Pieman72

Speedway is a wonderful sport but unfortunately it is run and supported by individuals who relate back to an era when the sport was popular, well supported and profitable. Realisticly it can't be sustained in it's present form. A lot of problems are beyond the sports control but radical ideas and thinking should be on the agenda. Getting the 'big stick' out will only hasten the demise.

Well worth a visit for anyone who hasn't seen it before and they go the opposite way, the sound of 1000cc motor is awesome. The supporting races are usually 500cc sidecars which are single cylinder running on methanol going the same way as the solo's. The modified track at Leicester will be excellent for 4 sidecars. The more spectators that attend the more it will enable the sport to grow. At £10 it's excellent value for at least 22 races. What more could you ask for on a warm Saturday evening.

I know this topic is already posted but just to inform anyone that the championship starts next Saturday and it's well worth going along as it's very spectacular and quite a roar with 1000cc engines. There are supporting classes and I'm praying for demo solo's though it's likely to be 500cc sidecars which are very good. With £10 entrance on a nice Saturday evening !! it doesn't get any better. That's what weekends should be about. Tracey Cossar is organising the event and has asked me to relay the flyer as the more that turn up the better. The flyer is on the Leicester Speedway website: http://leicesterlions.co/

All the 'razz am a tazz' of slick PR companies, wall to wall 'pay to view TV' formulated in the 90's together with Mr you know who from Denmark and his GP series. Where's it got us? I knew this would happen as speedway is a sport that appeals to a limited audience. I'm sure speedway will survive and it's no point blaming the present administration the damage was done years ago. Do all you can to help and support your local track but please please please make the sport affordable. Rather than pay for expensive foreign riders, buy some machinery and run a training school. In it's present form speedway is living beyond it's means and is a recipe for further decline. What about racing on a Friday or Saturday I'm sure we could tear ourselves away from 'Ant and Dec's Takaway' oh I forgot our foreign riders have continental commitments.

Brilliant reply !! It's generation thing and they fork out £40 per month too. We own our own house have a business, investments etc and I don't have a smart phone nor do I pay for sky, premier football or £10 for a pizza. That's why we are in this position. Speedway is a finite specialist market and we have to sell it and make it an attractive proposion.

It's not about anger or apportioning blame the sport is in a very difficult place and survival will be the fundamental element. I travel up and down the country and the economic situation while stable is hitting young people the hardest and those are the ones who we need for the sport to survive. Critical analytical thinking is required and we all need to 'sing from the same song sheet' as it were lol.

For the sport to survive costs have to be cut for the sport to survive. Nobody is going to pay £18 to watch a speedway meeting. Leases and rentals have to be re-negotiated and riders paid less. The easy option was to recruit an EU rider and bang him a wedge...those days are over. What about nurturing home grown talent. Don't forget work permits will be necessary, proir to the EU the government were very picky unless you were a commonwealth rider. Riders also will be reluctant to come due to the devaluation of the £ by 15%....blimey things get worse lol. I'll try to think positive !!

Speedway has spent too much time courting pay to view TV and had their pockets emptied by some very slick PR companies. Unfortunately they (all of us lol) took our eye off the ball. Joe Public is the most important element in speedway and we need to attract him/her to meetings and at £18+ per fixture that is just not going to happen. Sitting back and expecting new supporters pay such an astronomical amount is delusion.

To be fair this isn't the time to apportion blame we all have a common goal. We just have to reflect on what has happened, what can be done and find a way forward. Pressing the reset button will probably only hasten the demise. Try looking outside the box as without Sky there will be a definite need for change. No one likes change but reality needs to cut in somewhere.

Pay view TV and Speedway are not compatible and Speedway has never been much of a spectacle on terrestrial TV. What we need is spectators, spectators, spectators. how will we get them......by cutting overheads revitalising the entrtainment value of racing and charging realistic admission prices. I'm afraid in it's current form game over.

Grasstrack has had a hard time but meetings are on the rise which are very well supported with healthy entries from Ledbury, Bewdley and Worcester Clubs and a contribution from Midshires . A lot can be learned from the format, costings, value for maoney and entertainment. It truly is a motorsport where as speedway has 'taken it's eye' off what it really is?

Pay to view TV is probably not the best medium to promote speedway as the audience is primarily focussed on football and not motor sports. Speedway is a contactish sport and to be enjoyed it is best watched live. The smell, noise, atmosphere and banter makes for a memorable night. TV is just being used as a 'cash cow' and not a very good one at that. There are a lot of embedded opinions and agenda's at the top of British Speedway and they need to change as the survival of speedway is becoming critical. On a positive note Grasstrack is doing very well particularly in the Midlands Centre and manages to put on wonderful entertainment why is this so when speedway is stuggling so much?

Are tactical substitutes relevant when our National Stadium is stuggling and 2 of the founding tracks are likely to close. Please don't be offended but a lot of supporters and administrators are of pensionable age generally have a large disposable income and probably don't even have to find the bus fare. Could this be what's inflating the admission costs? Drawing an analogy with pubs, beer and meals are of an eyewatering price and are possible inflated by the 'grey pound'. I am reasanably comfortable and I just don't have the money for speedway, beer and the odd meal out? The same is happening with speedway and pubs which are closing at an alarming rate???

I can see your point. That's what I intend to do. Set up an organisation with a constitution and agenda and then put the idea's out to consulultation. That's what I'm trying to do get some idea's and the more radical the better. This forum is just the start with land prices shooting up speedway without spectators is a non-stater.

No politics please it's moving away from the concept of speedway surviving in a changing world. We all want the same outcome it's just how we get there.

Thanks for the comments I'm more of pragmatist and I tend be an agitator and generally in the background. I'm very much in your face and vocal but definintely not into deformation and use social media as a platform not into twitter or facebook etc. As I said idea's and formats would be helpful so as to formulate a constitutional document that could be integrated into an agenda with realistic aims and proposals. Above all I have no criticsms of the current regime they do a sterling job often unpaid.

Unfortunately due to my business and house renovations I have limited time and resources but sometime later this year I intend to start an organisation dedicated to saving and financing speedway. This could be involved with reforming and supporting tracks under a new format dedicated to home grown riders and lowering the costs for realistic admission charges while evaluating whether 500cc Solo bikes are giving the entertainment value for future spectators. Comments please I'm hard skinned so criticisms whatever they are will be welcome !!

There has been much discussion about the dire situation in speedway though there needs to be more idea's about how the sport will be run in the future. It's a fantastic spectacle what's required is something that will ensure it's survival. Doing nothing or tweaking a few buttons probably is not the answer?

Taking into account the fragile situation regarding teams stadiums and supporters in the premier league I really do hope speedway can survive. There has been a lot of talk about new idea's and changes to put the sport on a firmer footing but as yet it's still only a makeover. I definintely think individuals and organisations are sitting on their hands and hoping that everything will work out. Seriously unless something radical is done I very much fear for the future. The 'normal' fan is just not coming through the turnstiles and we have to find a a way to attract him and her to watch the sport as without revenue the sport will not be viable. It was revived in the 60's and I'm sure it can be done again but it has to be something different from the norm.

In response to Shale Searchers comments regarding pay to view, while useful there are a lot of 'if's' what speedway needs is definites and stability. As like many fans I don't have that platform nor will I ever subscribe it for a complexity or reasons, financial not being one of them. Taking a pragmatic look at the situation televised events seem to be doing more harm than good. Could I run a viable profitable operation with a few dozen fans and conditional payments from Sky the answer is a firm no. As for the GP a comment at the time was 'who wants to go and watch the Scandinavian World Championships at a clearing in the middle of knowhere'. This competition was formulated by a former Wolverhampton World Champion and while very exciting with excellent racing it has definitely had a detrimental effect on British Speedway.

I just can't understand why the authorities and promotors want to charge so much and be left with an empty stadium. Lets make speedway cheap and cheerful with spectators.

Excellent post baba a realist. Diversification and local riders.

Thanks for the support I shall keep lobbying for changeas I know I'm not on my own. I'm a motorsport enthusiast and some of the speedway boys have to realise it's not a social service and won't carry on indefinitely unless there are more spectators. Speedway seems to be going the same way as your local pub as they are expensive and not everone wants the same old lager, cider and beer. The ones that have diversified into coffee, soft drinks and food generally survive due to attracting a new clientel.

Fundamentally speedway is a spectator sport and is totally reliant on admission prices and sponsorship. With many young people privately renting and living costs / inflation rising the amount of disposable income from the target audience is restricted. To attract new fans and to hang on to current ones admissions costs have to fall. For a single person who is passionate about the sport that is fine but the majority of spectators look on speedway as a recreational pursuit to be enjoyed with a partner and family. Ultimately we need to look at the entertainment value and what we are getting for £19 admission. The empty terraces with old enthusiasts like me reminiscing about the past won't pay the bills or take the sport back to health. It's not the odd exciting race that we need to focus on but the foundations and scaffold of speedway that have held it together for nearly 90 years. Home grown riders would be a good point of reference. Realistically it's not point arguing about the merits of paying £18 or £20 to watch a meeting for most people it is unaffordable but for some reason no one seems to get it?

As a result of digital broadcasters speedway is in terminal decline. I find unless your an ardent fan watching the sport on tv be it digital or terrestrial is utterly boring. Watching speedway taking in the noise, smell, atmosphere and excitement is the only way and without spectators the sport will die. The revenue gleaned from this is hastening the closures and doing nothing to promote the sport. The administrators need to critically analyse the model they are using and realise it is not working. Enthusiasts like use need to be heard before it's too late. Parochial nit picking is not the answer I don't think everyone understands how serious this is !!