Little Thumper

Okikoki, when is your next meeting?

So, what information have you received that leads you to the conclusion that the British Speedway Propaganda Association are going to put their foot down with a firm hand? I don't seem to have seen any mention of any action they have taken this year to punish the clubs that made little effort to fulfil their commitments to their league or the long-suffering supporters. Perhaps they sent them a stiff letter or are making them buy a round of drinks at the annual conflab.

So, if a meeting was run in daylight, there would be absolutely no need for any restrictions on photography and it would be unreasonable for a promoter to impose said restrictions on the basis of safety. No problems at Buxton then: we can snap away merrily.

I would suggest that £10 (DIV3), £11 (DIV2), £12 (DIV1) would be sustainable fixed prices for the three leagues. If promoters feel that these admission prices would not generate enough income then they should seek out sponsorship and marketing their brand to make up the shortfall. Looking at Joe Muggins as some kind of soft touch is an easy option that is past it's sell-by date.

But there comes a point when the customer, perhaps whose income is not rising, says enough is enough. If entertainment venues continue to increase prices faster than customers' incomes go up, economics would suggest that fewer customers will be inclined to pay this increased price and the revenue received by the venue will decline. You suggest that riders' wages are going up every year and this increased cost will be passed on to the customer. But why are riders' wages increasing when most peoples' wages are stagnant? Gone are the days when an organization could just bung some arbitrary amount on their prices and expect the punter to pay up without question.

So you are seriously saying that a paying customer got banned from a venue because they took a photograph? So, Tsunami, which venue took this draconian action?

Well, they must be expecting the fans to stay loyal to them because I notice that on the British Speedway Propaganda Association website thingy, it says that they will be holding a season ticket sales night on Thursday December 15 at the Cradley Heath Liberal Club. If you are fancying buying one of these season tickets, I might be inclined to offer two pieces of advice:- 1. Get some kind of written guarantee of how many meetings you might expect to see in exchange for your hard-earned dosh, in the light of speedway's end of season magic trick of making meetings disappear. 2. I would try and get to the venue pretty early. I can't imagine that a modern day Liberal Club would be much bigger than a telephone box in light of the party's popularity ratings which have gone down faster than an unsinkable boat that has just hit a bit of an iceberg (unless you live in some snobby place called Richmond Park). Be careful out there.

Yeah, right. I think a certain venue in North Manchester cornered the market when it came to Elf and Safety and Costly........and that has turned out really well! :rofl:

Having made that statement, NSSC News, I think it would only be fair for you to explain what was said last night that prompts you to arrive at this conclusion. Perhaps then, the purveyors of the rhetoric might see that there is more going on here than might be evident to us mere mortals. I look forward to my Nirvana moment.

And apparently, they are going to be re-branded as the Cradley Homeless.

Good suggestion but seeing as I'm my boss not sure it will achieve the desired result!

Thanks for that, iris123. So having read the previous thread where all this photography business is talked about at length, it would appear that the taking photos nonsense is coming from the same interest group as Belle Vue's Food and Drinks Policy. In other words, the organizations don't want Joe Public indulging in any activity that might diminish their earnings. Has anyone seen people being challenged for taking photographs at a speedway meeting and what was the outcome?

Well if someone is pointing a camera up a skirt or down a top and offence has been caused, then the police should be called for and the matter investigated. To instigate a blanket ban on photography on the basis of an incident where there may possibly have been an invasion of privacy is a little thin, I feel.

My income this year has gone up by the rate of inflation which is currently running at the square root of f*ck all. So my policy is simple, unless there is some material change to the speedway product that is being offered to me i.e. a team is racing in a higher category, then I shall not be paying any more than last year. My season ticket for Oulton Park for 2017 has gone up by considerably more than the rate of inflation, so I shall not be renewing it. And another thing - have you seen the size of Mars bars these days - considerably smaller but no reduction in price!!!! I think someone is extracting the urine.

Good Grief! What are these spectators up to?

Well, I suppose that prohibiting flash photography at night meetings when the riders are actually racing might be understandable but at other times, I can't see why photography should be banned. I have watched all types of motor sport and have never come across any kind of ban on taking photographs. Indeed at some of the big meetings that I go to, such as British Superbikes at Oulton Park, taking photographs and video is an important ingredient for the paying customers. So, I would have thought that any promoter trying to enforce a blanket photography ban should have a rethink and encourage people to take photos and show them to their friends, put them on line and use photography as a way of spreading the message.

Why?

Probably not.

Either they are having a car boot sale or Buster is taking the place over.

Wow! I didn't realize that Mr Pipe was related to Donald Trump but clearly this rhetoric shows that they are brothers in blood. With a leader as charismatic and popular as Mr Pipe and with a steel shipping container full of "shocking" riders, what could possibly go wrong?

There you go! People are very quick to come on here and have a go at our great leader, Mr Pipe. But he is making all these other NL teams look pretty silly - he apparently has more psychic powers than Mystic Meg, as he has looked into the future and seen what the points limit is going to be and using this information to good effect, has already got a shed-load of riders signed up and they are being measured for their sheepskin race suits even as we speak! So look out Blue Rinsers, Brummies and Heathens, you might have had a bit of a laugh at little Buxton last year but now Mr Pipe has lined up a team of superstars and revenge will be sweet. I might just pop down to my branch of Corbett's Bookmakers and wager a couple of pounds on Buxton Hitmen to be 2017 NL Champions. I'll be quids in by the end of the season.

I think we should have a bit of a whip round and buy Cllr Stokes a return ticket to Manchester Piccadiily as he sounds like just the man to sort out the National Speedway Stadium débâcle. He seems to have the ability to get things sorted in a couple of hours whilst others have BIG meetings and then promptly go on holiday and us plebs are no wiser. Anyway, looking on the positive side, if they no longer have seats at Coventry, there should be a nice reduction in the admission prices.

Well, that would appear to be good news. Obviously, we will look forward eagerly to the two parties involved in this debacle issuing statements which confirm that their interpretation of the situation is in accordance with the opinion expressed by Cllr Stokes. It seems quite amazing that a couple of three hours of discussion has relatively easily resolved a situation that appeared so dire. Just a pity that the parties involved hadn't got together a little earlier and then perhaps there wouldn't have been the need to send the wrecking crew in. Cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for that, gustix. If the shambles at Belle Vue isn't bad enough for loyal speedway supporters, then this miserable episode pops up to compound the despair for decent speedway people. You begin to think that either speedway has some kind of a death wish or that the sport's supremos are far cleverer than us mere mortals and this is all part of some great master plan to revive the once great sport of speedway. Worried for the Coventry supporters here.

Wash your mouth out, friend. We don't want that man's name mentioned around these parts.