mikebv

Back to back titles suggest he is already up there considering so few do it..

Another Polish legend Ziggy Boniek delighted too..

The right result.. No mickey mouse scoring system beat him.. Well done lad... Box office...

A bit like a basketball match.. Just show the last five minutes..

Presume not many of the riders are watching other races to see how many third bend undertaking dives are taking place?

Not many become the best in the world without being ruthless to the point of reckless..

Maybe Woffy is letting others score to keep Zmarzlik out?

Woffy passed underneath again?

Because it had rained earlier so they tyre packed it and ran it slicker in case more rain came..

Wow.. Isn't Speedway brilliant??

6-0 to Wroclaw... Well done Max Fricke... Fricke, Lidsey, Bewley... The Aces conveyer belt of talent... Rode hard tonight Max which has been a criticism of him... Think he now believes in himself more..

Wow.... Doesn't wonder what might have been Zmarzlik does he...?

Mk3 worked. ..

Great ride from Fricke.. Learnt from the first lap and blocked the third bend dive.. Tough environment in which to learn but he seems to be doing it..

In the past you would always expect him to win these races that nowadays you feel he will get beaten in..

U21 result read out by Nigel... Edit : Just the top four in detail though.. Didn't do 5 to 16...

Do you mean you didn't know he had won his race when you said he was boring? And then said he had no opposition? Mystic Shovvy....

100% They even gave him gate 3 in his first race knowing fine well that it was bound to be the best by then...

100%... And if he was capable of holding an inside line he wouldn't have had any problem..

And the positive for those "dodgy weather" evenings is that many simply decide nowadays not to go as "several times bitten, many more times shy" is very much the thinking when time and again you pay to get in and throw your cash down the (probably blocked) drain... At least with streaming those who decide to give it a miss can then still put a few quid into their club which, by not turning up in person, they won't be doing... A little from a lot can soon mount up...

Not sure.. I would be nterested in the 'odd' streamed meeting at £7/£8 but probably wouldnt attend any matches 'live' all season as not really interested in following the sport under it's current operational model of "not being a proper team sport".. So I would watch it like I currently watch Sweden and Poland, ie "just watch the racing" for what it is.. And that could be any teams not just Premiership teams In fact, charge me £20 a month for a full streamed season ticket's racing, and the sport could get circa £120 or so out of me that they currently wouldn't get one penny of.. I would suggest there are many, many more thousands who still follow the sport actively via satellite broadcasts, on here, and via Speedway Star, than actually attend domestic Speedway regularly, with many from defunct tracks and many who basically "gave up" on British Speedway. Ardent followers of the sport but who basically dont put anything at all into the coffers of the sport over here.. So a potential huge market for a streaming service to aim for I would think.. And who knows, maybe it could rekindle interest enough to persuade some to go back and visit the stadiums again?

My local football team (Stockport County), are charging £7.50 per game and free to season tickets purchasers.. I wouldn't think that £7.50 is too far away from what Speedway clubs could charge I would think given County are fifth tier, non league.. It's a one camera operation with the usual local radio commentary..

Can't beat a track that's got a bit greasy meaning horsepower isnt the key determinant.. Great to see riders changing lines and moving around all over the bike to get the best traction..

I have read comments around how cheap it is at £10 compared to going as eg "all the family can watch" with the suggestion that if you paid to watch it live the cost of two admissions at adult level and two at kids level, with food, drink etc would be around £50 to £60.. I think that misses the point.. The stream needs to be aimed at those who dont attend Speedway regularly but know it exists and maybe used to follow it, and also the many thousands of fans around the country who have no affinity to either side on show. And the amount of 'families' who go is minimal when up against those who attend alone I would say.. If I wont pay £18 to watch it live now, then I probably wont pay £10 to watch it on TV.. Especially given you can watch so much Speedway on BT, Eurosport and Premier from the comfort of your armchair, (which you have already shelled out a good few quid a month for).. I would imagine given the pandemic the streams will be a perfect time for a 'toe in the water' to see how it goes, and I hope it goes well.. But going forwards when up against the Satellite broadcasters who can provide around 15 to 20 meetings a month for circa £60, then I would think the £5 per meeting price point will be nearer the mark than a £10 one to get fans to purchase the meetings 'regularly'.. Maybe with the technology of today, the stream could be blocked locally around the home teams area to encourage fans to attend, but to be honest I would think that the vast majority of regulars who still go now would go anyway, so it's not really them you will appeal to via a stream. Unless its maybe 50/50 if a meeting will go ahead due to poor weather, but even then you will still be getting some revenue in rather than zero if they stay away as many do at present when it looks like a meeting could be called off.. The target audience for any stream has to be the utopian "everyone who follows the sport in the country that wont be there in person", which is a massive market even for Speedway.. On a 'normal' week, if every track had a meeting I would suggest 20,000 to 25,000 or so will attend, many of whom will watch 'any speedway' on TV... I would also suggest at least that many again (and probably many more) still follow the sport but hardly attend (if at all). These people currently pay no money directly into the sports coffers yet many will have used to put "plenty" in until they finally 'gave up' with UK Speedway. Yet still watch as much of the sport as they can via TV. You only have to look at the high 5, and sometimes over 6 figure viewing figures for Sky and BT over the past ten years, to see that the interest is still very much out there in the UK to watch domestic Speedway.. Get the pricing right and it could be a real winner for the sport as a collective, however, I do think that working as a collective is the key.. If clubs do it as individuals, and stand alone, then I dont think it would be anywhere near as successful as all working together to share costs and share profits, maybe with exclusivity deals to broadcasters to maximise that potential and deliver a consistent quality of stream.. Speedway has more % 'neutral' fans than a great many other team sports, fans who just love watching the racing, so streaming could be a great way to harness that and make some real money for the sport as a whole.. Streaming really could be a game changer for clubs and the sport in the UK, with, as just one example, more revenue coming in from local businesses who can build their brand awareness by advertising during the stream to the locality that they serve. Speedway has so many natural breaks it would be perfect to use some of the time as advertising slots.. But again, it will only ultimately work if that price point is right and you get enough people to sign up to it regularly..

Lovely evening here in Gorton A bit drafty up here in my cherry picker though... Should have brought a coat.. If anyones reading this in the stadium could you send us up a brew?