mikebv

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.?

A World Class No1 'top rider' would cost around £3k a night (and maybe more if you listen to some in the Sport).. That means a track would have to find £6k from each home meeting for the two matches he rides home and away.. At £18 an adult to get in, each punter minus the VAT would generate £14.40... That means you need 416 punters through the gate just to pay for him.. With some clubs running meetings in front of not many more than 600 in total, that would leave not much over £2500 to pay the other six riders for TWO meetings... Some serious sponsorship needed to pay for that 'top rider' I would suggest as long gone are the days when any 'top rider' puts a tangible 500 or so 'extra' on the attendance..

Bring the big names back and that will increase the crowds .. Brilliant... How much would it cost to get in then? Or would we keep the same admission fee and run three man teams? Three man teams that run every fifth Monday and every third Thursday of the summer to accomodate all the No1's collective Global itinerary...

The sport is knackered... By allowing Wednesday night racing they effectively went down the 'half arsed' road.. Allowing Saturday night racing just extends the road a little bit more.. The hole they have dug is huge.. Someone needs to temporarily fill it in a bit to help someone climb out and get saved.. And if Belle Vue want to ride Friday let them. You will have more attending a 'guestfest' on that night than will attend two full teams on a Monday.. Having 'some matches' guest free rather than 'lots of matches' with guests is not really an improvement that anyone should measure as a success.. You cannot be 'a little bit pregnant' nor can you run a Professional Sport with 'a little bit of credibilty'... It's all or nothing... There really is no point in losing a club just to follow an inherently flawed, unfit for purpose Operating Model.. Time to do what they can to get everyone to the end of the season and start again with a better plan next year..

Even though Britain's nights allocated were Monday and Thursday some teams kept the huge benefit of riding on their own usual nights and stayed racing Wednesdays which wasn't the actual agreement with the rest of the Leagues... Beacuse as everyone knows, Wednesday is Denmarks night... Why shouldn't Rye House therefore be able to ride on their usual night of Satuday, (Poland's and FIM's night)? By their actions we now have Guestfests on a Wednesday? So just have more Guestfests on a Saturday... What difference does it really make if it saves a club?

I liken British Speedways problems to the British Superbikes series' predicament in the early nineties.... When Carl Fogarty was in his pomp and Sky fell in love with the World Superbikes series, giving it the massive exposure which resulted in 'Foggy' becoming a well known sportsman across all mainstream sport followers. BSB didnt try and compete. How could it? WSB had the best riders, BSB had the next level down. But instead of trying to match the WSB they ensured they delivered a great weekend of racing with the calibre of rider that they had which then grew their own 'brand'... They also realised that inevitably their best would eventually go off to seek fame and fortune in the WSB or Moto GP and test themselves in the 'higher standard' of racing. Therefore BSB invested in plenty of track time over their race weekends for the next generation of riders. With standard 'out of the box' one make Championships included to keep costs down and attract 'entry level' riders in.. The result? Thousands still attend their race weekends and plenty of British lads have made succesful careers racing at no more than a 'domestic' level.. If the likes of Dan and Robert can earn vast amounts elsewhere and improve quicker by racing against the Worlds best then good luck to them. 100% let them ride in the 'WSB' that is Poland.. However any rider wanting to ride in the 'BSB' of British Speedway needs to understand that British Speedway, and that alone, is his priority.. British Speedway has two options... Run itself like a 'proper team sport' on days and nights it's fan base can attend, paying for itself from an income delivered via a price point the fan base sees as value for money, and be as radical in delivering this as they need to be.. Or... Carry on doing what it always has.... And we know how tremendously successful that has been... The current model simply does not work and is miles away from what they need.. And as is blatantly obvious. The sport is down to the bare bones of its fan base.. Opening Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday days, are a one million percent fundamental necessity for any business running in the entertainment sector, which is unsurprisingly why Poland (and Motor Racing in general) choose them! (How strange?!).... Simple choice... Find a way to use the weekends more, and let all tracks run on nights they know will get their biggest income... Or.... Carry on cobbling together Mickey Mouse Team Speedway meetings in front of an ever reducing fan base, running the meetings on days/nights to suit the riders but not their customers, at a far too high a price point for those customers to recognise it as value for money. I would humbly suggest that if they keep doing the latter, it can really only end one way..

No doubt some will be targeting Dan Bewley's U21 dates.....

No 'facilities' for anything... All that has ever done is create an opportunity to cut corners, fudge issues, deliver sharp practice, and always play the 'aah but this is Speedway' get out of jail card, that allows nonsense decisions to happen under an alleged concept of a professionally administrated sport.. Sod the rest of the World. . Look after No1... I don't seek permission off my competitors when I can open my business.. If I did they would want me to open from 11pm to 6am whilst they all opened 6am to 11pm... Simply run whatever night gives you the best crowd. . Publish a fixture list well in front of the rest of the European Leagues, (before the end of this season?), avoiding all 2019 FIM meetings.... And inform the riders of the fixtures before this season ends.. Tell the riders that when they sign up that they must ride in 100% of the meetings and any messing around, for example, being injured over here whilst riding elsewhere, will see them with a 12 month ban.. If DU is a 'necessary evil' then no fixtures should ever take place that means any rider needs to be in two places at once.... Run seven man teams, six man teams, five man teams etc etc. (Delete as applicable), Just as long as enough riders of a similar ability level take to the track most heats in every meeting.. Run one league, two leagues, three leagues, four leagues etc etc (Delete as applicable). Just as long as the League itself has credibilty and integrity, therefore meaning there is some actual value in actually winning the damn thing.. And maybe even bring in a salary cap with punitive action if any team flouts it... Charge max £15 for adults in the 'top league' and kids in for free.. Budget for 1200 punters (on your best night for Speedway surely possible?) meaning you take circa £14.4k after VAT on admission. Any programme profit, car park, bar take (if applicable) etc is extra, as is any sponsorship.. That £14.4k would deliver around £10k to pay riders for the home and away meeting if costs were around £4.4k.. 'IF' the numbers add up then simply build your teams with riders willing to ride at least twice a week for this money, how many actual riders per team to be determined by your £5k a night budget not by "we have to have seven because......" In short, run at whatever standard is affordable to deliver a realistic price point of admission, on nights you can attract your most income, and ensure what you put out in front of the fans has the credibility and integrity expected of a bona fide Sporting Championship.. Must be worth a try surely? For once....

Dan Bewley's World U21 meetings so far, and the meetings he will miss typifies British Speedway and all that is wrong with it... Dan should never have to miss a single meeting as he should be a major drawer card for the Sport with every track wanting him to appear, as (away) I am sure he could attract those more irregular visitors to the sport who will know his name and reputation, and (home) ensure his own fans dont feel brassed off as he is elsewhere. (Even more so if they lose that match)!! Instead I suspect some teams are even targeting these dates (if not already booked) to go up to Worky as they will feel "we have a chance if they've not got Dan".. The same will be true of the teams who still have to ride at home v Worky. "Let's try and rearrange on a night when Dan cannot be there" may well form part of any planning process... There are weeks and weeks of 'No Speedway', then, when all Leagues and FIM individual competitions come to the 'business end' of the Season, the riders who do well (invariably therefore the ones you want to watch) always seem to be riding 'elsewhere'... It cannot be beyond the whit of man to run British Speedway's fixtures around what the FIM and other Countries have already set in stone.. And it is truly incredible that, rather than colllectively work together, teams will try and put one over each other to try and win something that is defined by their very own operating model, as even less valuable than 'tin pot'... I actually think that one of the reasons there will never be an independent figurehead running the Sport over here is because they would simply not accept meetings voluntarily being arranged/taking place without the 'top riders' being available. Imagine explaining to a Barry Hearn type character, if they were in charge, that you thought it was a 'great idea' to run a Speedway Meeting knowing full well that your best riders/biggest attractions wouldnt be there? You would hear the laughter all the way to Poland..

Only because the BSPA let it... Instead of getting upset at the GP taking 'their riders' (laughable I know), they should have worked a plan to plough their own furrow.. Instead, as usual, they did their normal fudged/half way house/let's see if we can cobble together something that doesn't really actually help anyone/cross our fingers and hope for the best, 'plan'.... No one who runs the GP's bothers about British Speedway, nor do those who run their respective Leagues in Denmark, Sweden and most importantly maybe, Poland.. This must surely eventually dawn soon on those who run the sport in this country? And when it does they can then make plans to restart and rebuild the sport in Britain... With the first point on the agenda, running speedway meetings on the nights you can get your best attendances...

I thank you for your opinion of me Aces51, but honestly it is very, very basic marketing skills I possess.. I use the "listen to your customers, find out what they want from you, find the price point they are happy to pay, then give it to them", 'technique'.. I do find the "there is no other way, this is all you are going to get, I am right so take it or leave it, and if you don't use me I will shut then you will be sorry, do you know what my costs are when you moan about how much I charge?" 'technique' somewhat 'flawed'... (Maybe I should charge for that).. If any promoter cannot simply copy what a huge amount of businesses do well when it comes to marketing their own Speedway track then someone like me on a social media website truly cannot help them... The answer is out there, and has been through decades of a dwindling fan bases feedback... Promoters choose (as 100% is their right as it's their money) to ignore what's so obviously not fit for purpose and cracked on doing the same thing year in year out.. I actually did once meet up with a Promoter several years ago to discuss how myself and a few others could help him... As a business man myself, I was truly, truly amazed at his opinion of the way the Sport was being ran (ie everything was rosy in the garden) and gobsmacked with his business plan, (leaflets on car windscreens in supermarkets was about the best idea he had) He was a genuine bloke but honestly couldn't understand why crowds were not flocking to the sport and sat amazed with my feedback as to where the sport stood against other 'professional' sports and my thoughts as to why an ever ageing demographic were the only ones who attended regularly.. Needless to say, I didn't pursue it... Speedway needs marketing but on a much grander scale than the odd track doing it right as each tracks own business depends on the success of others too.. A proper, joined up National marketing plan is the only way.. Maybe one day the Promoters will finally realise that and put joint resources in to marketing and work together for the greater good so they all benefit from an upsurge in income... And maybe hell will also freeze over..?

A very fair and accurate assessment.. I can go to Cardiff with my lad and pay £38 for the both of us to sit and watch the GP with all the best riders in the World.. I can go to the NSS and pay £33 for the both of us to sit and watch a Premiership match made up of NL and Championship riders in the main.. Now, I predict that the level of racing we see at the NSS far out weighs what will be served up at Cardiff yet we will come away from the GP 'buzzing' about what a superb sport Speedway is.. Not possibly because of the racing but more down to the event and the way it is promoted and presented.. Speedway is a great sport when done well. It needs (and quickly) to start to do it well domestically in Britain.. I will attend Garden Fetes and Car Boots this summer better promoted locally than the Aces at the NSS... That cannot be right surely?... And if those who run the Sport cannot promote it to the level it warrants then they can never complain if their crowds don't meet their expectations... "Bring a Friend" truly isn't a cutting edge marketing plan, believe me....

You go to a restaurant and are first in?.. You get put by the window... You have the first table booking of the night?.. You get put by the window... A fruit and veg man makes his living from what's on display at the front of his shop, hence all the best fruit and veg is there for those walking past to look at. What you then buy in store may not be quite of the same quality but you already have a mindset of good quality so invariably don't even notice... As you say, people are sheep and will often follow what they are told is the latest fad or see what is successful and attacts a crowd, and then latch on to it.. With Speedway being one of this countries best kept secrets, it is simply screaming out for someone with real marketing skills to grab it by the balls and move it forwards. And with the right contract from the BSPA, given the huge potential audience to aim for who don't go, they could end up very wealthy.. British Speedway doesn't seem to even consider the TV meeting being beamed into tens of thousands of homes as a chance to showcase the sport. (And when you look at the BARB figures Speedway certainly more than holds its own, often outperforming more well known sports).. They seem content to portray the image of a crowd level of 'one man and his dog' and it appears even more embarrassing when Nigel mentions the 'good crowd in tonight Kelvin' as the camera moves around a crowd 'one deep' at best with many, many gaps in between.. For me, if you are not willing to drop the price and promote the event to try and grow your business long term then the least you could do is cordon off parts of the stadium to 'squeeze' the crowd together and put huge advertising banners blocking the empty terracing left behind in places. (Like UEFA do with the front rows of the Champions League).. Possibly it could actually be easier to get companies to pay to have their names emblazoned across tens of thousands of TV's in Britain in large letters, than attracting income generated by getting a crowd in? Sadly, virtually every time you watch a British Speedway League match on TV your heart sinks just that little bit more. .

Tom P. maybe? ...

It's not that Poole are getting hammered though.. Their team average hasn't dropped off a cliff, therefore the points money saved won't be too great I would imagine. Especially if some of the deals are not only driven by points earned... 500 missing punters at circa £15 a pop (after all other on the night revenue stream is added, and VAT removed), leaves a £7000 plus hole in the income... Not sure Poole will be saving that on reduced wages..