mikebv

Talking in general Rob.. Too much of a comfort zone for these lads is built by having the option to drop down.. Dan has left the second tier behind (or at least he should have), but no doubt next year his average will once again allow him to drop back down again and make him a desirable rider for some lower order team.. Woffy did it right by getting out, no point being a big fish in a tiny pond as that isn't a truly reflection of where you are in the bigger picture, therefore these lads need to face proper pressure every week rather than riding in front of 1000 or so with no one too bothered who wins... Riding under real pressure from fans and owners can only focus the mind more acutely.. I think some lads get far too much praise, far too early, without actually doing anything but beating mediocre domestic rivals, which can give a far too highly inflated reputation... After four or five seasons of racing I would suggest you are not too far away from where your true level is so if your still doubling up, your probably not going to make it to the top level as you really should have moved on..

Too much doubling up/down for me.. Interesting that Fricke and Bjerre earn their corn in the two toughest leagues and are head and shoulders ahead of their Aces team mates. . No dropping down to earn a few quid for them if they have a bad night in the Prem.. British riders in general seem to stay in that 'comfort zone' for far too long and it inevitably then shows later in their careers which often stagnate after a promising start... Dan and Steve are both returning this season from bad injuries last year, but in Poland both would have been binned this year if they had put in performances like they have for the Aces through the season, no 'understanding' would be shown by owners nor fans.. Holds too many back doubling up I reckon.. British riders need to face some of the real pressures the young Poles face as in the long run it will be far more beneficial..

As above..

At best 4000 I would say.. Surely a fair chance of another GP in Britain at the NSS? Temp stands added would deliver 7000 to 8000 I would think without too much trouble.. Do it at the start to the season, make it the first one to set up the season with a great GP, and run Cardiff, like this year, later on.... Been some fantastic racing this year so far, add in the NSS with the World's best racing on it and you would have possibly some of the finest racing ever seen...

Where have they gone? Has that top drawer got stuck with them in it?

Front end folded underneath him after clipping the fence... Tough racing but it is a GP... Lindgren amazing reactions, (and skill)...

Didn't a League winning team fail to attract a decent crowd so it closed down? 500 to 1000 people rattling around in a bowl that big would generate no atmosphere at all I am afraid, (even if they only used the Grandstand), as that holds about 5000 doesn't it?.. As has been said. Someone with a few million to burn is needed.. No consortium looking to invest to make money would go anywhere near it unfortunately... British Speedway missed a chance with the old Hyde Rd track to buy it and make the required improvements and use it as a National Stadium and did the same with Brandon. Maybe seeing the costs (even shared amongst themselves) to bring them up to scratch too prohibitive?.. The Sport in Britain has fell unbelievably lucky thanks to Dave Gordon and Chris Morton to have such a World Class track and facility at the NSS.. To bring Odsal up to standard just to race would cost plenty.. And much, much more than any returns I would think..

Eurosports coverage is pretty much the worst of any sport covering TV company.. It's scheduling is absolutely all over the place and 'subject to change' and often joins events after the start, both intentionally or not.. And then shows highlights of a live event still missing the action that was excluded from the original live feed... It does a great job on the Tour de France but that's pretty much about it.. Presume they must be willing to pay some money if the BSPA are considering moving over to them, or maybe it's the old bluff to get BT to stump up some cash by putting it out there that they may lose the rights..?

God help them then... "A great finish to the Uzbekistan Tennis Open there. We now go live to the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester to see the last four heats of Belle Vue v Swindon"..

Again, if done with strategic planning if shouldn't effect many of those who go every week as the vast majority who go each week will be 'local'... The streaming should be an 'add on' to the levels of crowds not 'instead of', with the vast proportion watching being from much further afield.. (In fact the whole of the globe would be able to watch apart from the designated radius around the stadium)., Hardly any away fans go now so that wouldn't make a huge dent in the possible returns from their attendance at any of the tracks... I, like so many others it appears, don't see £25 for me and my lad as VFM anymore as the actual credibilty of the competitions don't inspire me to attend. However I do attend the Colts regularly where we both get in for a Tenner, and I watch that not particularly bothered who wins but simply enjoying the spectacle of the sport.... If though, the Aces were on a stream, or maybe two 'decent teams' were on, I would more than likely pay a fiver to watch them as I like watching Speedway.. I currently watch Swedish and Polish Speedway each week live via streaming... The perfect target audience I reckon to make it worthwhile, and would bring extra money into the sport domestically that it currently has zero chance of getting off me..

You are using the promoters calculation of "how much will I be losing if I give free tickets away"? You would be truly amazed at what one promoter told me he thought the impact would be if he tried it.. The truth then, as now, would be 'very minimal', as these people simply don't attend now, so hardly any tangible loss of revenue.. Most fans come from I would say, at most, a 20 mile radius, and as these fans still attend after years of various cobbled together, Mickey Mouse meetings put out in front of them, they truly are proper 'die hards'.. So they will be there anyway, week in week out... It's the ones that are not but still retain an interest in the sport as a spectacle that you hope to attract by streaming, and who knows, it may attract one or two to actually attend a meeting in person from time to time..?

Nearly 2000 were following the BV and Swindon match on Speedway Updates site on Monday so possibly many more would be persuaded to watch something more than names and numbers changing on a screen? 20 -30k watch the domestic BT coverage whichever teams are on so many won't be followers of the teams, but the sport itself.. Sky used to get 80k upwards not long ago for domestic Speedway so there is an 'armchair' market out there..

Not if done with control... As previously mentioned it isn't a huge expensive step IT wise to only allow streaming to be watched outside a certain area.. BV v Swindon the other night with a 30 mile radius block would have meant minimal crowd loss and a good fair few fans from both teams (and neutrals) paying to watch I would suggest.. 5000 watching around the country at say £5 is twenty five grand the Sport wouldn't have had.. Agree the split between track and whoever is filming as surely its a better return for those who film it than currently is delivered through DVD sales? Eg A 20/80 split of £25k would mean £5k to the producer and £20k to the club... And the beauty of the purchases will be you have access to email details, names, addresses etc so you can target them for more offers should their usage of your service drop, and also advertise "big matches" coming up which you think they may be interested in as a 'neutral' directly to them... What's that phrase? A 'game changer'? It certainly could be for Speedway..

You are right... In the year he helped Poole into the play offs (2013) it was the Semis he (and his team) got knocked out by them... Shame it wasn't the final, he could have got a runners up and a winner medal maybe?

Certainly did a great job helping spur Poole to the title a few years ago, with a 'Man Of The Match' performance for them in a crucial 'must win' meeting for them to qualify for the play offs.. A great performance that night, all live on TV too.. Unfortunately he was riding for Swindon that season who Poole then beat in the final..

But riders who stay around six to seven points all season, and then towards the end drop back to nearer six, usually get a team place the year after because promoters think 'there is improvement in that average'.. They also get plenty of guest bookings throughout the season...

£12k for both matches would equal £12k per meeting in that the home team puts the money up.. Exactly the same outlay.. The difference will be instead of £6k per meeting per team it could be £7k to one and £5k to the other. With the likelihood it swaps when the reverse fixture takes place..

But the money it pays out actually is.. Using Neil's estimates, and he is a man who will know, the Premiership alone will pay out over a Million quid!! Change "points money" to "prize money" and maybe Speedway will look a little bit more "big time".. So much of marketing is smoke and mirrors and staying just the right side of the truth.. Looking at the figs for the Championship that too will pay hundreds of thousands out... So shout out about how much you can win in British Speedway.. The numbers paid out must prick interest from outside the sport if pushed hard enough and often enough and it would also give every meeting something tangible to be raced for.. No point paying out so much and letting it fly under the radar of any publicity.. Use it to promote the Sport...

Still a fair few quid to have as prize money Neil.. Maybe £7k to the winners and £5k to the losers..? With 90 matches a season in the top league, Inc play offs then you could advertise the league as having over a Milllion pound of prize money to be won.... Quite a selling point I would suggest..

A big trick missed for me is how the "prize money" is sold to the general public.. Obviously not being privy to exact figures but reading between the lines (and what Matt Ford say Poole lost overall recently v Ipswich), I would think circa £20k is paid out per meeting to 14 riders in the top league.. A huge amount I would suggest given the very tiny standing of the sport and one which would stop a good many non fans in their tracks if they knew, and might maybe spur them on into taking a closer interest..? Maybe there should be (if the £20k per night for two teams is approx correct) a £20k purse each meeting split £12k to winners and £8k to losers? Most meetings are won by the home team, so home and away should still see a team pick up the average £10k most weeks.. Would also deliver performance pay too, and maybe inspire more efforts away from home to get the higher purse? Which can only be good for the overall entertainment package. It would also deliver a presentation each meeting with an interview with the Captains to discuss the match, one team "delighted" with the money won, one team, "disappointed" etc.. You could even do a rider of the night award where the main sponsor and, if seperate, the meeting sponsor, combine to put up a £'s award. eg if a company puts £10k in per season then over 20 matches that's £500 a match, therefore put that up each week and give them prime time advertising every week, and if you have a meeting sponsored separate at say £500, then add that to it and make £1000 that the ' rider of the night' or 'most entertaining rider' gets. (Or maybe £500 each if you want to run both). You could even get the fans to text in to vote for the awards. The sport pays out literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds every season, yet never uses it to make its product sound "big time"... It needs to start shouting..

I actually think plenty of people have heard of the sport as when you mention it, often you get told "is Speedway still going?" Or, "I used to go and watch Speedway years ago".. Their recollections of the sport though would be of a fairly cheap night out, stood in a decent sized crowd , with plenty of partizan based noise and atmosphere... A world away from what they would encounter today should they ever revisit... Many tracks do try locally to advertise, however, for example, standing in supermarket foyers giving leaflets out isn't going to deliver the kind of impact to make any real tangible difference.. It needs a more joined up national campaign I would suggest, using modern media techniques, where the sport generically is sold with the clubs being covered within that campaign. Get that 'brand recognition' out there for the sport as a whole, and then the work done locally can be backed on to it.. Millions of pounds leave the sport every season nationally in riders salaries, with a total figure that would be truly eye watering given the crowd levels and standing of the sport I would think.. Riders that, the vast majority of whom, will not bring in one extra punter to any track, anywhere, as their names mean nothing outside the sport, yet hardly anything gets spent in advertising the sport nationally as the collectively, exciting, high octane, adrenaline pumping sport it can be.. Maybe all deciding to channel more of what they already spend each season into advertising their sport would deliver better results than just paying it all out to riders? Bringing in just 20000 extra punters across the country per week (in essence a drop in the ocean), would make a massive difference to the sport and everyone then would benefit long term.. Individual tracks, all doing their own thing on a 'small time' basis, will not deliver that increase in numbers across the country.. Maybe a joined up, national, modern media led campaign, would?

I have said before, British Speedway needs to base itself on the BSB model as against Poland being the WSB model... BSB has mainly domestic riders, some of whom have tried the higher level and come back. Some of whom have ridden solely BSB and made a living out of it. And some younger lads who see the BSB as a stepping stone to a higher level.. What they don't try and do is compete with the WSB or let them impact their business and operating model.. British Speedway, like BSB has, needs to find its own niche, and it's own identity, which then delivers a solid fan base.. At whatever level it can afford to be profitable, racing on nights each track deem to be the best for them to attract that solid fan base.. And make it a success.. And then move on from there by organic, structured, annual growth, based on a clear development plan which has learnt from past mistakes....

Some clubs will pay their Number Ones more than that for just one season if the stories from many 'inside the sport' are accurate.. Maybe there needs to be a couple of years plan where clubs don't pay out such money but use this investment to bring their circuits up to the standards that suit the bikes more..? It currently forks out hundreds of thousands to riders every single year, yet often the spectacle is let down by the very 'canvas' these 'artists' have to use.. Get the track right and it could deliver years and years of return on that investment.. A much higher return maybe than the short term outlay to certain riders year on year who don't actually have any real impact, in the main, on crowd levels... Many of whom, given the way the sport is ran, might not even be riding for the same club the year after.. As is seen at certain tracks.. Give these lads the platform on which to perform and they truly do deliver an awesome spectacle.. Maybe time to invest in the infrastructure more rather than the employees? A bit of short term pain for the long term gain..

Part of a wider huge national retail business I am afraid Barry, just one small cog... I have tried to get my company involved locally but unfortunately the lack of media exposure and demographic/volume of fans doesn't make any sponsorship investment appear to have a viable return according to the bean counters... I am sure you already connect locally with retailers on the island directly..? Most national supermarket companies will allow their Managers certain autonomy when it comes to 'supporting the local community' initiatives especially when not in direct competition. (My company once had the Aces doing a roadshow (riders and bikes and video) one Saturday at another local store which was driven by the Store rather than Head Office). So it could well be worth getting into their individual ribs, particularly when so many self catering holiday makers will be using their shops to buy their weekly items.. Nothing like something tangible to look at, touch and feel to make people aware, rather than just giving out leaflets.. As I say, you probably do this already given the pro active way you and the team down there go about things.. Certainly admire your drive and determination and also the way you are prepared to seek every opportunity to grow your business and spread your message,..

Many German teams are ran by fans' committees.. "By the fans, for the fans"... A much different model than over here where the hundreds of millions guaranteed by just one season in the Premier League means greed really is good, and going into a huge amount of debt in a belief you may one day reach that promised land is very much what passes a business plan..