mikebv

Monkey Tennis!!!!

I believe that UK Speedway has 1000% secured February 29th as a priority day for the next 20 years.. Poland were fuming....

Once a fortnight, same day same time would be the common sense thing to do.. Two meeting out of one monthly salary may even be a stretch for some given the cost of living these days, however, those who are keen followers can at least make a budget plan to give themselves every opportunity to attend.. And you can also market it with one message.. Or maybe even reduce your outlay, and therefore your prices, to more meet the pockets of your fanbase..? Cough! Cough! Splutter! Splutter!

And with their U24 league, the Poles are training up our lads too... Obvously with self interest of course so their three leagues will have decent riders to fill positions 1 to 5... They definitely don't rest on their laurels and look no further than getting the next meeting on.. They plan to be "the top table" for many years to come and have actually got the UK as a reference point to use from when this country ruled the roost.. "Don't do what they did" being their plan..

Great minds L-C .. Great minds....

Glasgow will be back in it at this rate...

You would like to think that it was also the "common sense" way of doing it.. Putting young lads up against some of the World's Top 10 without giving them the safety net of not being dropped is ludicrous to be honest.. Putting career pressure on young lads to score points against the likes of Doyle, Emil, Bewley, Fricke, and Holder simply helps no one, neither team, nor individual, nor watching fans.... I often hear Promoters bemoaning all the advantages the Poles have re their continued "conveyor belt of talent", and I get that owning their own tracks and/or having access to them at anytime is an advantage... But I can pretty much guarantee that if four U21 lads rode at 6 and 7 in every single 2nd and 3rd tier meeting that took place over here, with 3 rides a meeting each guaranteed like the Poles do, you would have a much larger "conveyor belt of talent" over here.. You could even add to the "ring fenced mix", those aged 21+ riders who are "newbies" to the sport, as some of top riders down the years didnt start riding Speedway till well into their 20's.. I thought the Covid break would have given those who run the sport a huge opportunity to implement the radical change in operating model that is so clearly required... Sadly they passed up the chance to move the sport forward long term, just like the promoters did when the Sky money was just used in the main to pay for GP riders, rather than increasing the awareness of the sport through marketing, and setting up a proper development programme for young riders.. Ring fencing four U21 lads per meeting to take a minimum collective 12 rides out of the 60 on offer, just may, (will), unearth GB riders to fill places in 1 to 5's down the line in the 3rd and 2nd tier's at the least.. And it also wont throw them in at the deep end without arm bands to help them float like currently can happen..

The Poles have it right. Ring fencing their bottom two positions for U21 riders.. And that is in their top league as well as others.. The 2nd and 3rd tier over here should do the same with the top league, given a so called lack of riders, running six man teams of "established" riders Meaning a glide path to follow for the GB U21 riders into the top tier, and some surplus "established" riders for Div 1 replacements... Those "special U21 talents" eg Dan Bewley, could just simply be a Div 1 rider, which would also free up a place for "lesser lights" in lower leagues..

Looking at the amount of meetings called off, it's a good job they kept October free.. Rearranging for Thursday nights after Poland have had their fill may mean UK Speedway may have to become "5 a side"..

Said it before... Build a track around an American Football pitch....

"We called Bartek and he said he would love to, but he goes out on a Monday, to the local Legion to play in the Darts, Pool and Crib League, and Thursday's he washes his hair".. "So, quite valid reasons, and if he wasnt doing that he would be over here, therefore, not all doom and gloom for the UK version of the sport, like some of them on the BSF like to make out".. "Can we have a facilty extension please?" "We can? Cheers"... "Give you a bell again in 4 weeks"...

Rules only the Chuckle Brothers could have dreamt up... "To me to you"... "To you, to me"...

That's about right... Moaning about the way the guest facilty is consistently applied, rather than running the sport with no need for guest facilities at all... If they spent more time promoting the sport instead of making up ludicrous rules which means lengthy conversations around how to apply them, (with all the subsequent fall out and ridicule around them making the whole thing look pointless), then maybe, just maybe, the sport would be in much ruder health.. And maybe tracks wouldn't close so frequently due to landlords not getting the rent potential that 3000 fans at each meeting could let the clubs pay.. Interesting article in the (excellent again), Speedway Star with the KL co promoter saying that with 7 teams there isnt enough riders.. What nonsense.. The whole of Europe and Scandinavia is opened up with fixed race nights.. The fact those riders might not want to come over definitely isnt down to a lack of rider numbers.. And if 7 man teams means not enough cover for replacements then simply reduce the amount of riders per team which will then create a surplus... No. Let's keep doing the same thing each year and get that fiddle out whilst the place burns around us.. Because that works well doesnt it?

Musielak... Great ride as he does so often.. Why no top league place? Better than a lot of the riders in there, both Polish and Foreign..

The issue always appeaed to me that when tracks did "£10 Speedway" it was very much part of a marketing plan akin "Build it and they will come".. And was a one off, maybe tops two, meeting venture.. The trick that I never saw happen was to use the night as a launch pad for further targeted offers down the line... Names, mobile numbers, email and home addresses, birthday dates of the adults and more importantly maybe the kids, etc could all have been gleaned on the nights that the "special" was done.. And with that info you then target market ongoing.. Expecting someone to pay a tenner, or even nothing at all, for anything, and then expect instant constant repeat purchasers at circa twenty quid is utter folly.. Get someone attending four or five times over say a couple of months and you have more chance of hooking them long term.. A £10 Speedway night" should be planned both on and off the track and see clubs armed at the end of it with an incredible amount of information from which to build their business.. And see the fans there that night leave armed with tangibles such car stickers, pens, and other "cheap as chips" memorabilia that gets your reach out there on a base level, and also armed with contact info for those at the club, and links to club websites, fans groups etc... (But maybe not a link to us on here)..

Understandable... 60/64 quid for less than forty mins of "entertainment" does appear excessive.. Especially given that some will possibly be not interested in 50% of what's on offer.. And, with all the best will in the world, curfews have had a habit over the years of preventing 30 races from taking place.. Experienced, and forward thinking promoters though, so hopefully their finger is on the pulse and it is a successful night..

Is it over two legs? Be a good opener for when the stadium is put up at the Abbey...

Best of luck to the Comets.. This type of venture could be very much the blueprint for the sports survival and, hopefully, growth..

Get that, But if you are spending more to generate "not enough" to pay for "the more", then you would be better off budgeting for keeping your costs as low as you can.. When Doyle, Emil, Bewley, Holder, Fricke, (and Laguta) visit, then crowds will at least be two or three hundred up at each match as those who have dropped off turn up, meaning another £30k or so from the four matches against the teams with GP opposition .. Add in the derbies that Peterborough and KL have together which bring decent (ish), away followings and you will have some ok return without breaking the bank in points money... Given the state of Peterborough's future I understand reticence to spend too much on either of the businesses...

I get the frustrations of following "your team" but, in all honesty, I think the promoters see putting out "any" Speedway as their main remit... Hence the operating model they follow.. The relevance of your team winning or losing is very small to the overall UK Speedway plan.. Keeping the sport going and getting to the end of the season is no mean achievement for a fair amount of them given the state the sport is in in the UK I would suggest.. For the majority of followers nowadays, I would suggest the racing is the key driver for them to attend, rather than the match outcome, hence they dont get too concerned about performances, but are content to accept that they have a meeting to attend again the next time.. Hence a winning or losing season often doesnt generate massive differences in crowd levels at most tracks.. As for "regime change"? Well not attending at all will easily facilitate that, but with the sport losing tracks so quickly, and no real financial rewards available, who would put their money into it to replace the current promoters? At least they are prepared to fund it...

When I used to go regularly to watch the Aces from 88 to around 2005, they were pretty crap for virtually everyone of those years.. Yet crowds never really changed much, given there was never a huge starting number.. And most tracks seem to have a similar pattern.. Nowadays I suppose you have the added cost implications and many more meetings nowadays being "a bit made up" which may put a few more off..

The reality is that for most tracks, being 'successful" doesn't bring in several hundred more every week.. Yet being "unsuccessful" doesn't lose you several hundred every week either.. But being "unsuccessful" can be better financially... As we have seen, title winners can end up going bust.... Being competitive at home is the mantra, with happiness truly being 46-44, meaning a close score line to maintain interest and a victory to celebrate, and, if you take a few 60 - 30's away then so be it... Your own fans are not likely to be there anyway...

I know sometimes a "Golden Ticket" reserve has been on considerable money, given his bargaining power, and the impact he can have makes him a "must have". Poole in particular over the years always seemed to bring in a "four point superstar", who pretty much becane a fourth HL, but one that gave great flexibility by replacing anyone at anytime.. But given their level of success,, and the crowds it brought, they obviously built it into their business model and it worked great for them.. Maybe KL are not of the same financial position to speculate the same? And let's be honest, a successful team wont probably bring in even 500 more every week will it?

They can use Bomber every other week.. Bomber's other commitments to everyone else not with standing obviously.. The Polish 2nd tier is full of riders that could be suitable.. With the beauty being you only need to sign them, they turn up once, and then have guests for the rest of the season due to all the Polish fixture clashes that UK Speedway have allowed to take place..

Will Poland let Max ride though?