mikebv

speedway has just launched its 2013 season with the usual 'bumper' easter crowds... yet I bet hardly any track had any plan to carry out market research as to who these people are that come 'once a year' and why they then drift away.. as you say, there should be names, addresses, emails taken and then followed up with special offers to get these people back into the 'habit' of attending speedway, even football does 'next four matches' tickets at discount so why doesnt speedway? cannot believe that the amount of season tickets sold makes a huge difference given the low number so why not do quarter season/half season tickets? those in the 'bumper crowd' are by definition of being there 'speedway fans' so the market you need is there... it just needs to be attracted back more regularly using a proper marketing plan ....

you are 100% correct.... look at the crowds at the darts comps... great hype and promotion from barry hearn has taken the sport to a new level, simply the sport hasnt changed but the way it is sold has... speedway truly is the ultimate extreme sport, with many participants 18 - 25, therefore it should be followed manically by the 'monster/red bull' generation yet the stadiums are still 'full' of 40+ somethings. with hardly a teenager in sight... not down to the sport that, simply to its marketing...

same thing happened at BV tonight... didnt need a tractor to pull a grader , they could have used a brush to 'tidy up' the dust... bottom line of course though is deep tracks simply cannot be handled by the majority of riders, this may be due to ability or modern machinery, (or maybe both?) either way, not having circuits that you need throttle control on which by definition increase opportunities for mistakes, does lead to pretty much 'first out of the gate' wins, which then leads to a lack of spectator response meaning a flat atmosphere....

as money obviously needed to be saved through cost cutting measures.. why didn't the pl teams just work out the average amount of bonus points attained for a '3-3' per meeting over say the past three years, (and the average cost per meeting) and then just remove this amount from their payroll budget for the seven riders at the start of the year? the promoters save the cash and all seven riders have had the impact rather than the odd individual who runs the third place behind his partner (and you prevent all the negative impact to the team spirit that this rule can bring))

always felt the mail was more open to a bit of 'irreverence' regarding the sport when it came to letters and the editorial... seemed to give the 'true fan' the voice rather than worry about what the promoters would say/think... the star in the last six months or so have/are coming around to publishing the 'voice of the people'... lets hope it continues....

its a numbers game in many ways.... it seems foreign riders have more commitment and desire but in many ways we are only taking about those who 'make it'.. promoters take on a foreign rider for a team place time and time again with a huge amount failing, only to be replaced by yet another foreigner... in reality most are no better or worse than a brit counterpart but are recommended by someone who rides with them in poland. sweden denmark etc therefore the promoter takes a punt... the speedway world is full of 5 to 6.5 point men 'journeymen' who use the speedway 'revolving door'... as a fan, from an entertainment point of view watching a brit 'journeyman' or a foreign one is much of muchness.. the difference for me is that in the bigger picture the more brits in the teams means more track time and hopefully more benefits for the sport domestically

just watching the highlights... two hours, no talking bollox in a studio... heat following heat.... looks good.....

and do you know what the most amazing thing is?? promoters reading your comment will shake their heads and wonder what planet you are living on!!! honestly, they will then give 101 reasons to justify why they need to charge so much.... rather than finding 102 ways of reducing costs to be able to charge an admission fee more in keeping with the sports actual position in the 'grand scheme of things'.... I can watch man utd take on chelsea for 29 quid, therefore speedway is surely not worth more than a tenner.... charge that and then 'maybe' you will once again start seeing something akin to a 'decent' fan base.. not holding my breath obviously

be good to get alan and his oh, so positive outlook on life in general (and bv specifically) back on an aces website... went so well last time.. maybe he will also tell us how much he dearly adores SAF and his mighty reds like he used to.... (I am sure he only pretends to be a 'bitter bertie' really) come back moxey!!!!

when times changed and punters' expectations of what a 'value for money good night out' constituted, no one had the vision within the convoluted mish mash of a controlling body to find a way of delivering it.. the admission cost thread showing this years prices sum up in a nutshell how far away from reality those who put a 'price' on the sport really are.....

seventeen quid to watch a sport that even for its biggest event in cardiff cannot get 0.1% of the population to attend... truly, truly crackers these promoters... me, the wife and two kids (14 and 10) paid twenty three quid at the local cinema last thursday evening... the cheapest track so far mentioned in the EL would charge me thirty eight for a family ticket with the rest charging me over Forty?? the cinema also is covered, you can clearly see the action and hear what is being said, it has a free car park and the 'participants' advertised as being there actually show up!!! wonder why speedway is in decline....

Some good ideas Remember when speedway was popular in the seventies? Why was that? When I started going in circa '72 most riders had other jobs and rode speedway as it was a way of earning 'a months money in one night'.. They did this using in the main standard machinery, very few but the 'top lads' had 'special kit', this meant that 90 percent of the riders in the leagues were on a similar level of equipment which also meant a lot fewer strung out races, however it also meant their pay more than covered their cost expenses, everyone won.... The promoters also didnt have to pay tens of thousands in air fares and hotel bills for foreign riders and mechanics... Maybe going back a couple of steps to what worked before 100's of journeymen foreign riders came over and thousands got paid to 'supertuners' will give the sport the chance to 'start again' and not make the same mistakes ?

seem to remember Mr P taking 'a dive' in one of the recent GP's when holder quite legitimately passed him, meaning holder was excluded? maybe 'what goes around comes around'? one thing is for sure, over a full seasons competition (rather than a one off championship) the best, most consistent competitor invariably comes out on top... well done chris holder,.....

correct mate, and that is THE issue... collectively those 'in charge' simply do not have a joined up plan for it appears, 'anything'... no national plan for marketing the sport, no national plan for british rider youth development, no national plan on track standards, no national plan for 'Team GB' at senior and U23, U21, U19 level, no national plan to ensure riders don't treat the fans/leagues with disdain by not turning with vacuous reasons for non appearance, no national plan to market research those who do attend and find out their views on how to improve the value for money of the sport, no national plan to find out where the fans come from meaning a targeted campaign can be launched in areas that has low attendees etc etc etc... the list is probably endless as to what the BSPA doesn't do, hasn't done and more importantly doesn't seem interested in doing... as I said in my previous post, Speedway promoters in this country are now reaping what they have sowed..

Well of course they are...! It's because of the business model they use, ie costs exceed income... Teams spend 'big' money on trying to be successful and when they achieve success they cannot afford it, and the supreme irony is that this success is virtually worthless in relation to more media coverage and increased revenue because hardly anyone in the respective towns/cities know the sport even exists!! Quite simply a successful team who wins a national title makes approx (at best) 1000 people feel good about themselves at most tracks. Therefore is it really worth the effort of bringing over foreign riders, paying air fares, hotel bills, providing workshop facilities etc etc to win a trophy that hardly anyone locally will even recognise never mind take any civic pride in winning? Your local ice hockey team doesn't have players that play in the NHL one night, in front of 20000 plus crowds, and get paid 1000's of dollars, and then come over here to represent a British team in front of a couple of hundred spectators, yet Speedway actually makes this 'the norm' by paying world stars who ply their trade in their own countries £1000's in salaries, flights, accommodation etc..... Simply Speedway has reached its nadir, and it is now reaping what it has sowed for so many, many years through the failure of those who run the sport to take their collective heads out of the sands and deliver a product which is consistently entertaining, value for money, and governed by a set of rules that are both simple for the fans to follow and credible to the wider outside watching sporting public and media.... No doubt those who 'run' the sport in this country will believe that the weather, the euro's, the olympics, the paralympics and even people staying in watching the soddin' mars landings are the main reasons why 'another 200 or so' decided not to go to speedway each week this year... Because let's face it, the reason speedway's crowds are dwindling and the sport is dying on its arse isn't their fault is it??

many teams are struggling and I am sure many will want 'radical changes' (again) over the winter to make the sport viable.. what will actually be agreed is a 50p across the board admission increase per person and a team strength average which reduces the quality of entertainment on offer.. and why not? because this plan has proved so successful over the years hasn't it?? simply, rider costs have to be reduced to make 'wages' lower and maybe the sport needs to go 'backwards to go forwards'.eg when the sport was at its most successful full time professionals were the exception rather than the rule and riding speedway boosted most riders' 'day job' salary (quite significantly) ... it is obvious to all that most speedway teams do not generate enough money to pay seven full time pro's so why continue chasing this set up? dying on it's arse speedway in this country with Mr Magoo the elected 'visionary' to move it forwards..

to be honest i can see why the joker is in place as even if the racing isnt close then the scoreline can be made to be so, thus keeping the watching audience interested (speedway fans or not).. it also means a team who previously thought they may be out of contention become more motivated as the momentum swings to them with a six point win, meaning hopefully closer racing the main flaw in the cunning plan though is an obvious one that all teams dont get the chance to use it if one stays ahead of the rest putting them ridiculously at a disadvantage for leading, therefore..... why not let every team use it?! you will still keep the chasing pack interested therefore showing more commitment hopefully to the end of the meeting and the leading team will never feel cheated as they will always have the 'ace up their sleeve' (sorry wrong card, I mean joker) to play should they need to.....

Fantastic tonight the way the clowns who run this sport had their mickey mouse rules thrown back in their faces.. As the joker seems to be permanently in place a la 'its a knockout' then why not go the whole hog next year and blindfold the riders with a hession sack hood, give each rider a buxom wench dressed as say a milk maid to represent them, and she can then stand at the start of turn one and shout "LEFT, LEFT, LEFT" as her unsighted rider goes past.... The riders could even carry a bucket of coloured water on their mudguards and their 'buxom maid' could maybe carry a pair of buckets attached to a wooden pole across her shoulders and at the end of the race the rider has to empty what is left of his coloured water into her bucket (oo er missus) and the team who wins the world cup is the one who gets that float on the top of their teams' water tube the highest.... as 'i'll tell you what Nige' would say, "it makes for great TV drama, shenshational"....!!!!!