Rocket Dave

Tex you're not wrong but the difference here is that there were 15,000 empty seats and I haven't found a statement anywhere that says concessions are limited. When a special offer has a limit its normal to see a statement that says the concession is for the first 500 or 200 or whatever and in my case I've never been to a GP before and people were telling me that there would be 1,000's of tickets on the day ( which was true) but they sold out of concessions. I would have bought on line had I known I was going.

Good post, I don't understand the rolling thing, the test must be "did the tapes break". I'm still learning what the rules are about these days after a long break from speedway. When I rode in the 70's we touched the tapes hence a lot of broken tapes and delays. The racing last night was great and long may that continue!

So glad I'm getting back into my speedway, that was a cracking meeting tonight although I don't like being on the losing side but I have to hand it to Craig Cook - he was on fire- he rode front wheel on the grass out of the gate bend 1&2 and did an amazing pass on Doyley going into 3 in heat 15. It's great to hear from others how good our track is and how it seems to suit Sky. The crowd didn't look that many but the car parks were busier than normal so it must have a reasonable number. This sounds like great news!

This has been an interesting thread to read, I started my involvement in speedway on my 16th birthday riding a 500 JAP at the Lew Coffin speedway school in Weymouth, that makes it January 1971. We were a true speedway and grasstrack family and I rode speedway for 4 years and grasstrack for 5 years, during that period we went all over the country riding as well as spectating. After many years of no participation at all I now live 15 minutes from Somerset Rebels track and have started getting back into it again and go regularly. I'm getting to the point of this post, and that is that after all these years absolutely nothing has changed! Maybe the bikes are quieter and they have rear tyre deflectors now but the racing doesn't seem any faster despite the engine developments, lap times seem close to what I was used to, there does seem to be less starting tape breakages but apart from that??? So how do you jazz it up to attract more and perhaps younger fans, a look at how the Americans turn anything into a spectacle might not go amiss, the sheer razzmatazz of quality sound, pumped up commentary and showmanship might help. We get a few air horns and a large chicken giving the kids some sweets! Having said that, my grandson like the chicken, the sweets and the air horns but he's only 5. Even at the SGP in Cardiff last week the best they could do was a couple of gas guns to mark the end of each race and some start line girls, the huge screens at the millennium stadium added to the overall feel because of the replays and slow mo but that's about it. I think the reason why I've fitted back into the scene is simply because it really is the same as its always been but I also think this is bad for the future, the promoters have a business to run and they have to get a good gate to stay in business. The racing isn't going to change so the infrastructure around it will have to. Unless, and I have no idea if this has been muted before maybe going to 5 laps would provide a bigger race spectacle as it might just provide the way of spicing up the results.

We are really lucky that the Rebels race on a Friday as it means I can take my soon to be 6 Grandson as its not a school night. Added bonus the track is just 15 minutes from home, happy day's! Have to agree with this.... Watching the National pairs last week it simply got better as it got dark, true of most meetings of course but with such a large crowd (for us) the atmosphere also felt better under lights.....

Going to see Rebels / Monarchs tonight at the Oaktree Areana here in Somerset, it is being shown on Sky, will that be Eurosport or Sky sports? Ticket prices reduced to £10 plus other benefits to get a good crowd. Hope it goes ahead we've had rain in the nigh and mor forecast after a number of glorious days sunshine!

Somerset Rebels have Sky filming live tomorrow night Rebels/Monarchs, and they have reduced the entrance fee to £10 instead of £15 and all children go free plus you ge a £2 voucher off the next home match. I know this is about wanting to get a better crowd for Sky but its still a good deal. The important thing is they are NOT saying its only the first 20 children go free, it's all of them!

Also who knew there were limited concession tickets available? Seems like it was only the promoter because the families that went home certainly didn't .

NOT THE POINT 15000 empty seats! If people willing to pay £90 couldn't get in because 3000 children had all the seats then that's a different matter perhaps. And anyway the children sitting in you section would have paid concession rates if not bought on the day or after the capped number of concessions had been sold.

What a bizzare comment, you have missed the point entirely. The Stadium had maybe 15,000 + seats EMPTY. The organisers advertised concessions for the elderly and the young, nowhere did it state that the concessions were capped. Had I known it would cost £45 for a 5 year old then it is unlikely that we would have travelled. I also made the point that ticket touts were openly selling tickets for less than the venue right outside the box office, had I know I was going to face the price situation once I reached the ticket desk then I may have bought from the touts. A lot of people left with their CHILDREN having been unable to afford several £45 tickets, in my case it was actually £26 more than the concession ticket would have been so I lived with it.

I'm trying to find out who I can write to about this, once I have then I'll post the details here so that anyone else who feels aggrieved can write in as well. Cheers

Wish I'd seen this, see my post on how I got ripped of on the day having to £45 for a 5 year old in upper N1 as it happens.

We should try telling that to the promoters of the SGP. I'm an ex speedway and grasstrack rider and im thrilled that my grandson is so keen on speedway, we attended the SGP yesterday in Cardiff at short notice as I didn't know until the day if my 5 year old grandson could come with me or not. I knew there would be plenty of tickets on the day so off we went (from Cheddar) and rocked up at the box office at around 14:30 with about 50-60 people in front of us in the que. I was staggered when I reached the counter to learn that the CHEAPEST tickets were now £45 and much worse there were NO concessions. It cost me £45 for a ticket for a FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD. I was told that the promoter sets the maximum number of concession tickets and once they hit that number it's full price or nothing, how cynical is that! The fact is, had the stadium been full to capacity then that would be one thing, but even though the crowd may have been the highest ever for a speedway meeting (45,000 I heard) there were many thousands of seats empty. Why then limit the concessions? I personally witnessed 4 families walking away ticketless to go home having refused to pay the price or not being able to fork out 6 x £45 for and adult and the five kids it was absolutely crazy, surely 6 x £19 was better than the seats being left empty. Am I missing something here, there were ticket touts outside the box office selling tickets for less than the venue, I have never supported touts but you have to ask the question whether it would have been worth it on this occasion. My grandson loves to follow the Rebels and enjoys his speedway but come on guys what other event could even consider charging £45 for a five year old. Does anyone else feel the same way or am I a lone voice?