mikebv

so not paying Gollob means a financial disaster for the hosting club?? (as I presume BSI wont be reducing the fee to host it)?? Take it Richard Branson isn't part of the promotion team??

says so much about Tai's start to the year... loved watching bomber over the years.... truly sad tonight to watch him... his gating is nothing more than an embarrassment at this level and where he used to make 'magic happen' he now looks like someone hopelessly out of his depth when he finds himself behind... very sad....... let's hope he can get himself in the mix as the season goes by...

wow.... a business that actually values the people who support it... emotional rather than just functional loyalty pays dividends several times over... well done to the workington promotional team... truly a team that has a pro active business plan. I really hope you get the success your vision deserves.... well done....

and quite correct too.. a rider's pay thread indeed.... 'they do it for our entertainment' don't they??

'interesting' lack of sympathy for a man who left the track in an ambulance so far on this thread... If I have read correctly thus far, to summarise the majority of posts made... 'he deservedly got what was a long time coming to him but should have been on his feet when he received it'!!!! tough crowd 'in' this evening.... best of luck to auty, he can be a tad out of control, reckless and a danger to himself and others as we know but let's hope he is ok..

loved the report on the fiasco last week at brandon, fair and factual and asked the 'layman' questions that we all had... great season opener (as always to be fair), thorough, detailed and with great insight.. and, as usual, professional in both visual appearance and content..... it certainly sells the sport in this country at a level that those who actually run the sport could (sadly) never hope to emulate... well done (once again), a truly great publication..

that saying of 'so bad it's brilliant' has never been so appropriate... my 10 yr old lad, after watching two laps of the race the russians got excluded in, asked me, "Dad, why are the commentators calling Sayfutdinov Artem Laguta?".... I told him that I think it was because they went from the wrong gate positions so its confused them.. "But you can tell its Sayfutdinov by the way he rides and the colours on his race suit" he replied... well maybe a ten year old can tell, but a professional motor cycle commentator and an ex speedway world champ can't!!! can't wait for the next installment... ,

how very dare you..... never forget ..... 'they only do it for our entertainment'..... so all please stop giving objective, considered opinions, based solely on logic and historical facts that smack you squarely in the face please,, errr,, oh yes, another one, we are not football fans you know....

the overall 20+ heats of a modern gp is miles ahead of what the old one off 20 heat world championship threw up, simply because more of the best riders in the world are on display... too many out of their depth old eastern bloc riders in the 70's meant many races were formalities.. the vast majority of the gp races today are a true contest, and the swc finals deliver consistently some of the best racing I have ever witnessed, again due to having all the worlds best together on track with no major difference in capability level.. watching for example, PC v Olsen and Mauger was special because they were special and had a talent far and away above many of their peers, however when they raced against lesser riders these three often won races by a 'country mile' (even if PC missed the gate)!.. I would suggest that the differential in talent at the top level now is much less across a good many more riders than even in speedways 'halcyon days' thus racing today is closer even if passing opportunities are less.... if we still have riders of the top level over here then good, and we should appreciate their talent, however they wont make many races close when riding against much inferior opposition..... which if we are honest and remove our 'all our yesterdays' glasses, is exactly how it always has been... as has been said, average racing in front of packed crowds is looked upon much more favourably than average racing in front of 'one man and his dog'... it's still average racing though...

no he didnt... he reprsented the ENGLISH SCHOOLS BOYS TEAM the qualifying criteria for which is where the school's location is not the nationality of the player...... the school was in salford, england hence he played for the 'English Schools' team.. Diego Costa on the other hand has played at first team level for Brazil (twice) and is now in the Spanish squad!!! "It's a funny old game", I believe....

simply those that run the sport havent used the medium to deliver growth... thats not tv's fault.... fifteen years of prime time advertising should have delivered organic supporter growth,, instead it has been used to pay (per minute pro rata) barclays premier league wages to riders on skrill league attendances...... can't blame sky for that....

he's too busy getting his kitchen window repaired..... 'super' danny welbeck's penalty ball went through it last night!!!! good luck against 'citeh' TWK.....

kabbadi....

said before, speedway needs a 'collective' approach on all marketing, websites, merchandise sales, pricing(?) etc etc... speedway should be 'the brand', gladiatorial, extreme, death defying, edge of the seat stuff, blah blah blah,.. the teams then have an 'identity' which the locale can identify with... riders should be 'personalities' with stories that reflect their 'reputation'.... won't cost a lot to do this, you just need the right people and a true visionary who can see how the sport can move forwards..

so much of the modern age 'success' is simply 'style over substance'.... look at the talentless tossers who become 'celebrities'? it is hype, hype and more hype... it doesnt needs thousands to get your message across (especially at a local level), I find it amazing that I (and 1000's of others in my immediate locale) will know where and when a local 'harvest festival' will take place yet when the 'greatest speedway rider on the planet' arrives next year with wolves not one iota of hype/interest will try to be generated... the week leading up to Tai's appearance should see 'teasing' daily quotes/stories in the local press as a minimum, there should be stories about cookie and worrall wanting to take his scalp and gp crown and having no time for him, not liking his 'tats'/earings etc. etc etc... it is total bollox, but it doesnt need to be true it is just creating interest!! it might a 'bit wwe' but who cares, it will put 'bums on seats' and at the end of the day speedway IS gladiatorial and should be sold as such.. (as a family sport though obviously, that goes without saying..) as for bradford, for me sadly the racing wasnt ever much cop with home riders often sodding off into the distance each race, which I am sure eventually even the home fans got bored of.. city demographics too must have played a part as ever more of the indigenous population became the minority and finally the 'bulls' at that time attracted big numbers (ironically through a massively effective marketing campaign)!!!... all would I have thought had an effect...

your comments are spot on and your opening night crowd is testament to the effort you put in and the execution of your plan.. what I do find strange is that this sport is genuinely 'unique' in that it (mostly) takes place in a city or town... just imagine the concept of motorbike riders racing against each other in the middle of manchester? ridiculous thought.... well it happens, sometimes weekly!, yet hardly anyone from manchester attends this 'event' as it is so poorly 'sold'... the crowds dropped in your case because those in charge dismissed the notion that marketing mattered and crowds dropped off as the 'hype' and information did... this year clubs in the EL have 18 meetings guaranteed, therefore EVERY match should be treated as a stand alone EVENT and marketed as such... stock cars is successful at Belle Vue people say as it is infrequent and heavily marketed, however the speedway has zero marketing in comparison so maybe that is the reason speedway isnt 'successful'??.. I was in city centre manchester on thursday and market st. had several vendors giving out free 'Manchester Evening News's, there must have been 10 thousand copies in different locations and god knows how many people picked a paper up, how much would it cost for someone from BV to be stood along side giving out £10 special tickets?? there must be 20 - 25,000 people walk thru this street each day, approx 150,000 a week, surely 500 of which would use the ticket on a monday night? (even just out of curiosity!)... locally the clubs should be hammering the message home EVERY week, giving out enough flyers, giving out promotional material, giving out free stickers, posters etc etc etc, basically brow beating people EVERY week, into knowing you exist and how they can come and see you, if 500 extra is the 'break even' figure you dont even need the same 500 every week, just get that number of people in!!. (who cares if they dont understand the rules, its four riders screaming round a dirt track in a city centre with no brakes, what's not to like?).... add in a well ran, up to date, professional looking, interactive website which reflects 'your brand' and 500 extra a night must be achievable? EVERY meeting should be a stand alone EVENT, make it 'special', get people curious, hype it up with 'gimmicks', SELL the bloody thing!.. and they will come...(?)

Whilst many of the points made re marketing and the use of modern technology to do it, is laudable, the truth is speedway simply has to face many other challenges before even dreaming of orchestrating an IT inspired marketing campaign... I sometimes think that the promoters have over the years had an almost arrogant outlook as to how they thought 'their sport' was perceived, however, finally, this year many of them seem to have had an alarming reality check and saw the need for action.... Given the sports' true stature in the grand sporting scheme of things, the sport to be honest on a local level would be better advertised akin to the way the local fair/circus does when it comes to town, ie flooding the town with posters everywhere, free tickets to local businesses, schools etc etc... It's ironic that everyone knows when the circus or fair has hit town yet the same people wouldnt know that speedway permanently exists in the same town or city... The only way for an orchestrated campaign to work would be for something along the lines of the NFL to take place, examples would be 'fair' rules around team strengths, rigid expectations and enforced rules re professionalism of the owners and equal collective sharing of media and merchandise income and those who run the sport are miles away from that happening..... Most tracks seem to just need another 300 - 500 people a night to turn a profit therefore it is a sad indictment that whatever marketing campaign is used this may never be achieved.. Maybe this years 'reality check' will also see a less egotistical approach from those in charge with regards to facing up to what the sport really is and isn't and in the long run, a bit of 'back to basics' will naturally and organically move the sport forwards making it a more viable proposition to market more progressively in future.. ...

just been discussing spoty on talksport (durham and gough at drivetime).. they both mentioned that they felt tai should have been nominated... small acorns maybe but tai's stock is rising in some media outlets so maybe there is hope for greater coverage of him (and the sport) in the mainstream media going forwards..?

and he's going 'ape'!!!!

I do find the posts around the travelling for the 'young brits' somewhat amusing.... Awww bless.... ... In Aussie in their 'formative years' riders travel days to get rides, and teenage danes and swedes uproot and live in another country to gain experience... If our precious boys cannot travel a few hours to better themselves in their chosen career then maybe a 9 - 5 existence in an office would be more their calling? Maybe what they need is a bit of 'hardship' to toughen themselves up to meet the challenge of their foreign counterparts??

If, for example, charles wright and steve worrall represent belle vue then I would be amazed if their terms combined was 30% what dryml got on his own for riding at reserve last year.. If all they do is race against each other then I cannot see a massive difference points money wise from their NL deals.... "Good for your development", "A great opportunity to share the pits alongside world class talent and learn from them" etc etc etc will I am sure be the promoters mantra.... There will always be the promoter who will try and 'tap up' the best with big money, (a 'guaranteed' 10 -2 over the two heats could prove decisive?) however if the 'draft' is done with complete integrity then the new look teams should save a fortune versus previous years... (and we may even get the odd brit making dramatic improvements)....

if analysed properly then this system effectively takes out 4 wages a meeting as the N L boys will I am sure not impact the overall figure too much... if say on average 1K per rider per night (inc points money, air fares/van hire/hotel bills etc etc) then that saves the sport 4k a meeting... over a full season that's a hell of a lot of costs removed... if nothing else, well done to the promoters for eventually waking up and smelling the coffee.. let's hope it works for the long term good of the sport..

this will also stop the 'four point superstars' coming over on ridiculously high salaries and riding seven times a night from the reserve berth, keeping there for half a season as their rolling average slowly increases.. now teams with cash will need to gamble this money on a rider being in the main body of the team, which may dissuade them, thus levelling up the playing field? ...

As I say 'IF'..... one thing is for sure, doing nothing wasnt an option... this may turn out to be contrived bollox, but at least its a way of reducing costs with effectively 5 man teams rather than seven, it reduces air fare/hotel costs and gives the NL riders the opportunity to rub shoulders with much better riders without having to race against them... as you say it may not last, but at least it is radical (which the BSPA gets called for never being) and if SKY do come on board may get dumped, however what this does do I would suggest is give the EL breathing space in their challenge in balancing the books..