geographical spread to have enough of the regions knowing the sport exists relatively close by.. Run this "Elite League" on the TV and let the other league (or leagues), live off the back of it.. Less really could be more, as currently meeting after meeting of "contrived nonsense" does the sport nothing but harm... Seven home meetings of high quality, well promoted meetings, all promoted as stand alone events, might just work... Top four into the play offs.. To provide enough meetings, the clubs could then make up another competition without all of the top level lads, using made up septets like we currently have. But do it well away from the TV cameras and keep it within the in house streaming...

Its a knockout had credibility and kudos in winning... If UK Speedway had ran it, it would be... "Tonight representing France is"... "Italy"....

With Kerr (or Howarth, or Ellis), at reserve though, it would have given Sheffield the capability to deploy a rider who can beat opposition HL"s, up to seven rides a night... Look seriously top heavy now....

There are big financial rewards already in place, which is the frustration... The Aces for example will have 12 meetings this year in the league itself.. At circa average £20 a punter, with around 1300 a week (maybe more as some good crowds this year), that would deliver over £300k... Seven teams delivering that as an average would generate well over £2.1M... And that is without sponsorship.. A huge amount for a sport that, in the grand scheme of things, hardly anyone has heard of... And, given it appears most clubs don't make "tens of thousands" of profit each season, you can only presume most of it goes to the riders... Smoke and Mirrors maybe but that kind of financial reward needs to be publicised to prick interest...

100%.... So to keep doing the same thing year on year that is consistently failing each season, and expect a different result, is unfathomable.... Evolution is always needed for any entity to survive...

Agree, when it became a "plaything" for most of them, rather than a bona fide stand alone business, it started to become ran that way... The rot also set in though when they tried to keep running the sport the way they always did, after the internet had come along... Instant news nowadays.. You used to find out the biggest name wasn't going to be there after you had paid to get in... You used to find out that you were going to watch a guestfest when the announcer read out the teams.. You used to find out that the weather was poor when you got there rather than hours in front, or en route so you can turn around... And then moaned to a few people around you. Now, all its failings are there for all to see well in advance, and shared around thousands, not tens..... Hence many decide not to bother, depending on the circumstances....

Peterborough and Wolves.... Any more for next year?

You are 100% right... And all the problems are down to it.... When something you run becomes beyond parody then you have a major problem.. When extracting the urine out of something is sctually less funny that the actual decisions you are taking the pee out of, then you might as well close the operation down... As there usually isn't any way back in the business world for that kind of organisation.. The "good news" is that we have two less tracks going forward so the "rider shortage" should improve...

He is currently sat in the car park....

A few million lira from 1980 maybe...

Not a chance... The riders need to earn money... A way forward would be found to keep the sport going.. Akin to the IOW maybe? Team Speedway in the UK has delivered what we have today... With the glaring fact when you look at the stadiums, that not enough punters, (many of whom follow the sport closely), buy into it and take it seriously enough to warrent spending their income on it.. A dead horse that they need to stop flogging, and, instead, try to find a new one to ride...

Poole's.

Not even Blu Tac sadly....

You would need to promote it with big prize money... Bottom line though will be that plenty of riders will need to earn, so they will be available. The current team sport model has driven thousands away due its completely contrived operating plan, which engenders zero emotional attachment, so, what really is the point of doing the same old, same old, every year..? All the tracks closing over the past 10 years shows it clearly doesn't work...

Watched a Supercross event several years ago in Manchester and had four hours of great entertainment, brilliantly presented.. Aimed at kids and adults equally.. I remembered thinking that if I was at the NSS, someone behind me would be moaning to me to "sit down, I can't see, and stop making so much noise"...

Team speedway I agree.. Death by a 1000 self inflicted cuts unfortunately, with all promoters as culpable as each other for allowing such nonsense that we constantly see pervade, which has driven many thousands away... Thousands that, if they were still regularly in attendance, would make a world of difference to landlords and their rent money level.. And, maybe, saved a few more tracks..? You would hope though, that given the raw product itself clearly has a marketable value given how good it can be, that the sport does carry on akin to how the USA and Aussie run their version of the sport.. Individuals in the main, with some contrived teams put together on an adhoc basis. (Who said just like we have now?)... Given riders need so many meetings, (and the sport is pretty much solely built to allow them to do that), it will he interesting to see what gets conjured up. Given Wolves have pulled out to allow planning to take place, you can only presume that some kind of plan is already being mulled over..