mikebv

A 'Barry Hearn' would be great for the sport at a national level, however we all know why it wont happen.. However, nothing is stopping clubs getting their own marketing hype out there at a local level... It is somewhat of a strange business plan when clubs pay out circa 3k a night contracts to a No1 rider who lets face it puts hardly any extra 'bums on seats' by his attendance, nor reduces the average crowd significantly when he has 'other priorities', yet will spend very little, if anything at all on marketing their clubs... You can tangibly grow your customer base with a modern hi tec approach to selling your brand to the public yet speedway teams seem in the main to use 'bring a friend' as their mantra. If a No1 rider has three meetings in a week he can earn around 10k and put zero extra people on the gate Therefore, I would suggest that that weeks salary of 10k would be much better invested in a proper targeted marketing campaign which would deliver far more extra punters both in the short and long term if professionally managed..

So sadly this will never happen will it? Everyone can see that the sport is screaming out for a visionary akin to Hearn but the Promoters will never allow an 'outsider' to tell them how to run their business... Imagine explaining to any 'Barry Hearn' who is looking to break into the sport that last season my team (BV) got to the play off final aided and abetted by three points they gained last May with their defeat of Lakeside away... That night we had four guests. Therefore effectively the Aces had riders from (including their own) FIVE different teams representing them and assisting them to reach the final (of a supposed professional sporting competition)! What successful sports administrator would risk their own reputation taking over a sport that actively encourages such nonsense by its very own fixture planning? That situation, as we all know, isnt seen by the promoters as something in any way shape or form as being 'unusual' and again, as we all know, isnt an isolated incident when it comes to the sports lack of integrity when measured against other 'professional sports'... An ever decreasing circle is surely the only future for what could be a great sport if only it was administrated with integrity and promoted with 21st Century technology and innovation.. Would Barry Hearn be interested in running the sport? In its present situation I would suggest you would be lucky to get even Barry Chuckle involved..

Just like every past season for God knows how many years then?😣

Correct... Typically Speedway fails to embrace the opportunity to get itself out into the British publics awareness.. My team are almost directly in the centre of a 2.5 million conurbation. All within 40 mins travel time.. Yet they entice around just 1000 of that 2.5 million most weeks.. Given the state of the sport, I would suggest that those who attend regularly would still attend whether on streaming or not as the sport is now down to the 'die hards' following it so 'no risk' to the weekly crowd levels.. Over 60 million people in the uk. The vast, vast majority dont even know speedway exists never mind attend the sport.. There has never been so many 'cheap' ways of getting your message out to 60 million people.. Just needs someone from the sport to recognise and more importantly do something about it..

Both were in the top ten of the EL after the first couple of months of the season... Presume the same could happen again... (Get them PL averages out again for next year)...😁

So as "the list goes when the averages come out".. Which is I believe after four matches? Does that mean (hypothetically) that my team BV could have this scenario?... Zagar, Nicholls and Cook during their first four meetings struggle (new track and all that) and drop their averages by two points each... During this time, Steve Worrall increases his average from the reserve berth to seven plus and goes into the main team.. Zagar drops to reserve as the lowest top five rider and Worrall then gets replaced by another rider from the heat leader list on a seven point plus average... This would mean BV have four from the original heat leader list about two weeks after the rules forbid it and six points with which to bring someone else in to replace for instance Richie Worrall, (with possibly another heat leader list rider if Richie's average has dropped enough).. Could happen at any track couldnt it? Or is the fast track rider protected all year? Would be a little bit silly if two weeks into a season the whole basis of the team strength rules are 'thrown away' after so much focus being put on it... Could teams effectively throw their first four matches to ensure a very strong team for the others or has this scenario been thought out and prevented?

Great news about the track. Well done to DH for being 'big enough' to take on board the feedback given and act upon it.. Hope it all turns out well and delivers a great standard of racing to stand alongside the excellent facilities.. (and Matej can ride it)...😃

I think sadly that the unpalatable truth is that getting people to pay circa 18 quid to watch something that is, without meaning to be disrespectful, worth nowhere near that level of outlay will always be the major stumbling block.. Lets be honest the admission charges don't reflect the sport but its outgoings... When a club runs a 'free meeting' the place is packed.. When a club runs a meeting for a 'tenner', the place is fuller than usual by a considerable margin... All these people who attend the 'freebie' and the reduced admission meeting then disappear again when the £18 admission signs go up... Therefore that suggests that the increased crowd level potential is out there. It is just that the key price point to attract them regularly isn't where it needs to be.. Maybe get the costs down so a tenner is 'the going rate' and enough adults may be there to let all kids in for free to build a customer base for the future? One thing is for sure, keep charging £18 and £7 for kids just because you are paying £200 a point or a 3k basic to your No1 won't grow your business sadly...

Sadly the world we live in is beholding to the all conquering game... You only have to look at the national media to see how many pages are dedicated on paper, magazines, TV and websites to see the influence Football has and how all other sports fight for publicity.. Maybe 'if you cant beat 'em, join 'em'? Thousands of kids and parents in the local area knowing who you are and what you do cannot be a bad thing? At my lads presentation days (usually late May BH weekend) there are over 10 hours of presentations to the kids over two days... Thousands of kids and parents in one place.. Sponsor the occasion, take along a 'roadshow' with dvd's merchandise, bikes, riders, stickers to give away, discounted tickets, take email/mobile details etc etc and who knows? Maybe some would start to attend? Being seen as a 'force for good' in the local community is vital these days for national businesses never mind 'local ones'.. When your stock starts to rise within the local community and you are seen as a positive influence on the lives of local people, your customer base can significantly grow on the back of it.. In my business, we have added 1200 customers a week over the past twelve months with independent customer research giving me a 72% rating when asked whether I was a force for good in the community (500 customers asked).. That is a 40% increase on the year.. However I still have 28% of my customers to work on..! Working with local schools, sports teams, mosques, churches, charity shops, homeless charities, foodbanks etc etc allowing them to raise funds in my store costs me very little yet delivers lots... Maybe Speedway teams should focus on being at the 'hub' of their own communities and grow their business that way?

Another avenue to attract a younger customer base could be by sponsoring local kids football leagues? My lad plays in one of four divisions at his U13 age group. Each with ten teams. Each team has a minimum 15 players is their squads.. That's 600 kids in his U13 league alone, but the league has 4 divisions in every age group from U8 to U18 meaning literally thousands of kids playing the game. My lad plays in the Stockport League. My team, Belle Vue, (as an example) have Stockport, Oldham, Tameside, Salford, and Manchester Leagues all on their 'doorstep', meaning tens of thousands of lads (and girls).. It wouldn't I suggest cost the earth to sponsor the League trophies and be involved in the 'prize giving' itself? Getting your teams name on all League literature, registration forms, websites etc just may get people curious as to what this 'insignia' represents as they will see it every time they have any contact with their lads' team.. Getting your name out there has never been more important and there are many cost effective ways of doing so without costing a fortune..

Has anyone ever tried linking up with (where they have them) the local basketball and ice hockey teams? Only been very rarely to either but the demographic of the crowd at both sports are almost 100% opposite of a speedway crowd.. i.e. exactly the crowd demographic speedway would love to see in its stadiums.. None of the sports seem to make any progress in increasing their crowds to sustainable levels so maybe they should work closer? I am sure an extra 200 - 300 teenagers to twenty somethings at a speedway meeting wouldn't go amiss and likewise a similar amount of extra thirty to 'whatevers' attending a basketball or ice hockey match would be more than appreciated... Joint season tickets? Discount vouchers for the others when you attend any? A joined up local marketing campaign to reduce costs and provide a wider reach? Worth a try or been done and failed?

Until they are 18, let 'ver kidz' in for nothing. They are not there now so no loss of revenue, but the burger and coke sales will go up..! Who knows some may get hooked and keep going when they reach 18. They certainly wont by never attending like happens now (So nothing to lose)! I attended a 'supercross' event last year in the Manchester Arena. £70 for me and the lad.... 3 hours of racing, tricks, noise, light shows, music, interviews with the riders, photo areas so you could take a 'selfie' with the riders etc etc, you could almost think that the night was actually planned!!! They fired T shirts into the crowd with an air gun (my lad still has the one he caught)... They had a kids mx bike hanging from the Arena ceiling, you could win it if you texted their number (£5 a text). Looking at the amount of people furtively texting during the ten mins alloted they must have paid for that bike several times over... The place was packed. 7000 people full house. I, at 48, was probably one of the oldest there.... The SHOW was literally 'light years' away from anything I have seen less that 2 miles away at BV (or indeed anywhere except Cardiff).. Now maybe Speedway promoters dont have the money or infrastructure to put on such shows, but keeping the action moving, engaging with the crowd, doing giveaways, running competitions etc etc costs little but can deliver lots.. It is ironic that as my lad is now 12, BV expect him (me) to pay seven quid to get in. After years of attending for free. Just when he starts to do less running around with his mate and more watching and understanding the action, the sport will drive him away as my pocket isnt bottomless so it is either BV or United weekly for him (and Mr Glazer has won). We will attend the first meeting then cherry pick 'as and when' through the season so in essence, the sport has lost my weekly admission fee too Kids these days will all grow up to be event planners as within minutes of one of them suggesting eg "anyone want to go swimming?"via text, facebook, snapchat, instagram etc etc, a whole army of them arrive at the alloted time and place... Let them in for nothing and let them 'hang out' at the speedway, one text and you could get 100's there and some may actually think its 'cool' if marketed to them correctly... (NB. Note to promoters. Its Rihanna kids listen to, NOT Renee and Renato so you may need to change your playlist)..!! PS best wishes to Cov for their attempt at getting more kids into their track with free admission, hope it works...

You do have to love the irony of a BSPA member criticising fans for being critical of a new rule they brought out when they didn't feel the need to inform the fans how or why the rule was made... Rather than a full public announcement, like a professional sport would do when making fundamental changes, fans found out in 'dribs and drabs' who was on the list and by a process of elimination tried to work out who wasn't on the list. The fans were told by a promoter at a 'talk in' that 'x' many riders were on the list. Then it wasn't that amount. Eventually, the rationale used was given out to the public once, I presume, the BSPA decided that we, the 'thick, biased (or both)' proles could open our tiny minds enough to understand the complex system they used... i.e. put up a load of post its on a dartboard with riders' names on them... Blindfold the new chairman... Spin him around three times... And any post it he hits becomes a heat leader!!!😃 British Speedway😃

No it was auto correct... "Jon Cook is a Trader" was what he put in!!!😃

And neither is agreeing to postpone a meeting you would more than likely win against a depleted title chasing opposition on the grounds it wouldn't be 'in the interests of speedway' to run the meeting... I am glad that I didn't make such a decision as someone may have labelled me 'thick, biased, or both'!!😉

..... And changing the rules which fundamentally impact the sport without firstly clearly explaining to its paying customers why the rules have changed, the rationale used for the changes and indeed the riders the changes impact is, I would suggest, also a bit 'thick'... (Even more so when your patrons have built up a less than generous view of your competence in decision making, especially in light of the overwhelming evidence of your previous 'track record')...

Agree. Leicester does get a 'bad press' when not many tracks deliver great racing... I would suggest that the reason they do get such comments is more down to the frustration of having had a 'blank canvas' with which to deliver a great track.. 'Hit the apex of the turn at speed, slide across the bend up the banking to the fence, lock the bike, straighten the wheels, and fire yourself down the straight' appears to be the one racing line. Hence many races see the riders strung out playing 'follow the leader' in an almost 'synchronised speedway' pattern.. The inside of the bends are hardly used as the speed the bikes arrive at the turns seem to make it virtually impossible to 'hold the line' and going 'in wide and out narrow' would mean the risk of a Moto x style block pass from the guy behind or worse he wipes you out as he blasts through the apex.. A shame that it cannot (or maybe just 'will not') be amended as it could be a great asset to the sport given its great infrastructure and excellent customer focused operational standards on race nights..

"close to one another"??? presume being at the tapes together is included?😃

Do you type wearing boxing gloves??😃

I could 'guest' once or twice at Wolves now the Aces ride on a Friday....

I bet they have it changed it by the time your first edition gets printed!!! 😃😃

😃 ... and that the sport will now be run with integrity dont forget!!! (but lets not tell anyone the HL list or why the reserves' tiers appear to be somewhat 'open to debate').. fair play though, if no one knows what rules you are making up as you go along then no one can accuse you of a lack of integrity when you constantly change the rules (that no one knows about) at a moments notice... 😄 A new dawn.....

Correct... The mistake many on here seem to make is to follow the basic mathematic principles which were devised by the Babylonian's and then subsequently adapted by learned Egyptians, Greeks, and in more recent history, renaissance scholars... These adaptations have been developed by many nations through the ensuing centuries and millennia to deliver the current numerical system the modern civilised world uses today.. Apart from of course the 'visionary' Speedway leaders who prefer to go against conventional belief and wisdom and uses its own system of numerical logic.. Stephen Hawking would be proud...😁

I would suggest that part of his thinking when moving into the 1-5 was 100% to keep the same deal should he drop down.. Probably six rides a night on bigger money? Happy days... I can see teams paying out much more this year as 'established riders' drop into reserve berths and score easy points against 'number sevens'... Well done, once again, to the BSPA...

😃 But then again, it could be just simply incompetence...? Surely not though? Especially given the scale of some of the nonsense... 😉