HGould

Two Clubs, I've seen so far has suggested reduced / free admission - £10 all 16 and above at Eastborne for first 2 Fixtures due to likely financial hardship. Poole also offering free admission all 2020 meetings to NHS Staff. Hope more will follow suit

If Poland gets green light and races every night, why shouldn't UK.??? British Clubs and specifically British riders need to earn. If a few Brits and some overseas riders have to decide, that's up to them their choice. If UK shuts down due to Poles many UK Clubs would not reopen. If any UK Clubs do close and seems likely some will if we are not racing by August, it'll be vad enough, without just lying down and letting Poland ride all over us. Their model is frighteningly like PL soccer, and probably more at risk from Global economic crash than UK is

Would be nice if The BSPA announced they were giving some of the Eurosport money to PL/CL/NDL Clubs don't you all think? It was clearly given to the Sport by Eurosport and not just for a few promoters at the top table of PL to guzzle up. 22 Clubs - if they gave just £100 k of the rumoured 500k deal at about 5 grand a club it might help a few through difficult times. Doubt a penny will trickle down though.

I have removed Curtis as requested. I mistakenly believed / was told Curtis and AP who do the website are all part of Nigel Pearsons Media empire. I apologise for any offence caused.

Laurence and David are the Promoters. I don'r blame Laurence or David (or Peter for that matter) for the poor website and media. It's one of many controlled and run by AP It was a website format that looked great 4-5 years ago, now very tired and dated. Some Clubs are formatting and developing their own unique styles and they look a lot smarter and up to date

Sums up the problem . Three of those names agree 100% with. They have little or no influence though at BSPA which is a closed shop of inward looking thinking.. Bishop promotes an NDL team very well but NDL has always been something the BSPA treat as an aside. Kilby has been around a few Clubs and seems to have found a niche at Swindon, meaning he didn't have time to do much with us brummies, but very positive force. Painter is probably the most interesting, involved in motor sport and speedway for a number of years, he now runs Team GB and in a few years they have developed incredibly well and professionally. throw in 2 other names who could have a lot more influence. Adrian Smith CEO at Belle Vue very professional and forward thinking. Peter Facenna at Glasgow is part of a family who have delivered an amazing business model and invested significant sums in to Glasgow. Smith and Facenna should be spearheading the Sport with Painter (all very successful businessmen) guys like Kilby and Bishop focused on marketing it. Not product that needs tinkering with but dead heading those driving the product and bringing in real talent. All of those will be lost though if they feel they are just banging there head against an immovable brick wall.

Completely different in every way. Global event attracting around 1 million spectators over 2 weeks and with players from all Continents needing huge infrastructure and planning that can't be stopped at a few weeks notice...equivalent to a huge oil tanker. League speedway if you are lucky 1000 to 1500 fans in many cases less, no massive infrastructure and can be arranged / cancelled very quickly. Equivalent of a coracle

Heard that too although I think much of it may be linked to what City Council claimed is owed by Dave Gorton (is it Gorton or Gordon - sorry) and Chris Morton. Good race track yet reputed to be losing money each season. Look at Glasgow, another good race track, probably the best in terms of professionalism in the UK and they admit they lose tens of thousands a season. Which Clubs (if any) do make any money based purely on Speedway? Scunthorpe (mainly you'd guess from track rental) Ipswich (big crowds and great Sponsors) Swindon - possibly Kent - Len claims he's never had a season where he has lost money. Almost every other one I can think of has at some point admitted either hanging on or losing hand over fist. Very worrying times.

As you say, no surprise sadly. Quick look at Redcar and no April Fool but a nice Easter Egg touch http://www.redcar-speedway.com/2020/03/27/easter-egg-hospital-visit-update/ Quick look at Eastbourne and an attempt at an April Fool (and a double header for Saturday on their TV Channel announced since the April Fool) -: https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/because-the-eagles-are-worth-it/ April Fool from IOW on Facebook too. Swindon (another progressive Club) - no April Fool but a game to play - https://www.swindon-speedway.com/news.php?extend.3407 Come on Brummies sort it out!

Bit disappointing no effort at an April Fool on website, might have cheered us up a bit.

time to look at the few who are promoting the sport properly and looking at new options; problem is how many of them will survive the cull that's about to be caused by the Covid-19 issues. In the case of one of them the IOW how do they survive no NDL next season.

I don't think ANY of the Clubs I referred to are promoting to kids. They are looking to attract kids who then ask their parents to take them again. Can't blame them for trying but some will blame them for trying!

Many of the Clubs in the Championship are attracting new young fans. We certainly are at Birmingham and on Away Match trips to places like Somerset; Redcar; Eastbourne saw plenty of evidence that other Clubs are doing the same and not only getting them in but showing them around and making a bit of a fuss of them. Yet when my Club do that what happens, some of the grumpy old men in the old guard moan about "too many kids", and a new family coming for the first time that may have "knicked my space" get abuse. Hardly welcoming is it?. We have some of the best facilities in Speedway at PB and good to see the work done to try to encourage new blood.

great post Ben and well done for trying to calculate things.

Because you asked what line of business the Masons were involved in??. Politely you were responded to!

I'm aware of a few Clubs who were already offering Concessions to NHS and key workers and Military / Emergency Front line so well done Poole on going a bit further. Hope that when the season does start (and lets all be hopeful and positive that it will start at some point) that all Clubs will follow this with similar schemes.

Lots of work on Pits and Riders Car Park, lot of painting and cleaning of kick boards and replaced and cleaned various bits of air fence. Also some replacement of the temporary stands on first turn to meet new safety requirements with regular working groups most weekends. I think Peter and David own Cleaning Contract Company covering London and South East where they are based.

Kent have refunded but as they sold for combined CL / NDL with no either /other of part season option, I guess they have assessed that they won't be running all matches or most likely NDL at all. Some Clubs seem to have put holding statements up saying they will review and monitor. Most clubs including mine nothing as yet.

Depends how many he has sold I think? He did have a lot of stick when launching late and for high cost (on here and social media). Kent also sold a combined CL and NDL ticket, no option to buy one or other League. So he obviously realises just not enough matches can be fitted in now for both so either won't run NDL or CL. So may be announcement coming about no NDL who knows? Nice bit of PR hopefully premature. I think most Clubs will wait until end of May at least? Clubs like Brummies have done a fair bit of stadium work, some of it vital safety work, so may have already spent some of my season ticket money so, I'd be happy to have a pro rata refund or even carry over to 2021 if that helps my Club.I appreciate some fans might want money back though. Not many Promoters as rich as Len but if you're a Kent fan fair enough.

I've read a few articles on the websites of a few of those Clubs we all know are a bit more progressive like Ipswich; Glasgow; Redcar; Eastbourne; IOW; where the Owners / Promoters (Facenna Brothers particularly transparent on this) have explained how the situation has affected them and what they have done/ will do. It seems a common thread from those that this could not have come at a worse time as they have forked out a lot of money already in preparation for the season. I wish Brummies would explain a bit more and now may be the best time for every Club to actually reach out to fans and explain a bit more and to offer help if they can although the lockdown announced last night may at least for the time being stop stadiums being used as an example for community usage. Stay in and stay safe everyone.

Excellent from Eastbourne too, like Redcar very informative and well done. These 2 pieces are a guide to Promotion of the Sport that all the rest should be following-: Redcar -: http://www.redcar-speedway.com/2020/03/17/redcar-speedway-statement/ Eastbourne -: https://www.eastbourne-speedway.com/eagles-qa-with-ian-jordan-2/ From Brummies and too many others sadly http://www.birmingham-speedway.com/ very little!

Excellent from Redcar, very much one of the more go-ahead Promotions. Well Done.

The sport will survive and if it comes back with more realistic people in charge it may prove a blessing. I don't see many Promoters or leaders anywhere in the sport though and that's the biggest concern. Needs bright new and independent thinking. Off the top of my head. Pretty short short list - Rob Painter and Ian Sinderson

Rumour is immediate lockdown and review again in April - whether that is early, middle or late not sure. Problem is, situation going to be much worse in April, May and June so when will it be oK to start again April 2021 might be about the best guess right now.

Too many read a headline and not the detail behind it. Hancock HAS said it is a measure that will be bought in. He has also said...it WILL be bought in if and when required at a time when it will have most impact. Politics (nothing to do with Party Politics) prepare people for the worst case scenario. In so doing you look good when you don't have to use that scenario but can also say you have a contingency in place. Also some over 70's and 80's will no doubt voluntarily listen to it now, they may not isolate but what they may do is go out once a week instead of 4 or 5 times. It suits the doom mongers to spread doom. Sells papers, empties shelves. The reality is somewhere in between.