mikebv

Good news if it happens.. A chance to create a few 'characters' and maybe get some riders profiles increased which can be used as 'drawcards' going forward.. There are a good few exciting riders who ply their trade in the UK so showing their races weekly can only be good for the sport overall.. And the NSS, Peterborough, Somerset, Scunthorpe and Swindon in particular (there may be more), seem to deliver plenty of good racing most weeks so there shouldn't be any shortage of footage to showcase the sport in a good, positive light...

Quite possibly.. I presume though they will have discussed with Eurosport what the highlights package will consist of? No point showing highlights of something that didn't contain any as all that will do is turn even more people off.. Much better to take one or two heats from a dull live meeting, show the result and a couple of interviews, then spend the rest of the programme showing the best races from each meeting that week from around the country with rider and team manager interviews.. Every team then gets a mention and riders start to get noticed..

Don't all the teams have a company filming their meetings? If not, they should be made to.. BV's has a tremendous picture quality and could be used for a highlights package.. One of the issues with TV is how few riders actually get noticed by anyone curiously watching.. Some Premiership riders will have been on TV only once or twice this year (and maybe even not at all). Championship and NL riders don't even get a chance unless they double/treble up.. Therefore, a whole sport highlights package can only be a good thing.. Many riders will deliver some great entertainment weekly so the sport needs to get this action out to the public every week, meaning that even if the main live meeting is a bit dull, you still have a package of great, exciting racing.. The 60 second football round ups on Sky and BT concentrate on the matches goals and controversial incidents so Speedway should follow suit.. Most mundane meetings will have at least one "very good race", often by the same riders who are renowned more for passing than gating, so get this one race per meeting out there each week, and start to build individual rider profile's and reputation as racers, which can only be good for their own sponsorship as well as getting the team they ride for noticed.. Get the 'exciting' riders noticed and the teams can then build marketing on the back of their names... And five to ten minutes of passing, passing and more passing, will help dispel the "first out of the gate wins" reputation.. Throw in a bit of 'handbags' too, where it happens, and you will maybe getting those watching sitting up and taking notice..?

Spot on . Everything leading up to the play offs is far too low key and treated as nothing more than a qualifier to the finals.. Poole topped the table and lost money.. You can almost guarantee several fans missed a few meetings knowing the play offs were a cast iron certainty as basically the end of the season became 'dead rubbers' for them. They need to make 'winning the league' mean something as well as winning the play offs...

I think too much is read into who actually provides the coverage and more should be considered about what they actually get to show.. Sky, BT, and Eurosport are not 'Speedway's saviours', they are just TV companies showing the sport.. Their production capability might add weight to the racing or it might not, however.. If the racing isn't up to any great entertainment standard (as we sadly see most weeks in the UK meetings), then it doesn't matter who shows it nor how great their presentation and production skills are.. If what you are watching doesn't maintain your interest, then it doesnt matter if it's 'free to air' or not, and that can never be a positive for the sport. In fact it could work very much the other way and disconnect any potential new fans, or ex fans who may think about returning, completely.. Doesn't matter who shows the sport if it doesn't deliver on the track...

Whilst I don't doubt it improved technique riding on smaller tracks, I would suggest that the level of competition brought on the riders more.. Top riders of the past rode against the other top riders several times on a weekly basis in the UK, which meant they had to improve accordingly if they wanted to be No1.. Nowadays someone like Dan Bewley won't get the same impact to his career riding a smaller circuit as the opposition level won't give any kind of barometer of where he sits globally... The likes of Bewley and Lambert need to be riding in Poland and Sweden's top leagues (on any shaped tracks) to improve their racing and position in the World rankings... Too many times British riders have settled for a 'successful' domestic career which nowadays, in the grand scheme of World Speedway, means very little...

For me pretty much THE No1 PRIORITY for each track.. As fans who still go have shown, they will put up with a whole host of 'anomolies' with regards to how the sport is ran versus it's peers, therefore the least the sport can do is ensure it runs on the best nights for the vast majority of them to get there.. For teams currently in the second tier, I cannot see (no disrespect intended as could be lots of riders used as an example), how the likes of Danny King and Chris Harris riding in Ipswich colours in the Premiership will deliver much bigger crowds than when they turned up this year for Sheffield and Somerset respectively... Maybe the Champions, with Jason Doyle in tow, would deliver a novelty crowd bounce but cannot see over a season how it could work for second tier clubs moving up.. Unless of course financially the TV money is similar to the Sky deal and clubs feel they can make ends meet with it?

Must admit, it did cross my mind to end my comment with something like that... Five years is a long time and lots of decisions will be made by those who run the sport.... And we know how many 'strange decisions' five weeks can bring, let alone five years..

But in Speedway you could be going 'in hard' against tomorrow nights team captain for your other team.. Go in 'too hard' and effectively you could knacker your other teams' season... Playing aggressively against a fellow international for your own team is perfectly acceptable, you owe him nothing and your club loyalty and own fan base comes first.. However, in Speedway, a different club on another night needs you both to be on the same side so riding too aggressively will have consequences for them.. Must have a bearing on how you react I would think, and definitely takes away some of that 'tribalism' that team sports should always inspire in their participants and fans..

You can only presume that there is significant money on the table to lock yourself in to five years.. Suggesting no other bidding war between TV companies is needed for the BSPA till 2025.. Or could there actually be a genuine "Five Year Plan" for the sport in conjunction with Eurosport's backing? A plan that actually exists, and has been agreed with the TV company? Eurosport must have done its homework on the sport in the UK, so must be happy with what they see now, therefore maybe they too have a vision for the sports journey over the next five years...? It's certainly a big investment in time and resources if nothing else for them over the next five years, which suggests confidence in the product..

But it does... To the most significant issue for several teams which is.. Their race night... Fixed nights are in place to ensure double uppers are able to ride as much as possible to earn enough to carry on, (and ensure plenty of guest replacements are available).. Sheffield changed last year to a Sunday because racing on a Thursday became not possible and suffered as a consequence.. This ultimately closed down Buxton who couldn't run profitably against their neighbour on the same afternoon. BV would get better crowds riding on a Friday or Saturday night but cannot due to fixed nights.. And Poole have said losing Wednesday impacted their crowd levels.. And we saw what happened to Workington when they lost their race night slot because "there wasn't enough riders to guest when so many riders rode on the same evening".. Doubling up is pretty much irrelevant for me from the respective competitions perspective as it doesn't really matter who wins the titles anyway so mixing riders in two or three leagues won't make me go or not go.. However the race night will.. In "The good old days" as has been mentioned, doubling up was common place for development. PC did indeed ride for BV and Rochdale, however.. BV still rode every Saturday night and didn't change race nights to accommodate his participation..

Partnering a rider in one night, and then riding against him on another night in another domestic league, and then with him in another country the next night, and against him in yet another country the night after that, must have a huge bearing on the level of racing... You simply won't be as aggressive to win against someone who you will be sat next to in the pits somewhere else tomorrow.. I would defy anyone to 'give everything' for their teams given such situations.. Just human nature.. Therefore the level of competitiveness has to suffer... Unless, of course, it's Poland where individual contracts worth several hundred thousands pounds are on the line, and tens and tens of thousands of rabid fanatical fans are critically judging you every race... That focuses your mind and motivates you to give 100% every race I would suggest..

Are Berwick changing counties too? Moving its town 200 miles or so south to become part of Lancashire or Yorkshire?

And often ran on nights to suit the riders' own individual aspirations on the global stage, rather than prioritising when clubs can deliver their best crowd (which should be the ultimate priority).. Looking at the last few seasons a few riders seem to have become almost "weekly guests" riding in both leagues, so no need to ride in individuals given they can get plenty of extra money over a season getting hired by all and sundry...

With the result the typical UK Speedway halfway house.. That is to say, they do neither correctly so devalue both...

The problem with running 'individuals' is that too many 'individuals' cry off and don't bother attending.. Or they get ran on days when other meetings take place so lines up get diluted from the original names.. All comes down to money I suppose.. If the prize money was large enough then all the riders would want an invitation, and the fans would attend in numbers as the event will become something worthwhile going to watch.. If say £50,000 was put up as a total prize fund for an individual event could you get a 3500 crowd paying £20 each? 16 riders on a guarantee of £2000 and then an £18k final. (£8k, £5k, £3k, £2k).. Could several tracks run such events once each per season, well marketed, well sponsored and promoted very aggressively locally? It does appear its "go big" or don't bother when it comes to individual events..

Spot on about teams wanting a lower level when it suits.. However, there has to be a starting point and with Swindon's stadium issues I suggest this should be it.. Every Sport needs a 'Manchester United', ie a team who pulls in crowds home and away and gets people talking for good or bad, but never indifferent.. When I was a regular away from home we used to taunt the home fans with a rendition of "You've only come to see United". Which was 100% true as crowds at several grounds would go up by 10,000 to play us, then drop again the week after.. Each season Speedway takes away the success of the winning team by diluting them, thus the year after you are not really watching "The Champions" but a pale imitation version of them.. So. Let Swindon be "The Benchmark" for everyone else to try and knock off their perch.. And get some rivalries going amongst the rest of the League as they try to put one over them.. Jason Doyle is an ultra loyal to the UK, GP rider so each club should market his appearance as such, and Swindon have some excellent riders with, what appears, a great attitude so no better time I would suggest to try 'something new'.. And let's face it, the facts are each season each team starts on paper 'level' but very quickly teams become 'miles apart' on track so does the system actually work anyway? Therefore, let Swindon build their business on the back of it (at a crucial time for them), and let the rest of the League benefit by having the 'Real Champions' visit and also give them something to aspire to be..

If ever a team should be allowed to keep the same septet its Swindon.. 1) To give the rest of the League something to aspire to conquer, as all proper Sport's should.. And 2) More importantly, as you say, keep that feel good factor around the place to deliver the strong crowds that may influence stadium developments.. These riders will have made emotional connections with Swindon's fans this year, so that invaluable connection should be used to full effect next year to support the clubs overall future.. The bigger picture of course is that the Sport as a whole benefits by keeping Swindon at the forefront of the sport.. (All of which means they will be narrow mindedly tasked to shed three or four riders obviously)!...

Jonsson won Geoff. ..

Uniquely. Speedway is possibly the least impacted Sport when it comes to 'blind partizanship' I would suggest.. Many of its die hard fan base are now Speedway fans first and club fans second in a lot of cases.. Not many (bar a rabid few), would have any sour grapes about their teams losing simply because the prizes don't warrant that level of emotional attachment or response.. You only have to look at the Aces fans Facebook pages when they failed to reach the play offs to see how many mentioned they would accept defeats given the great racing they get served up each meeting, with an overall general consensus that winning the 'top prize' doesn't mean that much anyway, and that long may the entertainment value on offer continue.. Obviously can't reply for SPD but I wouldn't think the Aces getting beat in the KO Cup or not reaching the play offs had any bearing in his post..

Several reasons why teams request to drop.. With financial being the obvious one. With the underlying reasons of there being absolutely no kudos by winning any Speedway title nor any attainment levels to aspire too from the lowest league to the top.. No disrespect but a Grand Final in Speedway (UK), is akin to two bald men fighting over a comb.. Therefore what difference does it make to the clubs what league they race in? Hardly anyone cares who wins. There is almost zero National coverage.. And there is no financial reward worth speaking of, in fact, as we see, successful clubs can actually lose money and go bust by winning!! Therefore you might as well decide amongst yourselves where you want to compete, and at the end of the day you can watch pretty much the same set of riders anyway so no loss there.. As you say, it sends out all the wrong messages, but that's where the sport is in the UK, and I suppose the overall thoughts are better to have clubs still in existence than not.. An ever decreasing circle though isn't it?

Think it's more the director... Spends too long on the wrong camera... The riders have gone passed and he (or she, it is 2019), hasn't moved on to the next camera...

Be ok if Eurosport get involved... Joining two thirds of a way through a Speedway meeting is what they do best...

Maybe Tai could ride over here for loads of teams as 'unattached' and then ride in the British and Premiership Championships? Of course, the Premiership should have to hold such an event for it to happen..

Not beyond the realms of fantasy that, I would suggest......