mikebv

To be fair, the same can be said in many ways for Football, Cricket, Tennis, F1, Moto GP, Superbikes etc etc etc. The admission costs particularly have ensured a much older demographic are their main followers.. 20/20 Cricket in particular though do a great job in attracting families though cheap tickets. And they do this to create the atmosphere that any sporting occasion needs to be memorable and addictive.. The truth is many teenage kids don't want to go anywhere near where their parents frequent as it's all 'a bit sad'.. Mobile phones, Play station, X box, catch up TV, and Social Media give them all the entertainment they need without ever leaving their rooms... Getting the many, many thousands of 40/50/60 somethings who have left the sport over the past ten years or so to return would be far easier than getting a younger demographic through the door... But if those who run the sport don't see any issues to resolve, and can't see why so many have left, then that simply won't happen. ..

Maybe they all start "equal" then after ''x' matches home and away whoever has the highest average becomes the benchmark for the rest to work too? Too often, and too early in the season, there is far too great a gap from top to bottom, and given the restrictive rules around allowed replacements all that seems to happen is the bottom teams do nothing but 'move around the deck chairs on the Titanic', and don't move forwards enough to improve a failing season.. It would also mean that by the end of the season teams should all be closer to each other with their final average meaning that maybe they could start to use the Champions figure as the starting point the year after? Whatever system followed using averages will be inherently flawed due to all the variables within its delivery, and its subjective nature, however ending each season with teams miles apart suggests it needs some improving to deliver what it's supposed to..

However, riders averages are massively impacted by any large home track advantage.. Therefore a team who were very dominant at home can have higher averages than a similar level of riders who don't have that home track benefit.. And, as always, the league starts off pretty level every year, then (it feels since time began), each year a month into the season at least one team is cut adrift, and by the end of the season the top to bottom gap is a chasm.. So much for the sport depending on averages to keep things close every year.. The evidence suggests it doesn't..

But what a team to pull a crowd in wherever they rode around the country? Would be the best crowds of the season at each track I would imagine.. Similar to the way the Ipswich team with Rickardsson, Gollob, et al pulled in fans when they visited all those years ago.. As you say, no one can afford a team like and ironically it would probably reduce their own crowds as they would smash everyone, every week, and be play off guarantees months before the play offs, which would again reduce fan numbers due to many meetings having little riding on them.. You can build a very decent team (and affordable too), to Swindons average (as Swindon showed!)...

Not fair... I didn't really know what I was voting for... So therefore, I want another vote.. And I also demand at least three years worth of prevarication before the original decision is finally verified.. Or isn't..... Anyway, just got in, popcorn freshly popped and ready... Good thread this...

Must admit, if I had a customer of 40 odd years who stopped shopping with me due to my operating model I would be quite interested in their opinion and feedback.. Especially if they have "loved" coming to my store for a long, long time.. Whether I could do anything (or would want to) to meet their requirements anymore is another matter, however any business failing to meet the needs of its customers needs to be told why its failing to at least review its operating model and see if it can make changes to meet expectations.. If it can afford to lose custom to deliver an overall better profit (as can be very much delivered), then that is up to them to follow that path accordingly.. No one would waste time coming on here fo discuss the sport if they didn't feel passionate about it, and it would be very boring if everyone thought the same.. Recently the Unofficial Aces FB page lost some contributors who had an alternative view to many on there, and sadly its content has suffered accordingly... And there is always the ignore option...

Or save the £480 to pay for the 'extras' by giving the 14 riders on show £20 less? Which is a fiver a race based on four rides... No disrespect to any rider but your ideas would have more likely hood of enticing fans to return than their 'name' ever will such is the lack of awareness of the wider public to who currently rides Speedway.. You can do so much to engender customer loyalty which actually costs very little..

Here what your saying. However, I would think though there are enough fundamental improvements that most fans would sign up for, and by their implementation would make a clear, positive impact to crowds.. Running on the best days/nights for your customers to attend rather than planning your opening hours around your employees availability must see an improvement in crowd levels surely? Also running regularly during the warmer, dryer summer months, when the kids are off school, must deliver better crowds than running in dark, cold, damp October? And running finals staggered through the season must also help with crowd levels and rider availability too, rather than cramming them all in post September on random, cold nights, using guests (which devalue the competition), to beat the season dead line? And finally, running the sport with credibilty and integrity must improve crowds simply as those who don't any longer attend due to amount the contrived meetings put out far too often, would go back to attending again.. As you say, many are the varied ideas in how to improve things on here, some almost wish lists, but these four suggestions are pretty much standard, basic business practice rather than any re invention of the business wheel.. In summary... Open your doors when your customers want you to, at the optimum times for them to use your services so maximising your sales... And then ensure that what they are buying is something they can trust and believe in and want to repeatedly purchase.. Pretty basic stuff..

He will be doing both... Any clash would be quite rare I would imagine.. Still, I think it would be better to have 100 or so regulations, sub regulations and sub, sub regulations, written out for any such eventuality... Just in case..

Who gets priority on any clashes? And will the other team be allowed a guest curator or will they need to run CR (curator replacement)? Presume if they are allowed a guest curator the replacement will be allowed to do up to 5% more laps of the track grading and watering than the curator he is replacing?..

It will be fine... We put the clocks back an hour yesterday,..

Spot on.. Should have been implemented years ago.. However I wouldn't think too many clubs would want to pay out (or afford) £300... There would be some mileage though if it was treated as 'free practice' I would reckon... 'Junior scurrys' should just be seen as experience and opportunity for lads to ride a bike and improve.. MX riders often pay to ride at grass roots level therefore entry level riders need to understand getting paid won't happen till they reach the top two leagues...

It's very clear that 'a night at the Speedway', ie two 'teams', 4 lads per race, 15 heats etc etc, simply isn't enticing enough, or being considered value for money, for the required number of potential punters to regularly deliver big crowds in its current guise... Not sure though that those who run their respective clubs all have the capability in doing anything about it collectively unfortunately, as surely they would have done so already? One thing for sure is that continually running events with the priority being you meeting your employees agenda, rather than the agenda of your customers, cannot work in business.. The NSS shows that even with its great racing, 'build it and they will come' is nothing more than a throwaway line from a movie.. Enticing the punters in through targeted marketing, and impressing them from the moment they arrive, to the moment they leave, is the only thing that can drive forward an entertainment buisness... You sometimes get the impression that some Promoters would rather spend more time, energy and focus on negotiating an average for one of their riders to get reassessed down by 0.1% or so, rather than use their obvious passion and love for the sport to focus their energies on what really matters to their customers. .

And that's something so many of the Promoters won't even have considered.. Mikkel Bech, (no disrespect intended as it could be any one of hundreds of riders), will not inspire too many 'ex fans' to the tracks, nor resonate with anyone who doesn't attend Speedway but have a vague recollection of the sport.. Get the on track (and off track), entertainment sorted out and you will have a far greater chance of growing your custom, regardless of who the competitors are...

Soren and Christer Sjosten

The one glaring thing they don't seem to understand is that by annually undermining their very own 'flagship events', they devalue them to a level where fans then start to ask themselves "why the hell would anyone attend"? And if the Finals become so devalued then really why attend any of the qualifiers either? It actually suggests that those who run the sport dont take it too seriously themselves, so lets face it, if those who run the sport don't take it seriously then really why should the fans? Quite incredible how this sport is ran in the UK isn't it?

Was this written last year and just reproduced? Or maybe the year before? Or maybe any given year over far too many years..? Cricket is another sport that relies on the weather conditions being favourable to run, therefore I am amazed they don't run all their finals in October like Speedway in the UK does.. Surely those in the ECB are missing a trick? It is truly amazing that every year the same nonsense pervades yet those who run the sport obviously see absolutely nothing wrong with it.... Maybe seeing all those growing empty spaces on the terraces will one day start to finally give them a clue. .?

Definitely worth considering, however you would need a to set a 'team mean average' which all teams couldn't go over to prevent one team buying up the best in each grade.. Maybe also let teams 'miss a grade' and use two riders from the one below instead? Possibly even run with six man teams initially to increase the riders avaialble per grade? This would create a situation where supply exceeds demand thus teams will have options for injury cover other than guests, and can replace poor performers with a like of like replacement rather than making two changes to fit one decent rider in with a make weight to maintain the team average, like they do now.. Makes it easy to transfer riders into it too, ie those from overseas or those wishing to double up can be slotted in to a grade based on assessed or converted average. .

And each season, after peeing about for donkeys using a slide rule to get seven riders as near to the limit as possible, all teams start 'level' yet, by the end of the season, one, if not more, are always miles adrift of the team that tops the table. . Usually after tinkering around for weeks signing riders not much better than the ones they are replacing, from a small pool that fits the averages that they need to build to, rather than a wider pool of 'talent' that might make a difference.. Hence they don't move forwards and their seasons are effectively over by the end of June... Market forces will dictate who they bring in if there were a wider amount of leeway as, lets be honest, not many could afford a Bartek or a Tai to turn their seasons around, however maybe a club could pick up a '6 point man' to replace a '5 point man', which could make a difference without breaking the club...? As we know, there a myriad of variables that delivers a riders average, so many of which are shall we say 'less than scientific' meaning this hardly justifies the influence they possess on the whole sport, therefore, let's spend less time trying to build a speedway team with averages as it's most important focal point, and more time building one using the actual personalities who have brought it both success and positive fan engagement...

Didn't have time, flying to the moon took up all his focus...

To be fair, its not a 'Poole thing'.... For what seems like 'forever' away teams have arrived with guests... Often having agreed to a meeting knowing full well that their 'star rider' will be missing as required elsewhere, as lets be honest, their crowd wont be impacted by his absence. Or. They agreed to the meeting knowing they could bring in a couple of ringer track specialists to replace their known missing riders who might not be as good at that particular track.. Surprising how many times 'star riders' are always available for home meetings though... Given the reputation of the team competitions in the UK, it doesn't really matter who makes up the septets, so just ride under the banner of the two teams on the best nights you can get a crowd in... And as has been said, ensure your home side is strong so fans (who are obviously ok with contrived septets) can at least keep the faith that their team has a chance of winning their home meetings, thus will keep attending... And if you ride on the nights that traditionally brought you your best crowds, then you have more chance of getting those all important 'fans who used to be regulars', to attend more often than maybe they currently do now. . Much easier to bring them back into the speedway fold than attract newbies I would suggest..

Screwdriverski.....

They kept mentioning 'Droogy" every race which made me have all sorts of thoughts... Seemingly its 'druga' and it means 'second'..

It does, but an away team with guests on a Friday or Saturday evening at the NSS will still generate a bigger crowd than a 'proper' away team on a Monday or a Thursday.. There's no real kudos in winning any Speedway League title in the UK, so it doesn't really matter who represents who.. Therefore, ride on the night you can make your most money, even if it's a bit contrived.. The fans who are still going regularly have shown that contrived septets don't prevent their attendance so it doesn't really matter to them if the teams are a bit cobbled together.. So ride on nights when most fans can get there... Its obvious the sport cannot run itself 'properly' as a genuine team sport due to a myriad of variable issues, so it might as well not even try running itself 'properly' and aim to get those who still attend now, but maybe not every match, to attend more often...

Always looks good in Poland when they do the same with their two channels who cover the top league.... Cant understand a word of it mind...