mikebv

Free medical care too... Could come in handy..

Freddie must not come cheap....

If your plan is to attract riders who ride in Poland to improve your league, then no... As the majority of riders who ride in Poland are, by definition, Polish... Giving up Thursday as the priority night to the Poles could also he classed as something they could have foreseen as being a potential issue... Plenty of teams don't have any Polish riders riding for them so why not rearrange to face someone else when the Polish meeting was arranged?

One million percent... They just never learn do they? Same old, same old, rinse and repeat.. They must be a uniquely special bunch to never question themselves.... Still.. Bumper crowds at the play off final..

Who cares who is available, it shouldn't matter. .... The meeting simply shouldn't have been agreed to be ran knowing riders will be missing... And "someone" should have stepped in to either not allow it, or run it as a challenge.. You either want the leagues to mean something or you don't... Making up teams simply so meetings can take place has ruined the credibility of the sport.. So to keep doing the same thing that prevents the sport being taken seriously over and over again is crackers.. As, of course, was giving up Thursdays as a UK priority day... Which is the crux of the issue here... Another self inflicted kick in the whatsits...

They will be paying out around two hundred grand to a quarter of a million, to a team of riders who will not be recognised by many in the street outside including those living in the houses opposite... Maybe run with five rider teams, save forty grand or so, and use that to advertise their product? Doing the same thing they always have done can only keep geting the same results.. The riders don't have the profile in the UK to bring in crowds so try something else to do it.. And, as the riders' profiles hopefully increase, you get that organic growth you need..

Always thought that speedway teams should sponsor local football, cricket, rugby leagues etc etc.. Literally thousands of kids from age 8 to 16 playing each week in the locale.. Being watched by thousands of parents.. A captured market... Take a gazebo down wiith the club insignia on with a couple of riders and bikes, to the playing fields with dozens of matches on, on Saturday and Sunday, and dish out plenty of stickers, photos, pens, free/reduced tickets etc . Most leagues have end of season prize givings with trophies being given out so sponsor that too... Direct marketing to exactly the customer base you need to attract, for, relatively to its potential impact, little cost..

The meeting simply shouldn't be ran knowing two riders are missing... A ridiculous way to run a supposed professional sport, as all it does is devalue the league.. If the promoters don't care who turns up riding for the teams, why should the fans be brothered? Well done the Brummies for calling the situation out for what if is, and saving themselves a good few quid..

In Ht 1... Off the inside...

Always thought they should seed the riders to have heat 20 as the "biggie"...

Kurtz? Can't see him riding Saturday....

Didn't they ask one of the medical team if it was OK to ride?

Motorbike racing in virtually the city centre... What a concept....!!!! Let's not tell anyone though.... Shush..... As you say, sell the entertainment, and the riders personalities, rather than trying to make out what you are watching has any semblance of credibility as a bona fide sporting contest.. Give it a bit of hype and (even made up), rivalry and sell the product not the infrastructure around it..

Where the UK leads, Poland follow...

What a ride. Robert Lambert.... Some great racing tonight..

Strange ride from Dudek... Just had a track grade and yet spent 3 laps flying around the fence losing yards to Hansen who rode the inside all race..

Kendo Nagadrabik...

Reminds me of the Leicester match last night this... Emil...

I would say it was 100% correct... No Doyle so Emil takes as many of his rides as he can.. Much better to see Ipswich race than six of them and a guest... And watching Emil race is always VFM so the more he rides the better the meeting..

Could race on a Friday or a Saturday too...

Almost 3 million live within a 45 min drive... If you cannot get 3,000 of them to attend (doesn't have to be the same 3,000 each week), then you might as well give up.. Just 0.1% of the populace... Surely someone with a bit of capability in creating some hype could get more people there given the huge amount of potential? And, given so few meetings now, even more of an opportunity to make every meeting a "stand alone" event..

Especially given nearly 3 million people live within a 45 min car drive, and on the very outskirts of a major city with excellent rail and motorway links.. With a good amount of those living locally having either gone in the past, or being a relative of someone who have gone in the past.. Many clubs (by rules and design) are the only speedway team for a radius of around 30 miles yet get a truly pitiful % of the conurbation around them attending... A huge opportunity for someone surely?

No! No! No! Winning at home is THE ONLY PRIORITY.. Because.. If you win at home most weeks you can get into the play offs... And if you get into the play offs you could win the title.. And if you win the title, you could get a half page mention in your local paper which hardly anyone buys anymore.. And, after waiting for six months, the following season you can build on the momentum of winning the league by having to change your team to give others a chance, maybe even having to lose a fans favourite or two... Or maybe you could even change the league you race in, as you have had enough of riding in the one you have just won, and fancy changing what nights you ride.... Really, really important to win at home at all costs... Entertainment? No chance mate, get that dirt off that track!!!

Something about one of medical team calling it off due to rider safety issues..

It has always amazed me that clubs don't take on some proper professional marketing people to drive footfall into their stadiums... They will each spend literally hundreds of thousands on their riders each year, who hardly anyone in even the next street will recognise, yet a very minimal amount on actually promoting themselves.. A strange business model..