mikebv

Riders have to double up... It's the law....

A good, informative, interview (again), in the Speedway Star with Matt Ford and he mentions Vaculik and his injury inducing, short lived, stint at Leicester, which cost him thousands as he had to pay back his signing on money to his Polish team... A big risk for riders to come over here when you are talking high five, and sometimes six, figure signing on fees that have a "pay back clause" if injured riding in other leagues...

See.... Now you've got it....

Maybe with potentially less meetings the rent has needed to be renegotiated?

Winners always find a way.....

It needs to be on free to air mainstream TV, which then (might), engage some of the old followers to attend, and ignite some interest from the millions, within 45 mins of many tracks, who literally don't know the sport exists... And free to air mainstream TV may also get some "new money" sponsors into the sport, rather than "in house" sponsorship which doesn't move the sport forward... However. Some "proper cash injection" would need to be met with an agreement to run the sport authentically from a team aspect though, and, given so many "hobbyists" are involved, that may be a big barrier to overcome...

They couldn't afford less Prem teams as then there would be too many riders not able to DU.... At thst time. With Ipswich being possibly not running, and Northampton still a twinkle in some promoters' eye, they simply couldn't afford another Prem team to drop... With only four Prem teams you would pretty much be at the point when one league would be the only realistic outcome, as those four surely couldn't go it alone... And one league means DU'ing is dead....

Too many promotions want too many different things from the sport.. For a good number, what we have today is perfection... Affordable subsidising of their hobby either through another business they run, or money they take in renting out their track... Many get to use and see pkenty of PL Heat Leaders, but don't need to pay them the same as their PL teams do... And, those in the 2nd tier in can run at weekends if they want to, when, generally in the entertainment game, it delivers the best crowds, and just swap and change riders with each other, as and when some riders have inevitable clashes with Polish and FIM events.... Promoters can also decide to ride in whatever league can make them the most profit, given the lack of any decent prize money or publicity for winning either, so, once again, are quire content to keep things as they are... In summary... For many, the current structure ticks lots of their required boxes, therefore change isn't going to happen unless someone comes out with a huge sponsorship package, which would mean UK Speedway could then become relevant and authentic as a Team Sport... However, given the often clearly demonstrated skill sets of so many within the "UK Speedway Bubble Echo Chamber", nothing will change, because it cannot...

Which is why the fixation from the BSP in bringing back the likes of Coventry, Peterborough, Swindon and Wolves, leaves me perplexed... Who would these teams get to ride for them? One of the main augments against one league was the lack of riders of a certain level... What level would be needed to find another 28 team spots? Maybe instead of guesting it became official that one rider represented two teams in the same league?..

Speedway was on prime time TV... England won lots of world titles... And, in Peter Collins they had a "Golden Boy' who was as recognised as much as Div One footballers.. Domestic Speedway lived off the back of what the World of Sport served up many Saturdays during the summer months... Domestic Speedway wasn't as quite as "Mickey Mouse" then, as it is now, (196 Guests last year in fhe top two leagues), but still had plenty of "nonsense" going on.. The huge difference being that you only found out when you were at the track that Larry Ross was guesting for PC who had a Long Track meeting in Germany the next day, whereas today you know the meeting in two days will be a "Guestfest" and the main crowd puller will be absent.. Add in the much greater percentage impact to disposable income that attending Speedway has nowadays due to "modern living" and there is no doubt what back then worked, doesn't now.. How is it fixed?.. Not a clue, but, one million percent, doing the same thing ad infinitum, like they do, definitely won't improve their lot...

Get in on mainstream free TV... Ideally. Three channels only, and on prime time Saturday afternoon viewing... Oh. And have prime Peter Collins beating the best the world has to offer, from the back, in what seemed to be every race.. Well, joking apart... Getting it on free TV could definitely help given the tiny amount of followers the sport has.. Which only needs 20,000 extra or so at the 14 tracks to see a 100% growth... C5 being the biggest opportunity.. A regular magazine programme using BSN and track streaming footage, and having riders in the studio being interviewed could create some interest... With the beauty being, given the low, low, starting point, you don't need much interest to see big growth...

And that other Norwegian, Reidar Replacement....

I think we can all agree .. This is the best, most comprehensive, and detailed update so far....

My lad gets paid for playing football on Saturdays and on Sundays... Semi pro level on the Saturday and normal Sunday League stuff the next day... The bloke who owns the Semi Pro team runs a Sunday team and pays a few of the lads to play.. There are a couple of other teams on the Sunday who also pay players, with the three teams easily better than the rest... UK Speedway, for me, has a similar vibe to it... Many benefactors who are quite happy running it as a hobby they can afford, and, with no real kudos, publicity, or financial rewards for winning, meaning, its more of an enjoyable labour of love, rather than a bona fide sporting occasion that they present... And, given the lack of authenticity as a team sport that Speedway in the UK has, you can see why many are quite happy to never change things...

Yet literally seven figures spent on the riders who if any of them rode down the street outside their track, no one would have a clue who they are or what they do... A baffling complete waste of what is a huge resource, given "nothing changes" from one season to the next in regards to crowd growth....

It's barmy isn't it? They will get around 1000 fans (tops), and spend around £400k to £500k to do it... Money that, if they have got it to burn, would be better invested in getting 1000 extra fans at the 14 existing tracks... This growing the sport hugely in percentage terms.. Maybe use some of this cash to fund free away fan admission to add a bit of tribal atmosphere, and make you feel you are actually at a team sport with relevance?

There has been four teams confirmed since last October... Or did you forget that?😁 My point being they could have put their fixtures together, and added on anyone who joined later into the gaps... Mondays and Thursdays are guaranteed nights so wouldn't have been difficult to add in those latecomers...

Is that to see that they have enough clashes with FIM meetings, and domestic individual meetings like the U21 Championship, to smash out of the park that 196 guest total from last year?

No idea why the NDL and the Championship havent put their fixtures out... And the same for the four guaranteed to run Premiership teams... The Prem can add in any other fixtures later on their Monday's and Thursday's.. Sponsors may want to bring some business associates, so need to plan, and some fans will want to plan holidays around fixtures..

If they have got a spare £200k, and then some, plus £300k, and then some, for riders,, to launch this venture, then they would be far better off putting that money into marketing the UK version of the sport as a whole...

Wasn't that the season that, halfway through it, Sam Masters was No1 in the averages of BOTH leagues?.

Now the Aces promotion machine can really kick into gear and go to town advertising the first Premiership match against... ??????????? Not sure why the four teams so far running haven't put out a fixture list . We know all meetings will be Mondays and Thursdays so just use the blank dates left to run the Ipswich and, maybe, Northampton meetings if they do exist.... Any Mondays and Thursdays blank can be just TBC until all sorted... At the least then fans can start to plan around some dates...

Brady Kurtz earned more than BZ last year in the GP's..... €132,750 to €128,250.. MJJ says in the Speedway Star that the GP's are less about financial return, but more about being able to gain better deals in Poland, as your standing grows, and more sponsors also come on board if you are doing well in the GP's.. Breaking even "needs luck" given riders have to pay all their own costs..

Nobody outside of the few thousand who watch Speedway each week know who he is... And that is the biggest issue the sport has... Most of Manchester won't even know what the NSS is, nor even who the Belle Vue Aces are... And even what Speedway is.. So, sadly, It matters not one jot to crowd levels how well Dan rides the NSS...

I must say I did have a wry smile when he said re riders potentially giving up the sport... "The trouble is that then as time goes on you run out of riders and there won't be enough to sustain a league system in the UK".. Even the odd American could maybe spot the irony of, one of the many, holding down TWO team places in the UK, making such comments..... Difficult to develop riders to keep a league system going when spaces are not available for them to take up...