waytogo28

IF the crowd was 2,500 it would indeed not be a failure. IF it was. If the average can stay between 1,000 and 1,500 he will have done well. You may well be right about that but I feel that any successful business owner must engage positively with his customer base ( and not combatively as Buster has in recent years ).

He has set fire to his "boats" and though they are not yet burnt below the water level he does need to be more prudent in future. Being outspoken / plain speaking is all very well if it is carefully thought out as to it's likely reception. It's not what you say but what other people hear that counts. The main point in his favour is that he can cut the mustard on track ( in the UK ) and so likely will get a PL place within a couple of months. The sponsor's logo issue was just a smokescreen and we will never know what really happened in the world of masonic-like dealings.

And fail he will, Buster that is IF he continues to fail to engage with fans and disregard them and their opinions. Even the loss of 10% of fans from each his three clubs would put an enormous strain on the finances of them ( and perhaps cause disillusionment among his backers ).

There would be no domestic UK racing on TV but "league" racing would continue with six teams. If you could call it a league. Unless Buster goes bankrupt or his backers pull out he won't be pulling the plug on any of his clubs, I feel sure of that. Catastrophic failure is not his cup of tea.

Even when the BSPA recognise and attempt to embrace modern technology, they get it wrong. A Red backwards wearing your blazer move. Anyway, how will this use of social media bring more fans as paying supporters into the stadiums?

Did you expect anything else from the man who is determined to destroy UK speedway and throw away his own fortune ( or is it someone else's? ).He has reduced the entertainment value in the racing at Saddlebow Rd and now has the power to do so at two other tracks.

However, keeping to such a strictly controlled budget ( which sounds sensible ) does present a huge problem IF the crowd of diehards falls away so that the budget is endangered for all three of Buster's clubs. That could easily happen and depends on the continued support of the diehards who are becoming more and more dissatisfied ( and who Buster continues to ignore ). UK speedway seems to have given up on chasing a new generation of fans ( having lost out on the missing generation pf them ).

Spot on! Buster Chapman is very trying and at times it's impossible to put up with his chosen direction for UK speedway.

There you go then. ALL of the UK speedway problems solved. The BSPA bring in these conditions and there will be hordes of flat cap wearing and waving supporters. Now it's not like that is the reason they can't be bothered to go. Who would have thought it would turn out to be so easy.

Naturally, especially with Buster Chapman at the heart of it, pulling strings and lots of wool over supporters eyes.

The Peterborough club / Buster Chapman must be in the right - assuming that Cook was offered a deal along the lines of Lewis Hamilton ( for the club to own his image ). Perhaps £100k up front, all equipment and accessories supplied and a team of at least two mechanics. If it was a deal like that then ( or £1,000 per point ) I am sure Cook would have been swayed. Speedway is far too tiny a sport financially for clubs to own the image rights to riders. I suspect that basically on the question of money Chapman and Cook fell out and this rights image row is a good face saver.

We are King's Lynn are much more familiar with a Buster says "Do It This Way" request / order / command. The nature of how he prefers to run his speedway clubs.

You could open the doors to all young people under 18 or 16 Free of Charge, however, the problems remain of the content they get to watch. The long drawn out nature of a UK speedway match, its' sluggardly presentation and lack of much on track excitement likely means that the majority of young people would walk away long before the end ( and certainly at the interval, if one was held ). Look at any very successful film that pulls in a young mass audience. It's full of action, plot changes and thrills and excitement.

Now that UK speedway has truly arrived into the digital age and is social media interactive with fans voting via Twitter, the BSPA know that vast numbers of people under 50 ( even 40 or conceivably 30!) will quickly be attracted to speedway. The crisis in crowd levels is about to recede. All will be well! take a bow Blazers United for an innovative marketing strategy. Presumably, fans will be able to vote as they follow the match on Updates?

Sadly no other promoter is prepared to break the mould of "it's our game and we run it how we like". Godfrey and Chapman included. Neither are "people people" or show any serious interest in the opinion of fans.

The article was as accurate as something intending to be neutral could be. A Glorious past and nearly 75 years of joy - I enjoyed nearly 50 of those and still love watching on TV - especially the GPs and Swedish and Polish leagues. I watch the UK matches that BT broadcast but they look like the poor relative to other speedway on TV. I went to around 8 matches in the UK last season ( King's Lynn ) and never thought that it was value for money or great entertainment with only one or two races worthy of the name per match. I would still be prepared to pay for a decent live stream of UK matches ( not of course at the Sky or BT level or quality ). I have proposed this several times but the BSPA have never given it a trial. That's a pity. IF it survives ( UK speedway ) it will be in a very different semi-pro form but will need to be marketed very differently and properly. It is a very pale shadow of what it was now and cannot be revived even if one promoter does end up owning all the clubs in the "top" level.

It was indeed " my life" too for many years but it seems to have lost so much intensity and pull in recent years. I think part of that loss of interest is due to the feeling of" Oh no! I can't believe that, why are they doing that " about changes in how the sport is run and the decisions taken by promoters on what they lay before the fans as a show. It seems as if I have - finally - seen through it! Regardless of what the "it's fabulous racing now, as good as ever" it is much more predictable ( after the first half a lap ) than ever and so much more processional judging by what I have witnessed in recent years. Hardly worth watching and not much to get excited about ( before or after watching it! ) My clapometer and roarometer still work but are hardly used nowadays. I will be going when dragged along by an old friend from years ago when he comes to town - whose enthusiasm has not yet dimmed to such an extent of mine. I don't think that it is growing "older" as one or two posters have suggested to me but more that the excitement of an average match has just about vanished. Speedway racing UK style has sadly lost it's thrill and ability to rouse - it's siren song has fallen to a whisper. Can't wait for the GPs though!

No expenditure on advertising has proved beyond doubt that it does not work. The magic wand of social media has also proved ineffective for speedway. When we hear that arguably the greatest ever UK speedway race with Max Fricke carrying all before him at the NSS has been viewed only 59,000 times. No widespread public interest indicated there. 590,000 might have indicated otherwise.

It's not so much that he saved the league - but seemingly, saved the league on domestic TV. The Premier League could have run with 6 / 5 / 4 clubs ( if the BSPA so decided ). It does stink that Mr Chapman controls three clubs and 21 + riders. He will, before long, have majority control and then what he says becomes The Way of "top: league UK speedway as it crumbles to ashes in his hands.

But you see Mr Webb that all the Promotional and Management Team are very tied up with the work that their high powered titles might suggest. Putting up postings on billboards all over the place ( some in very rural locations ) is not something they have time for. In fact leaflets, posters, fixture lists are very old hat in this digital age and not worth the use of their time, that is their thinking, I suspect. Odd that because I see many, many more Stockcar posters up all over the place ( even in the K L town centre ) and that, allied with many more people on the AFA terraces for Stockcar racing must mean differently!

The title of those organising UK speedway racing should be changed from Promoter. None of them wearing the blazer for the last 30 years have been involved in promoting the sport to a wider audience. From 1946 to around 1985 those organising speedway were rolling in it and they re-invested very little of their profits in the future of the sport. For any fans who don't take the SS the sport IS almost invisible. I bet the hundreds of thousands who drive along the A47 wonder what goes on at the Adrian Flux Arena, if they notice the sign. Football, ice hockey, basketball? It can't be speedway racing can it? I thought it was extinct, might go through their minds. Must be stockcar racing!

Another Beloved one departs and takes with him so much knowledge of our sport.

The point is that should ( some say when ) support for speedway dwindles further at Saddlebow Rd, Mr Chapamn has a ready-made well-established tenant sport for his stadium.

Don't forget to still pay your admission fee even if you watch it on TV.

Oh Star lady you do realise that it's not PC nowadays to recall such a thing about days gone by don't you? Oddly enough I remember it in a very similar way! Bikes of a more similar level of tuning and races thus more unpredictable ( and enjoyable ). Oh Dear now it's my turn to "break the rules". I must write out 100 times " As orl moiles beter nowadaze".