mikebv

PC is still the finest exponent of 'pure' Speedway racing on a bike I have ever had the privilege to see Moxey.. (Which is saying something given the truly exceptional talents that I have been lucky to see over 48 years watching the Sport).. I've said before on this forum that when 'domestic speedway' was going well so much of it was based on the likes of PC, John Louis, Mike Lee, Dave Jessup, Malc Simmons, Martin Ashby, Gordon Kennett, etc etc etc, being beamed into literally millions of homes regularly on a Saturday afternoon often delivering success to a sporting success starved nation.. There were only three channels and Speedway had fantastic coverage on one of them... PC truly was the figurehead as he had the 'X factor' but more importantly, England was hugely successful and the domestic Leagues benefited on the back of it.. Belle Vue rode in front of thousands not just because they were Belle Vue but because they had the likes of PC and Mort who many recognised from World Of Sport ripping up tracks around the World riding for England.. Then along came the promotion by the British Speedway Promoters of the Danes, the Yanks and the Swedes.. When Cricket in this Country, and Rugby in this Country, realised that a National Team delivering success would enormously benefit their domestic Leagues, they implemented central contracts to ensure that the best players were well trained and physically looked after.. They realised that a successful National Team would bring crowds in domestically far in excess of what would be delivered by 'Essex' or 'Saracens' doing well domestically in their respective sports.. British Speedway on the other hand thought promoting the Danes, Yanks and Swedes was a great idea.. That for me was where it started to all go wrong.. And the Sport hasn't recovered since..

The answer? A 100% overhaul for an unfit for purpose organisation.... A root and branch enquiry as to why the Sport is going down the plug hole with clear recommendations as to how it can be saved.. An independent Chairperson free of all vested interest, with a main board made up of marketing and advertising people, finance and operational experts, who all have a similar lack of possible bias to any team... Allied to a "thinktank" of experienced Speedway people who can explain the Sports nuances to the independent body which ensures Speedway's 'uniqueness' is recognised but also that any operating model still delivers both the credibility and integrity needed that befits a Professional Team Sport.. In other words... Not A Cat in Hells Chance!...

And you had true team sport rivalry when Wolves came to the Aces and vice versa.. Proper 'your team' v 'their team' rivalry.. We were Moran(s), Screen, Ott, Lyons, Schott etc etc They were Ermolenko(s), Correy, Jones, Karlsson(s) etc etc.. Teams who were easily identifiable and synonymous by their riders.. Riders who were easily identifiable and synonymous by their teams.. Oxford were Nielsen, Wigg, Cox etc. Cov were Tatum, Knudsen, Miller etc. Cradley were Hancock, Hamill, Cross etc etc etc.. All ran on a Friday at BV, a good night to attract a crowd, (and maybe most importantly if you want 'atmosphere', away fans too).. And ran 9 times out of 10 with the riders who should have been there actually turning up.. No changing around year on year the core of each team to appease the weakest links.. No riders missing due to having to attend the 'Azerbaijan Open'... And, no cobbled together "Roll up, Roll up, For One Night Only Folks!" random septet of ringers.. Just 'your team' v 'their team'.. And do you know what? In the main. It seemed to work quite well too.. Who'd have thought that? Amazing!

Who would replace the current MC? More of the same surely? All established Promoters got a chance to vote on the proposals... Those without a vote still got the chance to decide whether to run or not with the cards they were dealt.. Running on two of the worst nights of the week for the entertainment business was always going to be a bad idea, especially bad for those giving up two of the best nights you can entice punters out of their armchairs in Friday and Saturday.. Then changing it to three nights, with one night of the three meaning you must play second fiddle to Denmark, just compounded a bad idea to ludicrous levels.. Cannot blame just the Chair and Vice Chair given the fact the majority followed this blindly... Which is doubly ironic considering they ended up following a plan that a blind man could have seen was wholly unfit for purpose.... If collectively the BSPA thought that this was the way forward for the Sport then changing the people at the top won't resolve too much I would suggest....

And me... And a good 'few' others I reckon...

Fancy running a business where your main competitors are allowed to tell you when you can open? So they can then use your employees... Only in Speedway.. Edit: British Speedway... Thank goodness it is ran so brilliantly, as if it wasn't ran so brilliantly I could actually see a day when it might end up struggling...

100 % correct.. When I stopped going regularly, invariably due to reading about the Mickey Mouse proceedings being proposed to be placed in front of me, I do now accept that it was my duty to provide a 'Guest' for my absence, or at the very least I should have let Speedway use 'F/R' (the Fan Replacement Facilty).. On behalf of myself and probably thousands of others who now longer attend in the frequency we once did... Apologies.. It is our fault the Sport in this Country is where it is...

But if they do that then Rye House should surely have been allowed to move to Saturdays..? But then again, This is British Speedway so you never know...

Chickens coming home to roost?

So (if true) either the 2nd or 3rd teams get the chance to run an extra money spinning meeting that the top team doesn't? I would suggest that this would be tangibly worth more to clubs than actually winning a Competition that (because of the way it is operated) hardly anyone will care about. .. To be honest, given the current situation, when I read 'End Of Year Play Offs To Change' I expected to read that they had been changed to the end of July...

You know that.... Many others know that.... But will the Ego of some Promoters accept that? I am not too sure... Taking 'Selfies' and filling your Facebook pages with you alongside International Speedway riders is very important to some..... Looking at the general average crowd to matches I have attend this season in the Prem, I would suggest about (max) 1200 is ball park... After VAT that gets you around £17,000 at £18 entry.. Take off £3k (maybe more?), for the running costs and that would leave around £14k to pay your seven riders two meetings worth of money. (Or £7k a night).. You may make a few quid on Car Park, Programmes, Food and Drink and have some Sponsorship to boost the coffers.. Bottom line is £7k a night per team is simply too much to pay out and £18 is too high a price to pay in... Drop the admission to £15 and spend £5k a night and you may have a fighting chance... If you can find seven riders to ride for £5k then run seven man teams.. If you can only find six or five riders to ride for £5k then run six or five man teams... The standard just needs to be relatively equal.. It doesn't need to be World Class.. Just competitive..

Cheers for the comment Dean... Not difficult to suggest 'simple' ideas when you have so many fundamental issues wrong though to be fair.. One that always truly amazes me is when promoters and fans say that there are not enough riders to cover all the team slots yet they still persist in running seven positions per team... And therefore paying out seven wages that not many it appears can actually afford... In my business if my sales don't meet my forecast expectations I have to reduce hours as my wage budget % is fixed, and therefore based on the sales performance level.. If I exceed my forecast then I can increase hours as my sterling spend capability naturally increases.. Therefore basic business logic would suggest that if you cannot afford to pay 14 people per night, then DONT EMPLOY 14 PEOPLE PER NIGHT!!.... And definitely if you cannot afford to spend more than £5k per night on your employees then DONT SPEND MORE THAN £5K PER NIGHT ON YOUR EMPLOYEES!!.... In the real world you forecast your sales, set the budget spend which will provide you with the required profit return, and then produce an ever evolving and improving operating model to deliver this profit.. Maybe British Speedway should run itself on those 'very, very basic' lines...?

You run an entertainment buisness at the weekend and it is going 'quite well'... Therefore, you close down the weekend opening times and instead opt to open on Wednesday evenings.. Amazingly you don't take the same amount of income and actually start bringing in less. . Who would have been able to predict that?

Think it's been a triple whammy for Rye... Last season they had the novelty value of riding in the top league after decades riding in the lower leagues which would have brought a few extra in... Lakeside going 'Div 3' also had a positive impact to Rye's crowds from reading comments from Lakeside fans on here who were travelling to Rye each week. Now Lakeside are in 'Div 2' have their fans gone back? Then obviously the change of race night... Going from THE best night to run an entertainment business to a mid week schedule... A shame they couldn't get their Saturday night back, if only to keep them going and prevent the abject embarrassment and image impact to the Sport in this country that comes with teams pulling out of Leagues..

Not a problem... Just let riders guest for the other team they are riding against... Sorted...

Is Billy Smart still going?

One big league of about nine teams...

I would think the figures stack up Dean, three heat leaders alone must cost circa 5k per team as a minimum currently... Another positive to be added would be that EVERY match would have something riding on it rather than the current 'season over' for several teams when the play offs are out of reach.. It will also engender some team spirit I would suggest as it truly would be Performance Related Pay.. Lose and you get your 'basic'. Win and you get double... I would think that this would focus the attention of the riders to the team score rather than just their own total. With possibly the usual, "Do you think you can still win this?" "I don't know what's the score?" Interviews becoming more of a rarity.. If they could get the team strengths right then there would also be a good few riders 'on the bench' to bring in both for injuries and loss of form which can only be good to ensure competition for places. (Like other sports)... Sky paid over a million a season didn't they? The Sport certainly kept that quite when it should have shouted it from the roof tops... To 'hype up' your business doesn't have to cost thousands, just some inspiration and innovation..

So much of what generates a crowd these days is down to great marketing and hype.. I have mentioned before the differences between the PDC and the BDO in darts.. Two organisations in the same 'sport'... The result? One very, very successful, and the other woefully inadequate trying desperately to keep up, and failing miserably.. Speedway on any given meeting in the Premiership must pay out for 14 riders around £15,000 (or maybe even more?)... Not bad 'prize money' for a very small minority sport. Figures that, I suggest, would surprise many non Speedway followers if they were informed of it.... Therefore, how about a different spin on this £15,000..? Change the word 'wages' and replace it with 'Prize Money', with cheques being given post match to the team captains during an interview... 5 man teams.... A top League of 12 clubs, therefore 60 riders needed.. £15,000 up for grabs EVERY meeting... £10,000 to the winner, £5,000 to the loser... Home and Away twice would deliver 44 matches per team ex play offs.. Let's use a utopian vision and say every home team wins every match.... That would mean over 44 matches, each club would have 'won' £330,000 (£220,000 at home and £110,000 away) with each rider therefore averaging £1500 per meeting, meaning the average rider would earn £66,000 per year, ex play offs.. The reality will be of course some riders will earn more as their deals are better and some will earn less, as will the Clubs as there are bound to be away wins, however... After VAT, at £15 a pop, a 1500 crowd would deliver £18,000... Leaving £3,000 to pay the rent and operating costs (supplemented hopefully by Sponsorship, and profit if applicable on Car Park fees, bar take and programmes sales)... The standard for me would be teams made up at a level of Two current Premiership Heat Leaders. Two Championship Heat Leaders and a Championship Second String making up the fifth man.. Five man teams would also give a surplus of riders to cover short term and long term absences without the need for Gue.. Gu.. G (I can't even type it), and negate rider replacement... The overall 'Prize Fund' (ex play offs) from a total of 264 matches would be an incredible £3,960,000!! With the obvious proviso being of course, could you get 1500 to watch a sport that was now ran with credibilty, with similar standard teams, on nights when crowds could be best generated? I reckon you should be able to sell any Sport that offers a 'Prize Fund' of nearly £4M (not including play offs) to any prospective Sponsor or Media outlet as a very credible and popular Sport! And the beauty of course is clubs are paying this kind of money out every night now but without anyone knowing it, and gaining any publicity for themselves by doing it.. Could it work? Who knows, maybe they could get BT onside to show every team once at home and they match the 'Prize Fund' for that meeting meaning £30,000 on offer that night? British Speedway pays out literally MILLIONS of pounds to riders each season... SO. SHOUT ABOUT IT. LET THE BRITISH PUBLIC KNOW!!! And maybe, just maybe, they will start to get interested? (Or at worse, CURIOUS)...

Take your point Steve, but when Speedway in Britain was in its 'pomp' in the 70's, it sold itself.. The likes of PC, Jessup, Lee, Louis, Ashby, Simmons, Morton, Kennett, Davis et al were all regularly on TV doing their stuff (often for a successful England) on a Saturday afternoon, with their exploits covered by one of just three TV channels.. This meant the Leagues very much benefited by association.. The Sport in the country desperately needs an overall talisman on which they can push into the mainstream.. Tai is without a doubt the best known Speedway rider in Britain amongst non Speedway fans due to his various National TV and Radio exposure.. British Speedway needs to push him as a collective and hope his presence rubs off and increases awareness (and ultimately fans) across the board..

Speedway will soon be announcing the crowd changes rather than the rider ones... What level of 'Guest' replacement can you get for Jenga? Or will a SR facilty be granted? (Supporter Replacement)

For me, the fundamental issue that must be sorted is that far too many Promoters see it as a hobby in which they can chuck away a few quid and maybe even (who knows?) get a few tax breaks from their other business interests by investing in a loss making business... Years ago many, if not most, Promoters were business men who worked together (in the main), to generate a bit of overall return for the whole of the Sport, knowing that their own individual business would ultimately profit from a thriving League.. Sometimes it seemed a bit 'somewhat contrived', however, never the less, the fans lapped it up and everyone from Promoters, fans and riders seemed happy, and more importantly the sport was 'successful'.. Nowadays it seems everyone is out for themselves, trying desperately to put one over their rivals, all in an effort to win Leagues hardly anyone in their respective fan bases gives two tosses about such is the nonsense way the Sport is ran in Britain.. What they appear to fail to see is that without any 'rivals' their own business also disappears.... Maybe one day, someone will notice the impending 'meltdown' that is happening in front of them and do something to prevent it..?

When Woofy rides like that he makes it look effortless... The pass on Doyle was sublime... When you are that good you almost instinctively know where your opponent is putting his bike so you can put your bike in a position to pass him. He looks 'seconds' in front of the other riders in thought.. The best British rider I have seen since PC at making a hugely difficult skill in passing a rider look so effortless. (And there is no higher praise than that for me).. Just a shame (and almost criminal), that, without any doubt potentially one of the greatest overall Speedway riders of all time, (and possibly this year the best British rider ever when it comes to WC titles), isn't being used by British Speedway to promote their domestic Leagues.. Building the Sport over here around him wouldn't be a bad idea I would suggest.. He ticks a lot of demographic boxes to encourage a younger audience given his age and image..

I remember one Promoter saying that the 'Sky Money' ultimately "paid for the No1"... As it was circa £100k per track a season not a bad little earner for the man who invariably meant his team had to use Guests when he was often riding somewhere else rather than at his own teams' track..! A resounding success of a Business and Operating Model if ever there was one.... Edit: And when tracks paid this money to ten or so 'top riders', crowds still dwindled at an alarming rate...

The compound issue the sport now has is that the likes of those riders you mention, and others, have become '"No1's" with certain salary expectations. . Bring back the 'top riders' and the current "No1's" wont be too keen on dropping their salaries I would suggest.. In fact, without the 'top riders' being over here a great many riders have 'moved up a place' in their respective teams (with the naturally improved salary that comes with it too I would have thought).. Bringing back the 'top riders' would move a lot of riders down a level, eg the current "No1's" will drop down, heats leaders drop to second strings, second strings drop to reserve. And I am not sure many will be too pleased with the change in package that goes with it (nor accept it).. The bottom line is there must be some salary inflation that has occurred, for all riders, since the 'top riders' have departed in droves, therefore bringing them back and adding their salaries to the current mix would be an almost impossible thought for many clubs I would suggest.. And if clubs are struggling now with a circa £18 attendance fee seemingly proving to be very dissuasive for so many, how much would they need to charge to cover a 'top riders' wages on top of their current expenditure.?