mikebv

Realistically, who can Brum get? They need to get two "top level" riders for one and five, with "good riders" as back up at two, three, and four.. Or six "good riders" with averages ranging from seven and a half to around six if no top level riders are available. (And that's real averages not made up ones). GP/Euro Championship level for the top two.. Or, Polish top league SS's or 2nd tier top 15 riders, for the six spots if no top level riders.. Rabbit out of a hat time I feel... Dudek? Madsen? Laguta? No GP's so maybe could be tempted? Not going to be cheap, but are of the level they need, indeed, most of the team will need to be flown in I would think given pretty much all the "decent" UK based riders are signed up elsewhere.. A team full of UK Div 2 HL's will get hammered time and time and again... Also, given how desperate they will be due to the lack of top level riders interested, the less negotiation room they have for deals... Very average riders could get top level money... They could get hammered but still be laying out "lots".. Maybe the "seventh" team is vital simply so guests are always available? Because, as everyone knows, you simply cannot run a Speedway League without guests, It's impossible.....

It will be the "best, most unified AGM ever".. With all teams looking forward to a great season with some great plans to move the sport forwards... 2024 was a "great season" and will be built on in 2025.. There will be a huge, joined up, collective marketing campaign with "Bring a Friend" and "It's a family sport" being the headline strap line to bring thousands back, or interest new people...

Pick any one from about six.

I know... But don't know how they are doing it.... He should just open the thread again so we can all then contribute..

Or, just simply, run their leagues with credibility, and have prizes worth winning? That forms the basis of any successful sports...

I know, it is a shame... I wanted to contribute to this one but now I can't... Same with all the other closed threads, not just this one . If only they were still open I could have replied... Not able to now...

It has been a clear and obvious decline... Which, given the constructively critical feedback (from passionate fans), that the promoters have been given over the past 20 years or so, is even more frustrating., However, the patient isn't quite dead yet... It actually won't ever die for me, given the success of the sport elsewhere, and the fact that when the UK does it right, eg the PCMM, a very healthy crowd can be delivered... League racing? In it's current guise it is "Donald Ducked" if you take virtually one track a year going to the wall for the past fifteen years or so, as a barometer.. But, put on a "proper event" eg SON, PCMM, and the crowds do turn up in quite considerable numbers..

Bewley, Kurtz, Emil And Doyle, TWICE!!! What's not to like..?

No disrespect to either, but .. If those two are One and Five then they may as well shut... Edit. Or some way of allowing them to run in Div 2 on Mondays is found.. No point in Birmingham limping along just making up the numbers, and, if the plan is to move somewhere else, then far better to be seen as successful in Div 2 than out of their depth in Div 1.. Neither title means much outside the few who follow the sport anyway, so either league will get similarly noticed, so locally, winning most weeks could help attendances...

It's all very exciting isn't it?

Of course they don't... There is almost zero financial gain from winning any title other than getting decent crowds for the play offs, (and even that may only balance out those who don't bother to attend when play off positions are confirmed well before the final matches).. Win at home, maintaining your crowds' interest, and then lose away, sometimes using guests when you have agreed to race knowing your best (and most expensive) rider, is unavailable.. It is a hobby for most, so they build a team that hopefully is competitive enough to keep the home turnstiles clicking...

What an idiot...!!! He should have done what I did this morning and send Prince Muamba £50k to get a half share in his Diamond mine... The mine is worth £25 million quid... Lucky he called me... Kerching!!!!

If only the UK had Thursday as their priority night.... I wonder if anyone has considered asking if this could be possible...?😯😝

Not just the "start" but the actual "solution".… Why they leave it so deep on the outside is baffling given it's a track with high speed narrow bends...

The Championship made a rule of no guarantees either last season, or the season before.. I am sure all rules were followed...

That's 3 million zlotys isn't it?

Won the league but not convinced they would have won the play offs.. With Bewley, Kurtz and Lidsey on the form they were in this end of season I would have fancied the Aces to keep within 12 or so at Ipswich... And then given the Witches their usual beasting at the NSS...

If they raced head to head 10 times, I would currently put Lidsey up by six to four.. Maybe five to five by next years end? And six to four to Cook the year after.. Lidsey showed his capability and experience in the final so it is worth the Aces keeping him for at least one more season..

Early season would be the time to run individual events... Pre Poland and Sweden.. "Well paid" practice and engine testing for the top riders before the "serious stuff" in Poland kicks in.. The first two or three weeks of the season... You would only need three or four "top riders" at each event on the Championship tracks I would suggest . Do a 12 rider field to help with costs, do some handicap racing to even up the meeting (like Wolves used to do with the Olympique) and see if a few "big names" can start your season with a bit of a bang.. Most Championship clubs are actually in "small" towns, even those with big city names, so advertising locally wouldn't cost the earth either, and most in these towns will have heard of Speedway I would think... A bit of hype in the marketing and you may get a decent start to the season, with something to advertise your club off the back of..

It is a slow inexorable decline which has gathered pace in the last couple of decades, as tracks close regularly.. Therefore. What we have is pretty much all there is... There isn't anyone with a magic wand to fix all its issues, and when getting all the clubs to the end of a season, and then, hopefully, all coming to the tapes the season after, is seen as a measure of success, then it clearly shows just where the sport sits.. The business and operating model is one that no one on Dragons Den would buy into, but it is the only one they have, so just enjoy it for what it is... A night out watching some Speedway racing.. I have my tickets planned for next season already... The PCMM and the play off final, home and away...

There is nothing stopping clubs putting on extra meetings... Make them into something that fans see worth visiting and they can be a big success... Eg The PCMM at Belle Vue. A crowd of well over 2000 attends each season, which you could estimate, must deliver circa £45k to £50k in gate receipts at the admission charged... They put together a top class field and "amazingly" people attend.. The bottom line is that if the promoters could make league racing pay well, then surely they would have more meetings? If you are successful financially in business you open your doors for as long as you can.. And, vice versa, if you are losing money on certain days and times of day, by just being open at those times, then you cut back your opening times to remove those losses from your business... If, and we don't know if true or not, that Oxford only wanted 1H and 1A, then the rest didn't have to agree.. If it is 1H and 1A though it does open up lots of openings (and time), for each track to organise a "big event" locally which could deliver their best crowd of the season, which in turn could raise the profile of their team too and have a positive knock on impact to the league crowds as interest could be stimulated, (especially amongst those large number of fans who follow the sport, but only attend "now and again")... For the Championship clubs in particular, getting say three or four of Doyle, Emil, Bewley, Fricke, Holder, or Kurtz etc etc to their track must be an opportunity to deliver a more than decent crowd if advertised well enough..? And less meeting means lower season ticket costs, and annual admission costs for those who attend regularly, which may again help those who attend "now and again" to increase their number of visits..?

That was my thought.. I havent watched him but he does seem to be able to win races, and against "decent" opposition.. Which suggests that when out in front, (just like in practice when you are the only one out on track), he can go fast... Coming off the throttle time and again is a big issue that needs addressing, and quickly..

And.. Withiut being disrespectful, or morbid.. The reality is that the current demographic of followers suggest illness, mobility issues, and worse, will no doubt take a few out of attending next year... And every year after that... Unless a "net increase" will be delivered through new followers, or (maybe more achievable?), more attendance from those who follow the sport but attend infrequently...

Ellis at BV would be an interesting one... Always think that there is more to come from him.. Might sound daft, but I think he is a fair bit better than his average in the UK suggests.. With his mate alongside him maybe he will flourish and reach the level many thought he could get to four or five years ago...?

You do learn to NOT lock a bike up, but instead let it "flow" through the bends to keep speed and momentum up.. And learn to use different entry and exit lines each lap to mess up the rider behind who may be thinking about a pass.. A good learning ground for those who will develop onto the international stage, where these type of wide tracks are more the norm than the old "technical tracks" of yesteryear in the UK.. The ones that "you had to learn to ride to be the best in the world".. Those few meetings Zmarzlik did at Brum must have worked wonders!!!!😁