1 valve

Yes it works so long as the riders involved are not contracted to clubs in Sweden & Denmark (Tues & Wed) & Poland (Fri Sat & Sunday) in which case those clubs have first call on the riders concerned.

Yes it works so long as the riders involved are not contracted to clubs in Sweden & Denmark (Tues & Wed) & Poland (Fri Sat & Sunday) in which case those clubs have first call on the riders concerned.

All being well the campaigners and Rugby council will use the argument that the stadium will be needed for both speedway & stox the latter who require a significant pits area far greater than speedway Combine that with car parking requirements and there is absolutely no space for 100+ houses (50x2semi detached being the smallest option)

Very good overview and the point re planning for 2027 beginning now totally relevant.

Wanting something and accepting something are two entirely different concepts. For now the majority of fans of clubs are accepting the latter in the hope that something will be (is being) done to make things more desirable in the near future.

By all accounts they're pretty much that already. So yes, you're absolutely spot on!

I agree it would be good to know.....and understandable that if what's on offer no longer appeals, folk will indeed choose to stay away. Its fair to say promoters actually do understand the dynamics, just not clear that they know what to do about it.

As I said, We are all entitled voice our views on this forum including if you choose to believe or not believe the reasons I gave behind the promoters thinking are applicable or not. However, maybe you should accept that views/opinions are one thing, whilst decisions are altogether another matter. At the end of the day decisions made are what ultimately counts and where UK speedway is concerned those decisions are made by the promoters not the rank & file folk on this forum. The only decision the majority of fans/supporters can make is to decide whether or not to pay or not to pay hard earned money to watch the meetings. And whilst you appear somewhat deluded to think that folk on this forum actually have sufficient collective power to hold the promoters to account, wait until March and just see the supporters (the vast majority of whom are not even on this forum) pay their money to do what they want to do- which is to support their team.

Interesting concept, but hard to imagine the promoters of the premier clubs would willingly have their business financially sacrificed as a marketing tool whilst others (championship clubs) benefit. The objective behind an elite type of league is that it actually does make a profit whilst creating awareness for the sports other clubs to thrive from. But as I think we all recognise, the sports at a pretty low level at present and much work in the right direction is required - harmonising the promoters would be a good if not almost impossible task to start with.

I'm not that certain to what extent some folk on this forum actually want to, or are willing to understand BSPL decisions if they fly in the face of their own opinion. Sure we are entitled to voice our many and varied views but ultimately we are not the ones making the one decision that counts so it maybe worthwhile trying to understand why that or those decisions do get made. So for what its worth here is my two pennyworth on why we are having a Prem league next year. 1. Rather than simply so riders can double up - It is actually so more team can field a higher quality of riders across both leagues. 2. If there wasn't a Premier league a good number of riders (more than those who have left already) would not ride in the UK and so, 3. For the existing number of clubs to continue offering team racing, many NDL riders would need to be drafted in which would result in a drop off of competitive racing. 4. By keeping a premier league, the UK keeps its protected race nights of Monday & Thursday 5. By maintaining a top flight entity, The concept can continue to be promoted to prospective sponsors and similar backers as something which is a base to expand. That commercially is a lot stronger scenario to utilise being mindful that significant sponsors want an elite type of differentiation in the sport they partner.

Cant say I know a great deal about gambling, but speaking with somebody who does and also understands speedway she tells me. - Forget about betting at the track - its all about the online world. - Speedway would require one camera at each track (but two would be preferable) to globally broadcast racing live through the online streaming and TV gambling channels (I don't know what/who they are). - A quick count gave a total of seventeen individual type of bets that could be placed on/during a single speedway team meeting excluding the simple "moneyline" bets of selecting which rider will win any particular race. - A number of the seventeen type of bets could be placed multiple times to take into account changes to form/scores during the meeting - Hence the appeal to the online gambling community. - Her understanding is that speedway has not historically found traction with the gambling organisations due to the lack of willingness from the sport to embrace the concept. - Apparently there are upwards of sixty online gambling companies registered in Malta and Gibraltar serving the UK which include all of the big well known brands. - If speedway did hook up with the gambling community via sponsorship etc, there would not be exclusivity for that sponsor at speedway meetings as all markets are regarded as open. My take away is that for those in the know speedway does offer significant opportunities, however, to date it has not been exploited sufficiently well enough to create interest and growth beyond the fans of sport itself.

By "that Lot" I presume you refer to the collective fourteen or so promoters responsible for putting on meetings in the UK? If so, there are a few who could be regarded as progressive, unfortunately the majority tend to be less selfless and insular to the wider and longer terms needs of the sport.

They do have some control via the terms of the contract agreed between club& rider. aka as I understand, from 2027, riders contracted to Ekstraliga will only be allowed to ride for one other team in Europe. Of course if they don’t want that limitation then they are quite entitled not sign the contract.

Yea sorry about the length, once I get going on the old keyboard there's no stopping me. As I said, from a due diligence perspective, Major sponsors* are first and foremost interested in the future longevity of the sport and understanding threats going forward. History and past trends are regarded as "interesting and informative" however, of far more relevance is how will our sponsorship support the sports objectives and to what extent can we work together to improve the growth and exposure via multi-media. *major sponsor = A body prepared to commit a minimum of £15m over 5 years to a league organisation or £1m for a single event.

Yes sort of. I maybe wrong but I think any license fee due is actually paid to the BSPL so CL would be selling the goodwill including access to buy the license at a cost extra to that which he sells the promotion for.

I'm not sure promotion and relegation is a pre-requisite in preference to a membership competition open to those promotions who can satisfy a strict common criteria somewhat like the NFL providing a meaningful competition featuring the very best of available riders and with it, the best pay for the riders and kudos & financial reward for the promotion provided by significant league sponsorship and the very best of multi media coverage. This most probably would, as you say need a restart. Regrettably, I fear this will not happen for the simple reason that a restart would involve immediate and far reaching changes (because we're not talking evolution here but revolution) which the promoters would not agree to if those changes negatively effected there own business in deference to the development and future well being of the sport. As an example. I have connection to the marketing/sponsorship/brand development management of a major insurance company with an annual budget of £400m (and increasing) for UK sport. I know that the first and foremost criteria for them to consider UK speedway would be the stability of the promotions, not necessarily from a financial position (they appreciate that is what their money contributes toward) but the guarantee of future longevity. Being mindful of their due diligence procedure they would quickly determine that in recent years a good number of stadiums have closed & teams lost for reasons beyond the influence of the speedway authorities. Consequently they would want to know which promotions can and to what extent guarantee the continued availability of their stadiums. So two relevant questions we should consider as starters are- 1. Which clubs can be reasonably sure they will have continued access to their current stadium over the next three and five years. i.e. Belle Vue, Leicester, Kings Lynn, Glasgow & Oxford to name a few. 2. Which current stadiums that host speedway have in the last five years been linked to possible development of other actions effecting the possibility of speedway continuing at the venue? i.e Poole & Sheffield. If a team falls into this category, they would instantly be discounted and removed from inclusion in a top flight league - the only concept they would entertain. Just to be clear, the circumstance I am citing above is for a restart (revolution) which the company I refer to may be interested in rather than an "evolutionary" approach along the lines of the BSPL saying lets start the journey by agreeing a vision and a plan (we can dream) of where we want to get to. In which case the position of the insurance company would be along the lines of "great, good luck and feel free to come back to us when you get there".

Running a top league and planning the future are not mutually exclusive for 2026. Let’s have both. Although the BSPL do appear to find the latter to be the more difficult concept to get to grips with.

So you mean teams need to run a squad system and sign riders who are not doubling up? Would this mean that maybe those reserve riders may not get to ride for their team at all nor be able to ride for another team. Or if you are thinking available riders do not actually sign for a club but remain in a pool then surely you have the risk that a rider could ride for a team and then against them the very next week.

Teams closing is indeed a sad matter however you are mistaken in believing the Premiership is largely responsible for teams closing. Birmingham, Wolves, Peterborough, Swindon, Coventry. Lost to development. Sheffield & Ipswich for sale but more than likely to run in 2026. Oxford, decision made to reduce number of teams because arguably having three teams understandably proving too much for fans to support from a cost point of view.

And why is it making things worse?

RR is using declared riders of the team so what is wrong with that or are you saying injuries are not allowed? Or maybe you are simply over reacting.

I agree, the premiership was broken last year - unfortunately, rather than working to repair and get the thing moving in the right direction the majority of the BSPL appear not to have the will, money, courage, acumen or foresight to do anything about it. Having a Premiership is very good or even essential for UK speedway. As the pinnacle of the sport it should create the target for ambition and aspiration of riders/promoters and fans which in itself drives the need by clubs for planning aimed at continually delivering year on year improvements. Regrettably, The majority (not all) of promoting organisations within the BSPL, far from working in unison insist operating in individual silos with next to no regard to other promotions and a big picture, long term approach thus with an absence of a vision for the future the outcome continues to be a disjointed and ineffectual organisation destroying the very fabric of what could be possible.

Almost every team sport I can think of has differing levels of competition albeit that the top flight does not necessarily produces the best entertainment all of the time when compared with the lower tiers of the same said sport. However, having multi levels/divisions/leagues of any particular team sport should serve to create ambition and aspiration to reach the very top of the chosen sport. This objective is applicable to owners, players and fans alike with a clearly defined pinnacle being the significant attraction for sponsors, investors and TV companies which ultimately creates interest in the lower echelons or "grass roots" as it is often referred too. Unfortunately, UK speedway looks like it is heading towards creating one (low) level of competitiveness with no reason/need for a team/promotion to do anything other than to survive year on year. As such, rather than having a professional sport striving to grow from within and increasing its fan base speedway is in danger of looking more like a circus coming to town. And it is son much more than that. Conversely, having an elite top flight league in the UK acting as a show piece for the sport creates the opportunity for ambition and aspiration to be encapsulated in order for the sport to flourish at all levels. There can be no doubt that a five team premier league, missing many of the recent top riders who have raced in the UK is far from ideal. However, and I say this more in hope than belief, keeping a top flight in 2026 is paramount to plans for 2027 and beyond, if during this coming year it is used as a catalyst to establish new significant sponsorship, investment & TV coverage. I know if I was marketing the sport, I would need that clear demarcation and it would be of no surprise if Speedway Futures were also of that opinion.

So you believe Stuart Dickson wishes the Premier League to continue so that he can have/keep two jobs? And that’s it?

Strange comment for you to make & only applicable to blind lemmings? Surely, if you don’t want it, then don’t buy it is the more sensible course of action isn’t it?