Glennylion

I think that the way Leicester have been used and the lack of respect to Leicester fans throughout this Coventry saga is appalling. I am resentful of Leicester being used as a fall back option, a second choice for all things Coventry to the extent we have yet to sign riders or sort ourselves out. Silence from Leicester is deafening and it's a disgrace. I want both Leicester and Coventry to run and if a temporary use of BP is needed for Coventry so be it but that's all the Coventry involvement and association I want.

Only home ones. Presumably as race night is not confirmed

So a month since the bspa confirmation with full details on management, race night and structure in early January. Since the we have had Dave Darcy confirmed as promoter,that's it. DD advised on 4 January that priority is sorting the team out and has in interviews advised he is pleased with the riders he's looking at signing and would choose these riders anyway. So no manager, no race night, no management structure and no riders. All we know is Richard Lawson thought he was coming to Leicester but isn't and that the lions team building will depend on the Coventry situation as they have riders with contracts already and we could pick up those contracts. So who is making the decisions at Leicester? DD at one minute happy with the riders he was looking at but those discussions seemingly on hold pending Coventry. Is the decision on riders coming from bspa, buster or DD? In that regard, deadlines come and go, further deadlines provided with the looming prospect that Coventry don't officially run as the Bees.... but Leicester become a quasi Coventry set up. Does the bspa have a liability to the Bees riders who have signed a contract?

That's a shame. Think he would have been decent.

I think you are overlooking the way it was handled rather than the logic of the doing the job

Did I say that? If Saturday was so crucial and necessary to kids in attendance or crowds generally, why do so many others not have Saturday race nights? Either they don't agree or aren't necessarily seeking to attract kids. Don't know the answer, just asking a question or 2. If Saturday nights were the best night for kids, why are the attendees significantly of an older generation? Do under 16's not attend other tracks? Did under 16's not attend blackbird road? As a percentage of gate, how many are kids? Would the percentage be the same as at other tracks? Saturday evenings are times to be spent with families. I agree. That however presents choices. My family aren't interested in speedway despite my attempts so if I want to spend Saturday evenings with my family (as you imply) then it's away from speedway. That doesn't take into account other activities that impact more so on a Saturday than other days to do with not being at work such as in my case cricket.

I never read like that at the time but having re-read, I see where you're coming from when DD rubbishes the idea of Coventry using BP he refers to Coventry on a Thursday impacting on a Saturday attendance. I'm hoping it was a scenario he was using rather than suggesting it as a chosen race night. Separate issue but how many kids go? The number of kids seem limited. Why do no other tracks want kids to go?

Can remember comments from DH that it wasn't well attended and commented that the public weren't backing the introduction of a team in the NL trophy. Personally, I can't make Saturday's. Clashes with saturday activities such as cricket.

Didn't we try national league racing on a weekend? That didn't survive as it was poorly attended. We have yet to try planned midweek racing at "elite" level. Never been to non lions fixture irrespective of day. Give me a decent and competitive midweek team over a cannon fodder weekend team every day of midweek

Hopefully the good people of kings Lynn will let us know what's in the press release shortly after it's made.

I see the docs for name change were filed on 14th. Is this a step to enable contracts to be signed or a confirmation after contracts are signed?

5 weeks post agm and counting

Damn that's a blow. Just have to be Courtney and j-lo then

Is Jan the man the new number 1 we have lined up!!!!! Can see it now....Heat 13 dream team, Graverson and Courtney.

Meant signed rather than finalised.

Cheers flagrag. Notice you say sorted and deals agreed..which suggests everything is not finalised? Any reason why it's all such a secret!!!

4 weeks since agm and nothing about the situation at Leicester other than a fleeting rumour and hear say. Previously someone said that we had a number 1 signed. That would suggest that a promotion us in place and decisions are being made. Still nothing publicly. Flagrag the person who tends to have a fair degree of inside information then seems to be suggest that the promotion issue is still live which would suggest that possibly there still is no one to make a decision and that riders or in particular a number 1 hasn't been signed. Surely if a promotion was in place after all this time, then there would be an announcement of some kind.

Mrs H's boyfriend?

So then... 2 weeks since Glyn said it had only been a week since the agm and there were t's to be crossed and i's to be dotted 3 weeks since agm 4 weeks since Dave Darcy assurances of going to tapes in elite league giving the impression that plans were in place and new owners/promotion was basically being finalised... probably providing foundation to Glyn's comments Presumably 5,6,7 + weeks with a potential deal to be negotiated and ironed out but still norra peep. Unless the terms and contracts involve leiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicestttttttttttttttttttttter liiiiiiiiiiiiions holdiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings liiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttted, I can see a) no agreement and lions not running or we are left to select from a very minor cast of riders with a combined average a lot less than 50 and like captains picking the team in p.e at school and having to choose between the two kids at the back who hate sport and shivering in sub zero temperatures wearing plimmies and vests and just want to be somewhere else.

Flagrag. Your faith in DH displaying some common sense is laudable but goes against a vast amount of decisions or actions he has made from the very start if the project. From the marking out of the track to the disciplinary and subsequent "toys out of the pram" i would suggest he has shown very little common sense or business sense. I therefore do not share your confidence.

I can see what you are saying regarding keeping punters and whilst in a sense there is little point in attracting new punters if you can't retain them I think that applies more to the current situation rather than over the last few years. Without a flow of new and future punters the revenue levels have dropped. The standard reaction has been to reduce costs and milk the current revenue streams, ie the usual punters who have been going for years. As a result the product has become weaker and the charges have increased. The punter that goes week in week out therefore is paying more for a product that they do not desire. After a while the punter decides not getting value so calls it a day or is selective. Crowds and revenue drop, product becomes weaker and price goes up. It's an ever decreasing pool of current punters and the lack of promotion and attaching new punters is a direct cause of the mess it's in hence the drop in crowds. Promoting and marketing of any business is a daily and ongoing project. It's not a start if the season matter or a once every now and then when you have time. New customers and punters are the lifeblood of any business that is not in rundown...which speedway sadly appears to be. Until there is an injection of more revenue through gates then the product will become weaker and crowds will dwindle even more. The cycle needs to be stopped urgently. Either improve the product AND market or market and then improve. If a new punter enjoys what is available now he or she will stay for an improved product. Either way a professional coherent promotion wide and sport wide marketing programme is a must. It can't solely be left to promoters with day jobs to raise awareness. This is failing.

Sorry Joe, disagree with a lot of that. Speaking as it were from a Leicester point of view, virtually zero promoting has taken place. In the 1 real occasion that there was some promotional work, discounted offer, vouchers in the paper weeks in advance, the queue was massive and the start had to be delayed. My 2 kids have been to 3 schools within 3 miles of the track and only on 1 occasion did the promotion visit the school. That resulted in my son going for the 1 and only time. It was free but I get the feeling that he felt it was his decision rather than me trying to get him to go. I compare 2 similar sized minority sports in Leicester. Speedway and basketball. They are light years apart in respect of promoting, media presence and accessibility. BBC local radio speaks to the coach every week (and also is in the studio every week they don't have match on a Friday), the interview players, again in the studio, talk about the local area. The players are introduced at half time at Leicester city. Their website is modern, easy to follow and has content. They use social media to get the message out and are in all local publications weekly....oh and it's cheaper Speedway. Website is from early internet days and hasn't been touched other than to remove limited content. Riders always busy elsewhere and have limited if any links locally so there's no interview material to connect locally. I think that one of the legacies of doubling up means that more than any other sport,the home track is a once a week stop off for wages with no affiliation to the club, fans or area. I have never understood half or more empty stadiums or grounds with 20 schools with 3 miles. Surely such a catchment is music to any marketing man's dreams. If kids are the future encourage them. Get into 5 schools a week. Repeat that every week from Feb to October. Give family passes out every week as a reward for school achievement. 10 per day is 50 passes a week. Kids go, get the bug or habit. Get your captain or put it into cobtrsct to do 5 days promoting so that they are in the local radio studio,introduced at the city, local press. At Leicester speedway 200 yards away there is a shopping centre that every Saturday on race days there is a captive audience throughout the day of 20,000??? Where is the promotion saying tonight we have xyz, and you can see this bike, this rider.tl There should be a stand at the shopping centre every race day. I've never seen one. Maybe that as the promoters are amateur that they can't do the necessary or invest the time, but certainly they from a Leicester point of view could do infinitely more than they have done. PS and get a website with a design this side of 1999

Yeah but what about the cakes???

It all looks a bit more than a case of crossing and dotting. If ownership/promotion still hasn't been finalised and if the race night is still up in the air then any prospective promotion will be well behind others and it will be a case of making do with what's left....again.

As baldyman says, cakes aren't fashionable. Marketing has kept them in old packaging and they are hidden at the back behind the fashionable and sexier wrapped alternatives and only the selected few know that they are there. The age group of those means that the reduced popularity of the once loved cake diminishes with each batch made.