PHILIPRISING

INTERESTING piece on BT Sport's ambitions here ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/10440065/Now-BT-plots-major-raid-on-summer-sports.html Judging by this, Sky had better hang on to speedway ... it might be all they have left!

CANNOT early blame Sky for how the money has been frittered away or that British speedway hasn't made the most of its TV exposure.

1... WE are working on it and will hopefully be able to offer a package for a small increase in the price 2... You can trial it on line 3... Yes, although from time to time we might add a couple of extra pages to the online edition, which isn't possible with the printed edition.

THE real battle between BT and Sky is for broadband customers ... that is where the real revenue is. The TV channels are a means to an end and BT have the financial muscle, as just shown with the Champions League deal, to out bid Sky.

ONLINE price is £2.15 per issue as against the cover price of £2.90 (from Dec 7) ...

YES...

SPEEDWAY STAR is now available by subscription online through your web browser, on an iPhone or iPad or any Android device... and for the same price no matter where you are in the world. The latest online editions will be available each Thursday morning (UK time) other than over the Christmas holiday period when the dates will vary. See speedwaystar.net during that time for more details. If you wish to renew your subscription for the online edition rather than have the printed one mailed to you, go to: www.exacteditions.com/speedwaystar Please note the App version for the iPhone and iPad will not be available from the iTunes store until Thursday, December 5th. Prices for the online editions represent huge savings for those subscribers living outside of the United Kingdom. You will pay the same price (£28 for 13 weeks, £112 for 52 weeks) whether you reside in Australia, Europe, New Zealand or North America.

THEY are ...

CORRECT

THERE was a spell this year when Sky switched to Wednesday night speedway and alternated between Birmingham, King's Lynn and Poole for obvious reasons. Spme tracks obviously find it moire difficult to switch their race-night to a Monday or Wednesday and say actively decline the opportunity Grand Central... does the seven Poole meetings include the play-offs? How many times did the other tracks feature?

AS to your first point ... NO! HAS anyone bothered to work out (I haven't) how many home meetings each EL track had televised in 2013?

MUCH of this is down to Nigel Pearson and BSI

IT would be inconceivable not to have a GP in Denmark and Vojens only returned when Copenhagen was originally off the 2014 calendar. Five Polish tracks were in the market for a GP next year, which is pretty high percentage. I don't think the current dispute has anything to do with the old UEM, rather the new concept with people like Frank Zeigler and Wolfgang Glas tending to carry out their own agenda and some of the Polish officials happy to tag along. OneSport actually wanted to increase the number of SEC rounds to eight in 2014 and that might well have been the straw that broke the camel's back at the FIM.

THE CCP Director has much more autonomy and power than the old President of the CCP ... Armando Castagna has a fine racing background, remains passionate about speedway and has a lot of very good ideas. Whether he sinks or swims remains to be seen. Certainly cannot see a countries like Sweden and Denmark, through SVEMO and the DMU, for example not respecting the authority of the FIM.

WHEN banning GP riders from the SEC was first being seriously mooted over 12 months ago BSI warned the FIM that they would be opening a can of worms. The horse had already bolted but, as mentioned so often, this is a power struggle at the FIM, about who controls what. However, like so many similar organisations, they work so slowly and instead of tackling the issues there and then they have allowed them to drag on to the point where we are now. I have to say that had the former General Secretary, Gut Maitre, still been at the FIM it would never have got this far. There is also a lot of truth in assertions that those involved in Polish speedway see themselves as all powerful and the tail is trying to wag the dog. It is also true that riders wishing to race in more than one country require an international licence which is where the FIM hold a trump card.

WITH regard to Riga ... the promoters at Daugavpils signed a two year (2013 and 2014) contract with BSI but there was a proviso that should they find a suitable stadium in Riga and build a permanent track consideration would be given to moving the event to the Latvian capital. That is where we are now. No doubt the Prime Minster of Latvia, who flew to Daugavpils by helicopter this year, would also much rather have the event in his own backyard. And anyone who has been to Riga will testify that it is a great, and relatively cheap, city to visit and a far more attractive proposition than Daugavpils.

THEN it would be up to the FIM to sort it out

WHICH is exactly what the FIM are trying to prevent

JUST about everything I have been told over the past 24 hours is, unfortunately, off the record but it would seem the core of the matter is that FIM Europe entered into a contract with OneSport that they were not empowered to do. To answer a couple of Humphrey's points: one, why would BSI reduce their asking price of promoters, which are variable anyway, when there is no apparent shortage of organisers wishing to stage rounds of the series? And would the FIM accept lower rights and inscription fees if they did so? I imagine that one of the things that grates in Geneva is that the SEC produces little revenue for the FIM. There are is no shortage of top rate lawyers at IMG (Rob Armstrong, Head of Motorsport there which includes BSI, falls into that category) and they have warned the FIM that any ban on GP riders competing in the SEC could be hard to implement. And, of course, riders still have a choice. Who out of the 2014 line-up might decide to forsake the SGP and opt for the SGP instead? Prize or appearance money isn't the only factor. TV exposure, which forms the basis of some much of the sponsorship acquired by the top riders these days, is a major factor and 12 rounds of the SGP adds up to a lot more than four of the SEC. I understand that GP riders will be allowed to compete in one round of the SEC as a wild card ... Sayfutdinov in Russia for example. And that the top three would indeed go through to the GP Challenge as a stepping stone to the SGP.

NO offence but you are wrong. But, hey, believe want you want...

ANDY ... read the posts in the International Section

WHILE in an ideal world BSI would probably be happy with no SGP riders also in the SEC I know for a fact that they did not instigate this and would much prefer the SGP and the SEC to operate on a level playing field as far as fees are concerned. They, like you and me, see speedway as being very different to other forms of motorcycle racing where riders are self-employed individuals rather than representatives of factory teams. But, to repeat myself, this is more about the FIM as a whole trying to bring FIM Europe into line and to stop them, as those in Geneva see it, over-stepping their lines of authority.

NO doubt there will be some anti-BSI/SGP feeling whipped up in Poland by those with a vested interest in the SEC but judging by the number of Polish tracks vying for a GP there it cannot be that bad. It was actually the Finnish promoters who made the original comment about attracting fans from Russia and cannot see how anyone can take offence at that. As for going to Togliatti, as stated before tracks staging SEC rounds pay only 1,500 Euros as against the 20,000 required from SGP venues and OneSport do not pay the FIM over a million dollars a year. If stories about the cost of admission in Togliatti (about £3) are to be believed it is hardily surprising that a SGP round there isn't considered viable, especially with a number of alternatives on hand. The FIM stance on the SEC is borne out by the fact that other disciplines keep World and European Championships apart and riders (and/or teams) do not compete in both and many in Geneva believe that should also apply to speedway.

ALL riders qualifying for the SGP are theoretically then "invited" to compete by the FIM, which effectively means that once they accept they agree to abide by the various regulations governing the competition. It could be the FIM's way of getting round the possible restraint of trade repercussions. One of the conditions of "accepting the invitation" would presumably be an agreement not to ride in the SEC. Many at the FIM (though presumably not FIM Europe) think the SEC should provide a route into the SGP via the Challenge. At least it would be a form of qualification on the track. Still nothing official from the FIM as far as I know (but am in the US so not exactly on top of things) but this one obviously still has some way to run.

BUT just like when all teams start the season with a similar combined average, what works in theory rarely does in practice.