mikebv

If Tony Mole was getting circa 1200 with all the goodwill and enthusiam of reopening after so many years then 1000 is a challenge I would think.. Not sure how many in the Championship seem to hit those sorts of figures every week..(?) Good to see some "new ideas" though so who knows what could be achieved? One thing missing for me from many plans when launching Speedway is a strong, innovative, targeted, modern marketing plan leading up to launch which initially captures the local publics attention, and then engages with them individually and constantly via social media/personally ongoing to hopefully keep them informed, engaged, valued and still coming... New owners always seem to spend loads of time, money and focus on getting riders in to their stadiums, without spending anything like a decent budget on someone who is capable of getting punters into their stadiums as well.. Hopefully the new team at Birmingham have "someone" capable, and a budget set aside, to do this.. The right person, and marketing plan, could be worth their weight in gold... Best wishes to those willing to give it a go..

Looks like some good ideas have been brought to the table which hopefully will work... In the wider picture, it just goes to show how "small" the sport as a whole really is when in such a huge conurbation like Birmingham, which runs into millions, getting just 1000 of those people into a Speedway meeting will provide such a challenge, and requires such focus and planning.... Best wishes to the those giving it a go, the share scheme and sponsorship will hopefully raise enough to offset the need for attracting what will be a very challenging 1000 per meeting I would think given the history of attendances there.. Could the NDL be a better possible "starting point" given the majority of the 500/600 who attended regularly will be 'die hards' who, I would imagine, watch any level of Speedway? (And putting a competitive team together when starting later than others could be a challenge which could impact crowds if not achieved) The NDL might bring less pressure due to less payroll, whilst all the ideas are brought together for a season or two? Best of luck to them anyway..

You are correct.. It is quite incredible really that those outside looking in can often see so much potential in the sport if only if was "ran properly" like other team sports... Whilst those within the "speedway bubble" seem not to see anything other than the 'same old, same old' as the ONLY way forwards... (Or ultimately backwards as sadly the reality appears to often be)... So much potential (as FIM meetings ran in the UK shows).. But destined to remain unfulfilled l fear....

Why would teams want to race every week? Do what Sweden and Poland do and race home one week and away the next.. You only have to see how crowds can get impacted at the end of a season when clubs cram in weekly 'home' Speedway to complete fixture lists.. With so few teams, and so many Fridays from Good Friday to November, surely all could run Fridays during that time? (If they wanted to)...

Maybe given Tuesdays and Wednesdays are such big football nights in the UK, Speedway should avoid them? Tuesday's are sorted given Sweden run, so maybe Wednesday could be avoided too? With no school next day, Fridays will always have that advantage over a weekday, but as you say, if people want their kids to go they will take them whatever the night... (And Poole seem to do ok on a Wednesday)... The reality is whatever night they run, unfortunatley there isnt enough adults going to ever have enough kids there to make any major difference to the sports future by encouraging them to become regulars.. I suppose the made up stuff we have today is the best we can expect..

But it shouldn't be 7 man teams if you cant make the leagues credible entities using that template.. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time? Madness is the definition I believe.. (Which is quite Ironic really as there was seven in that band, and then six)....

To be fair to any of Speedways landlords, when they see the sport lose tracks/tracks change promoters due to losses made, so consistently, you can see why they may put up restrictions on any lease.. If the sport had a following that delivered circa £50k a night through the turnstiles then rent increases wouldn't be an issue, nor would a change of promoter to "save the team" be ever needed.. Which I would suggest would provide landlords with more confidence in the tenant...

8 teams. 7 riders per team. Equals 56 riders needed.. 8 teams. 6 riders per team. Equals 48 riders needed.. 8 teams. 5 riders per team. Equals 40 riders needed.. Use six or five man teams and you have plenty of riders to come in and replace those missing.. Far better to deliver a credible offering, and do it on nights that can deliver your best crowds, and thus grow the sport as a collective..

It makes total sense to allow tracks to race on the night they feel will deliver their best crowds.. And for an entertainment business you would think Friday would deliver more punters than a Wednesday. (Especially the much needed families with young kids who hopefuly will become adult punters in later years).. Absolute crackers that they hold back the sports growth by preventing teams from riding on nights they want to because it means not enough guests will be available.... A ruling that destroys all the sport's credibility, and therefore reduces crowds significantly, and keeps major sponsors and mainstream media away, prevents tracks from riding on nights that they feel would increase the crowds that follow the sport.. An amazing plan...

So, therefore, the only correct and sensible thing to so is to carry on with such a winning formula isnt it? Keep running seven man teams even though there isnt enough riders, meaning every team can share several riders with someone else in the league below and thus, very little demarcation between the top two leagues.. Thus, zero aspirational attainment to grow... Keep running fixed (restrictive) race nights simply to ensure all the riders have an opportunity to do a seven day stretch and have loads of rides... With whether your fans thinking it is the best night to race on being very much a secondary (and maybe even lower?) consideration.. And keep running two leagues with an ever dwindling number of clubs taking part, thus rendering both pretty much worthless recognition wise in winning.. Even more so when any team who wins can, and invariably will, get help from every other team in the league to attain that "success"... They seem to have unearthed a new adage.. "If it IS broken, dont fix it".

Who could have predicted though that running such operating and business models for so many years would prove to be unsuccessful?

But to be fair to any "second strings/reserve level" riders riding in Sweden, they race against the absolute best in the world, both alongside, and against.. A "bit" easier for that level of rider to score points over here I would think....

Really? A bit of transparency? Imagine the carnage that would cause when "certain teams" get allowed to track a rider who clearly isnt eligible according to the rules... The less we know, the less we can flag up as being clearly wrong... Lift carpet and brush under it, and if all else fails....? "It is in the interest of British Speedway"..

Those that DU could wear 'half n half' kevlars in their two teams' colours when they race against themselves.. Guaranteed to be some close racing with a few dead heats, and the score would remain close all through the meeting... Just what Speedway needs.......

The "top flight"..... Akin to being Snow White's tallest dwarf .....

Adrian Smith will be another in quite a long line who have seen the sport from outside and thought "Wow! What potential".... So therefore, got involved, .. And, like others before him, would have gone into it thinking that all he had to do was highlight to the those already incumbent all the obvious inherent flaws that all can see hold the sport back in the UK... And then simply convince them that there are a great many alternative ways of moving this great sport forwards... However... Like so many others before him he has failed to take into account how insular and short term focused so many within the sport are, with many appearing to be "quite happy" with their lot as they hold 'some power'... Failing to grasp of course that they 'hold power' in a sport that hardly anyone has heard of, never mind cares about.. "Ideas People" are not wanted....

Spot on.. However... Those words "big 6" are as classic a misnomer as ever written.. Stockport County can get as near as damn it in one match what six matches collectively in a week in the Premier League can deliver.. And they are in level five of the Football League structure.. It's a tiny, tiny, sport, yet it seems some still have delusions that what they are running has some major relevance, meaning and impact... Unfortunatley due to the way they run it, it has none of the above..

One of the clear failings of those in charge a decade or so ago was to keep clinging on to the worlds best, paying them big money from the TV deal, putting up admission fees to subsidise their costs, and moving fixtures around ad nauseam to accommodate them.. Then, when fixtures inevitably couldn't always be changed, they loaded their teams with guest replacements across the board.. And then when the cash ran out, the big names steadily cleared off.. The irony being of course that as they paid out big money to these "must have" riders, crowds were annually dropping even when they were there, largely due to the admission increases, the fixture changes and the lack of credibility that so many meetings took place under... Quite simply they should have reigned in their egos and cut their cloth accordingly and paid out less to "lesser" riders who were 100% available and, on the back of this, reduce the admission prices previously raised to either pay the big names and/or cover the missing punters from the previous season.. Should have just "gone it alone" and focused on developing British talent.. More irony is that what we now have racing wise is good, as most riders are similarly matched.. Unfortunately that is in the main because the same riders race each other all the time in both leagues, which restricts race nights to open on, regardless of whether it is the best one for your business.. It needs a "five year plan" maybe?

There is somewhat of a myth re the pricing structure in Poland.. To us, it is "cheap". However, to the average Pole it is pretty much similar to us when measured (pro rata) against earnings.. What they do have, which we dont however, is a "proper sport", rather than a "sports entertainment".. Which therefore, gives fans that tribal feeling of following a team, gives the mainstream media something to cover that means a lot to many of the population, so brings in excellent audiences, and therefore also gives sponsors the opportunity to get their names out to a huge audience nationally... And they also, of course run at "family friendly" weekends.... You can take it as read that the day Zmarzlik dons a Wroclaw body colour to replace an injured Woffy, or Majic pulls on Gorzow colours to replace a missing Zmarzlik, that Polish Speedway will cease to be what it is today, and fans, media and sponsors would desert it in droves... Sweden's crowds were severely impacted by Covid rules so it will be interesting to see how next year goes.. It is clear from watching on TV how very similar their demographic of fan is to the fan found over here which doesnt bode well for their future, just like it sadly doesnt over here.... They do though still have credibility in the way they run their top League so have managed to keep a major sponsor interested which may be vital over the next few years..

Maybe they are doing something similar to some football teams who have gone into the Premier League knowing they will struggle to cope and stay up.. That is. Spend 'some' of the increase in money they will get and bank the rest... That way when they go back down they can still attract better riders in the 2nd tier to gain promotion again.... And that time spend more than they did the first time they went up giving them a better chance to stay in that top tier whilst also having the club on a firm footing financially.. Getting 'carried away' by the huge TV and Sponsorship sums on offer when reaching the top tier has had a negative impact to many football teams who found they spent well above their means and didn't use the money to build for the future.. Maybe Ostrow have a longer term plan than just having the one year at the top so are playing a longer game...?

Laguta Zmarzlik Sayfutdinov Janowski Woffinden Lambert Bewley *RS. Even Geoff might stay online come play off time with those seven...

It is a quick win to keep credibility to a meeting rather destroy it isnt it? No RS's guesting in the top league for each other... Use the next tier downs riders.. You could maybe even do the same for anyone who doesnt DU and only rides in the 2nd tier.. They then are the only ones allowed to guest in tier 1 for riders 2nd in the averages down.. A No1 missing means RR.. One that allows all riders to cover his rides as many times as the manager wants, but to a max of 7 rides each per meeting.. Given the No1's are no longer head and shoulders ahead of the other heat leaders now it is a perfect opportunity to dispense with guests..

It is a bit bizarre isnt it? As you say most riders have two averages so just use them in each league... Using a conversion figure could mean that riders are not as good as their actual figure that they got last year... Or maybe could mean that they are actually better than the figure that they got last year... In essence they could be better, or worse, than themselves... They just don't know it...

Which is why there is suddenly the focus on as many teams as possible putting out riders in the NDL as they can.. Hoping some come through.. Covid restrictions have (and will probably continue to do so), caused any flow from overseas to cease to a trickle, hence home grown talent is required.. And quick!! The big elephant in the room also though is how the U24 League in Poland hits and if they start taking the best young riders over there..

Maybe it is factually correct... Maybe this year they will be doing an "untraditional" one? One where they come up with proper plans to move the sport forward?