pandorum

When you look at the thin pickings the actual series attracts in sponsorship compared to what it had a few years back I would say it's a bit of both. the NZ GP had no sponsor as it was the guy running the show who picked that up. Mostly destinations and minor companies with a heavy Polish bias. Who knows what Monster are actually investing in the sport in terms of hard cash as opposed to just giving the sport a higher profile. This will be reflected down to what the riders themselves can conjour up. TV coverage does not attract sponsorship fpr speedway and we know this from the Elite League here in the UK which has never attracted one sponsor for its league even with TV coverage which was of the highest order courtesy of SKY. There must be a systemic flaw in speedway as even minor sports like Bowls have taken advantage of TV coverage with regards major sponsorship opportunities. I think the GP one of the best ideas speedway has had but it's never seemed to realise it's potential in terms of crowds or attracting money into the sport that can then filter down to the grassroots as in most sports that embrace TV.

Far, far superior to the speedway star which was always a down market rag for me. I bought Star, Express and Mail but Speedway Mail was the only one I found intelligent. Liked the newspaper style it had but time moves on and the inferior but flashier Star 'survived' (if you can call the overpriced rag we have now surviving) and The Mail fell to the wayside.

yes but it would be hilarious just to watch his head explode

That's a shame. Another great rider lost to the sport by niggling injury.

Like TWK said speedway had 'teams' back whenwe were kids. Not a bunch of people who fly in on a morning and are gone with the dawn. Also the point about local riders is important. Speedway shunned British riders in pursuit of foreign superstars and this must be a part of it's downfall. Only by going backwards can this sport move forwards again. Invest in British talent and forget about the Wards and Holders. The sport is far too expensive and not really worth the outlay. Drop down a gear and concentrate on making the sport 'exciting' and cheaper for all concerned. The delusion that having the Gollobs and Hancocks of the world make our racing better is probably what is destroying it. British Ice Hockey did just that and is beginning to reap the benefit so speedway needs to do it too. Once SKY pull the plug it will be forced to do that anyways so perhaps a season of actual planning for the Big Day when what money there is dries up would be useful instead of mass panic next March. Only the most deluded cannot see the sport is dying on it's feet and even the introduction of good ideas such as an end of season PO system can't really save it. Look to the past and learn from it. The sport must have had something about it to be able to fill speedway stadia.

How To Make Speedway More Appealing To Younger Fans? Naked start girls and free drugs and alcohol and for the over 13s Justin Bieber in an interval cage fight with Michael Le Vell.

What nonsense. You can't possibly know this. I know loads of people who had upbringings that would make you shiver and who were hard people living very hard lives but the vast majority of them are perfectly decent people who dragged themselves out of the gutter and became better than people thought they would. I also know people who were the antithesis of that coming from well off backgrounds who never did anything crazy or got into trouble when younger and I would not trust them with the contents of my bin bag. You make it sound as if he will become a serial killer if not led down a better path by someone imbued with Christian values. But Christian values were nicked from the pagans and passed off as thier own. So I would not care to be preached to by someone like that. The point I am making is that Christians were passed off as good and pagans as bad but it was never quite as simple as that. Darcy Ward is a scroat but he may well become something better as he grows up. His crime which has generated this thread was hardly worthy of a telling off and he seems to have gotten that. He is a daft kid and deserves a kick up the arce for what he did. But he isn't the antichrist he is just a very naughty boy.

It wasn't a harmless, silly prank it was bloody stupid but he isn't exactly Motley Crue or Keef Richards. You are a bit over the top here Barney with your 'accident waiting to happen' analogy. And surely you did daft things in your life? If not you have my sympathies for a pretty mundane existence. Me I am nearly 60 and have never had an addiction for drugs or alcohol but have used both ,sometimes copiously, never been in trouble with the law or even involved in a fight but still have done plenty of mental things and have spent my working life in charge of people and machinery but I am still as daft as I was 40 years ago. It's called living! Darcy deserves a kick up the arce and got a good kicking for his crimes back in Swindon that he probably deserved. But that does not mean because he had a few tokes on a doobie and ran away from the cops on a kiddie bike that he is going to become a dangerous monster.

I would but I am Ochlophobic which means the only speedway i could go and see would be at Arena

I have never been in bother with the police in my life but have done a lot more insane stuff than Darcy's piddling little misdemeanour under the influence of drugs or alcohol and on several occasions both and on a few more neither. His sexual misdemeanours aside as I have always been a complete gentleman to the ladies. But his drink and drug stuff pahhh! And hell I turned out reasonbly sane and balanced.

Interesting info Flaggy. So they provide all the camera's, vans etc as a contractor. Well let's hope Cardiff isn't lost then as it was the best of the GPs in terms of atmosphere and showcase for the sport.

No idea mate I just watch it If so then maybe Cardiff will be OK. I am not bringing up these points to be obstreperous simply to glean information. I do hope so and also hope the Internet will provide live GPs as it's set to be an interesting season.

Then I would assume they would show it themselves as it was the flagship GP. Interesting point but if SKY ditch the GPs completely I would imagine they would have better use for thier equipment.

Mayhap they do but I doubt the Latvian TV people are gonna turn up at Cardiff so the question remains which TV company in the UK are gonna provide the service SKY did to cover Cardiff. I think Flagrag mentioned 40 or 50k with all SKYs expertise. But someone outside the UK would incur a lot of extra costs simply getting equipment there or having to hire it from someone here. To be shown on Premier there has to exist footage and therefore someone has to do what SKY did. A lot of money for such a minority sport that cannot even half fill a stadium. From what Flagrag has said about coverage here that seems unlikely as SKY must pay them to cover Cardiff and provide the teams to cover the speedway at thier own expense. BSI is not a charity and I doubt they would cover the costs of SKY so they can then profit from it via subscriptions. Does the FA meet the BBC's costs to cover the cup final? Or Ascot pay all the expense of covering a race meet?

As a Liverpool fan (yes laugh) I beg to differ. Wayne apart from being half decent kicking a football is slightly less intelligent than a slice of toast. Sadly some highlights package (if what is being said proves right) on a minor sport channel still is nothing short of a disaster for the sport. Schlein was right with his tweet. It's akin to the loss of the more informed Speedway Mail and leaving us with your overpriced 3rd rate publication. Also still begs the question who is gonna fork out to provide Cardiff coverage if SKY are not there? Fantasy saviours like the Beeb or ITV are not going to appear and BT are still a long way off from rivalling SKY. It will cost a lot of money to provide Cardiff coverage so I doubt Eurosport or Premier have 40 or 50 grand to spend on it

Well be honest we would not hear about them if he wasn't a top rider. He is hardly the worst human being on the planet but certainly not among the top echelon. He is a bit of a dick yes and not someone I would want within a hundred yards of my daughter but the Overkill (aussie pun) shown here is a tad over the top. It's not as if he was given a card for petrol for work and used it for pleasure now is it

There is absolutely zero chance that BBC or ITV will be bidding to show LIVE speedway either EL or GP. The simple cost of actually providing the league coverage or a Cardiff one off should tell anyone with even less than Wayne Rooneys IQ that. Let alone it's a minor sport even among minor sports, completely unknown to the VAST majority of viewers and susceptible to bad weather. Factor in advertising revenue from prime time TV slots and you get an equation that adds up to no fecking chance any major TV company is going to give a micky mouse sport like ours a prime slot on a Saturday night let alone a live prime slot that furnishes only a few thousand viewers. Even a highlights show or a one off Cardiff GP would involve a hefty outlay. The whole idea is too daft to even laugh at.

He was asked for his opinion and gave it dunno why his is any less valid than anyone else. This Poole nonsense has gone on far too long. So Ward is a worthless scroat but he is a damn good speedway rider. I would not put it past him to be in the top two and Holder to repeat last years feat. The old guard will have something to say about that I am sure but it's good to see the young turks in the mix. Should be interesting.

When did that happen then? I musta been in a coma that year and missed it

They also keep letting George Osbourne back in the country as well sadly.

The big stars don't make speedway exciting. The grafters and the team riders do that. Lads who don't know when they are beat. Sadly both are in short supply in the EL. Speedway needs to encourage team riding and get both track preperation and standard of opposition right for TV meetings. Local derbies and matches with teams who can both actually ride the track. Show the best of the sport rather than two weakened teams one of whom cannot ride the particular track for toffee. You would think SKY and the BSPA would want to cherry pick meetings that provide good entertainment and have a chance of at least generating an atmosphere.

I never said he did. Jack had too much class and did not need them as he was mental anyway. One of the best entertainers and most hated riders in speedway but by heck he knew how to make a meeting exciting. A priveledge to have seen him many times including the great Sunderland team he was part of. Also a true gent with fans as I never saw him refuse anyone, including the opposition fans who had booed him thoughout the meeting and there was always plenty of them who sought such a thing, an autograph The point I was making with Mad Jack was that we villify these people but we miss them when they are not around any more

slap on the gloves and give him a full cavity search just in case. the kid is an idiot but it would be a loss for UK speedway if he was refused entry. I wonder how many here have smoked dope and done stupid things? I certainly did but not when I was young rather in my 30s when I am supposed to be wiser Done a few daft things in my 50s as well. He is an unsavoury character certainly but he did not kill anyone and would hardly be the worst person let in the UK this year. We would have probably liked to deport Jack Millen and he was a complete mental case but it was an entertaining evening when Jack came to call at your local speedway track and we missed him when he wasn't there anymore.

An absolute credit to the sport and joins the list of UK legendary riders such as Collins, Lee, Loram, Craven who gave so much to the sport. Hopefully he will become involved in management and it would be great to see him in the top flight. The Havelock family have a proud tradition in speedway and both young and old Havvy did tremendous jobs for thier teams. I think we all pretty much knew it was going to happen and it is the right decision for an old warior like Gary. If the sport is to survive it needs people like him, Mark Loram and Mike lee a helluva lot more than some of the people in charge. Good luck to him for whichever way his life turns and thanks for a lot of great memories.

It's a mickey mouse position that nobody really cares about so comparing it to other sports where the national team has some importance is a bit daft. His comments were moronic but nobody wants to do the job so if the BSPA sack him it would make them look even more silly than they are looking already.