mikebv

Often wondered why if Season Tickets are 'a must' why they don't knock out an 'Unlimited' one which gets you into ANY meeting anywhere in Britain.. Say £1k a season, including free programme at every track, watch two or three races from the centre green, pit pass etc etc.. Do more than 50 meetings a year (as many do) and you would be quids in... Speedway is unique in that so many visit just 'to watch the racing' with no attachment to any teams, with many in particular having no team to watch at all anymore, therefore a target market I would suggest.. It would also increase crowds (and therefore atmosphere) as 'neutrals' would swell the crowds given the more meetings they attend the better value their initial outlay.. Would 1000 or so fans across the Country take up this deal? Could call it the '1000 Club', make them feel 'special' etc.... If so, it would bring a Million quid into the Sport pre season, which could be divided up (NFL style) by all the teams to help with running costs.. Or even use it for prize money to make the competitions appear as if they are bona fide 'Proper Sports' competitions, which in turn may increase publicity and interest from a wider sport watching public...

The ever growing amount of meetings I miss each year due to 'Mickey Mouse' being involved means I pay for my day out in Cardiff and then some!!! How ironic, the BSPA helping to keep the SGP profitable..!

But how many thousands did they lose not being able to do 'Specials' throughout the year as by doing so their Season Ticket holders lose value...? Years ago I could understand doing a Season Ticket as there was a high take up and it generated significant pre season income.. Nowadays if a track does more than 300 I would be surprised so for me it actually restricts your Promotional capabilities for very little real tangible rewards. The Aces package in particular involving Colts meetings and free programmes is very good but only appeals to 'die hards' and not 'newbies' which the Sport so desperately needs and the irony is that these 'die hards' would invariably attend every week at full price as they are the most loyal fans... I think it would be far better to do 'Mini Season Tickets' whereby you purchase say the next five matches for the price of four... Often with it being a Summer sport, holidays kick in so Season Tickets are not value for money, and TV and the Weather can often change race nights at a moments notice meaning you cannot attend the rearranged fixture.. Buying say the next five matches at a reduced price would appeal not only to the 'die hards' but also to the 'floaters' (like me) I would suggest. As if I have already paid for something I would use it, unlike now whereby if a meeting suddenly becomes a bit 'Mickey Mouse' due to guest levels, or the weather looks a bit dodgy, I stay away.. We would also see which Promoters can actually innovate and actually Promote using 'normal' business practices to drive 'customers' through their doors...

No Hob Nobs.... Been pre booked to be the biscuit of choice at another Conference somewhere in Europe..... Chocolate Digestives have come in as a Guest... It's OK though as rules allow them to bring in a product with up to 5% more biscuits in its pack...

Spot on... More riders needed when not enough to go round now to keep the Sport credible... More tracks means less quality of rider just to put a team out which then means less quality of racing... 'Speedway at all costs' doesn't benefit the 'Brand' in anyway shape or form yet is constantly allowed to be done... A race to the bottom...

Let's be honest, at most tracks it would be difficult to notice which matches have been boycotted and which ones haven't......... Don't think a boycott is the answer anyway really, given how parlous the situation is for many teams and I couldn't see those who still attend regularly being part of such an undertaking anyway... Let's face it, if you are still a regular at Speedway you have over the years accepted an ever increasing inordinate amount of nonsense put in front of you so are probably now immune to anything else that may be forthcoming... Therefore these 'die hards' will attend come what may..,

Agree re RR Phil... They should just make RR fit for purpose.. Eg if No1 missing then the next two in the averages should be able to take all programmed rides.. If the second averaged rider is missing, then the No1 takes one ride and the third and fourth averaged riders can take the rest between them if the Manager wishes... Same rules apply for third, fourth and fifth averaged riders missing ie rider immediately above takes one ride, two riders below three between them. Number six rider missing and the fifth averaged rider takes two and the number seven takes two..... Number seven missing and number six takes two and a designated number eight takes two.. All riders can have a Max of seven outings per night.. Missing a No1 invariably means a guest under the current RR system as your second string will be taking a ride which is a high risk given the differential in capability. This way the next best two riders can cover it..

'Self Policing' often means 'No Policing'.... Maybe the SCB will now start to bring integrity and credibility to the Sport rather than stand idly by and watch the BSPA often bring neither...? Let's hope...

Just as an aside... My lad plays U15 football and has now been playing for six years since he was eight... Every team he has played for has run their training evenings from 6pm through till 9pm with hourly slots... When he was 8, his side trained at six... Now he is 14, his side and the age above (last year of school age) train at eight till nine.. Youngest train first so get home earliest, oldest train last... None of the clubs have ever ran sessions after nine as simply there wouldnt be enough kids there to keep the clubs going... I would say 730 - 900 is the optimum time for Speedway to get most kids home by 930 and give people enough time to get home from work to attend....

I'd go one further and make it compulsory for every team to have a 'junior' side... I remember the SJL with, I think, three riders per team... Doesn't matter if teams 'share riders' (let's face it, the two top leagues do it daily). It will be more a reason for giving young/new riders laps of racing rather than any serious focus on winning a League that doesn't mean anything.. (Who just said "Thats also like the two top leagues"?☺).. Be also more like 'pay to play' I would suggest with the riders just having the opportunity for track time rather than earning money so shouldn't cost clubs loads in extra costs.. As you say AO, fans can stay or go... Although I do remember Simon Wigg suggesting that the 'juniors' should go on before the main team. Theory being you don't have your main course before your starter when you go to a restaurant or you don't have the trailers after the main movie at the cinema..!! He also felt it would help bring these lads on riding in front of bigger crowds, handling deeper tracks and would also turn the circuit over to ensure the first few races of the main event weren't just 'hold the inside line, first out of the gate wins' processions.. Given his many wide ranging ideas, (some we see today), he would have made an excellent promoter in the true sense of the word Wiggy. Shame the Sport never got the chance to see him fulfill them..

For me, one thing I would like to see from the AGM is to do away with the.... "Ahhhh! but this is Speedway". Mindset... It seems that when you enter into the 'British Speedway Bubble' you seem to want to find any way of justifying the most extraordinarily ridiculous rules and regulations... Instead of just running the Sport properly, like all other Team sports do, Speedway seems to see its 'uniqueness' as being something that allows them to bring in an operating model that takes away all of its credibilty as a Team Sport... Let's hope this AGM they make the credibilty of the Sport an over riding priority.... Regardless of standard of riders, that alone would bring back many of the fans who have drifted away I would suggest..

Indeed... Nottingham Panthers got a 7000 'full house' this week too for their European Cup game.... It goes to show, run a sport properly, meaning it has credibilty, and guess what? Even a minority sport can deliver good crowds.. Run a 'sport' like WWE runs theirs and you then need their multi million dollar marketing machine to deliver big crowds... The problem British Speedway has is that it has the 'Not a proper Sport/They just make it up' reputation without the huge marketing budget to cut through it and entice fans in...

I think there will definitely be some 'bounce back' as there will be a certain novelty value at the start of the season.. The biggest opportunity though is (if as is suggested), Monday and Thursday nights are set aside it will mean no clashes with FIM, SEC, and the myriad of National Championships around Europe which the top riders will be by definition, competing in.... Obviously the threat is that should the top riders still miss meetings for other 'various reasons' then the fans will be far more brassed off not seeing them in action than maybe lesser talents... Let's hope that doesn't happen and we get regular meetings with septets that actually belong to the competing clubs... And enough of a 'bounce back' in attendances cover the extra costs...

Does it ever break down during Stock Car events? Or do they not run under lights? Or need warning lights activated?... Some very big crowds at these events so wouldn't want to annoy so many people time and again....

Hope not... I have heard that every manufacturer of TV remote controls the world over are currently removing all the Green buttons from their handsets and replacing them with Yellow and Black ones...😁

Fair point Stoke Potter... When the Speedway Star has been full of letters for years now pointing out the obvious decline of the Sport, as well as the obvious flaws in every 'fix'.. And when the internet forums have done the same ad infinitum for the past ten years or so... So many within the 'inner circle' decided not to pay heed to the issues staring them directly in the face and the clear feedback received from their customers... Even now some feel everything is 'rosy in the garden' I am sure.. Where we are today didn't suddenly happen, it has been well voiced and predicted by thousands of disillusioned and disappointed fans who have (as a minority) hung on through a sense of loyalty or (as a majority) simply walked away.. More of the same nonsense each week, at admission costs far exceeding the value of what's on offer, can only erode the ever dwindling fan base more I would think.. Let's hope someone listens and acts accordingly..

Ride in Poland 14 times a season and get over £300k.... Or dont, and ride in Britain 36 times a season and pick up £2-£3k a night? In essence, not far off three times the work for, at best, about a third of the money... Most top riders will do Sweden leaving Britain as the next League down to earn some decent money in should they give Poland a miss.. That will be why the Polish Teams will be so bullish... Similar stand offs have happened around the world in other sports eg MLB, NBA, NFL, when those who paid the wages felt the competitors held too much power and salaries were running 'too hot'... Looks like Polish Speedway is taking its opportunity now to do the same....

And if that is what happens it says it all about the way the Sport has been ran with regards to the lack of 'emotional loyalty' fans now have for 'their' teams... Loyalty to the Sport? "Definitely, as I will watch it on TV, hopefully helping to provide BT with good viewing figures which may help the Sport longer term. I dont care who wins I just hope there is some good racing"... Loyalty to my team? "Well, it's not really my team there tonight just a bunch of riders cobbled together wearing my teams' colours so it doesnt really matter who wins, I can watch a meeting on TV tonight with the same 'not bothered who wins' feelings so I will give paying around 20 quid a miss.."..

Or go out of their way to massively promote the event locally and attract a good crowd in? Giving a positive, strong, vibrant message to the casual TV observer that the Sport is still popular, and on the up, and (just maybe) give that casual observer the feeling that they are missing out on something...? Doh! What am I saying.... I mean.... Charge full price and race in front of about 500 - 700 and have the crowd resembling a weekly meeting of the 'Darby and Joan Club', (or a SAGA pre cruise get together), ensuring it will successfully reinforce the belief that "Speedway is a Sport your Granddad goes to"... There, that's the business plan sorted.. Maybe BT see it as a huge opportunity for the BSPA to keep the domestic sport on our screens, and promote it aggressively to their wider Sports watching audience as well as the Clubs' local populace around the various conurbations...? Hence no money to be handed over but they will stand the production costs? If so. They really don't know how 'Promoting of the Sport' works in British Speedway do they? Although, as they develop their negotiations with those in charge, I am sure very quickly they will learn....😕

£1.5 Million on average a club.. Circa £310k for the best riders to around £100k for the bottom end of the team... And some teams will pay that out for just 14 matches... Over £20k a match for the very best... No wonder Poland wants total control of their investments.. Signing on fees can be up towards £30k! A different world indeed... Unfortunately cannot send link.. Interesting to see that there are no longer the £600-£750k contracts prevelant five or so years ago though. (Although whether that all got paid anyway is open to conjecture)..

Not sure if its the original rule, used last year, (Poland +2) that is going to scrapped, or that the new rule suggested (Poland +1) wont now be implemented.. Whatever the Poles decide I suppose, they get...

You wouldn't think 'fitting a holiday in' during the Summer would be too difficult for Promoters... Most of them have teams that sometimes go weeks without racing.... An 'Around the World' cruise could be gone on by some of them during the season and they wouldn't miss a match...

Your views are an example of the dilemma the Sport faces.... Cut the quality, like it has done for years, and you a fan of many years, may walk away. For you bringing back the GP riders and subsequently paying more to watch isn't an issue.. However 99.9% of the population would struggle to name any GP rider, therefore trying to attract them to watch Speedway at the current admission fees is a complete non starter.. Those of us who follow the Sport can see paying £20 to watch Woffy v Doyle in a League match as VFM as we know who they are, their standing in the Sport, and what they can do.. 99.9% of the population would simply look at the £20 admission and say "What?! £20 to get in and watch Speedway?!, Your'e having a laugh!" Our answer of justification that "Woffinden and Doyle will be there" won't cut any ice at all.. For the vast proportion of the population, (if you can get them in) it wouldn't matter who was under the helmets as they wouldn't know who any of them were from Adam... And the only way to get them in is by drastically lowering the admission costs.. Maybe the Sport will have to 'start again', unfortunately lose a few 'die hards' who remember 'how it was' but run itself on admission fees that attract many more 'newbies'? And have riders salaries reflecting the Sports income and stature as well as their own individual standing in the wider 'World of Sport'? Should three or four riders a meeting really be earning around a couple of grand a night each when their 'fame' has attracted just 500 people to watch? I would say not...

Time to go to "Year Zero" and start again? 99.9% of the population of the country has no idea who Jason Doyle is or what he achieved today... This time tomorrow evening, 99.9% of the population will still have no idea who Jason Doyle is and what he achieved today.. That is a huge untapped market to pursue, with a massive % living within 45 mins of a Speedway track.. Maybe we should just start again and build the sport from the ground up? Semi pro at absolute best? Heroes will be lost but new heroes will be made... Time for British Speedway to stand alone and make its own bed and lie in it? Riders earning in ONE night considerably more than they earned in a FIVE day week at their 'proper other job'..? Riders riding four or five times a week on the nights each track feel it's best for their business?... FIVE nights of actual racing earning much more than five WEEKS of 'normal work'? No hotel costs, no airline costs... The Sport seemed to work when it did that. ..

I've said on another thread... Give me four or five BIG individual meetings at the NSS, with the best riders in the world in attendance and you can have £30 - £40 a pop off me, every time.. Because when done well, the Sport IS worth those kind of numbers... However, try and put out more of the same weekly contrived 'Barry White' in front of me next season (that I avoided this season) and you won't catch me within a mile of the place regardless of price... If you cannot run a team sport with credibility and integrity, which engenders emotional attachment and loyalty from a fanbase for 'their team', then simply don't run it as a team sport at all as it will never be taken seriously enough to ever be a success.... It's a brilliant sport but sadly, shoe horned in this country into a crap, unfit for purpose, 'Operating Model'... Therefore, it should change the 'Operating Model' (radically) and give itself at least a fighting chance....