uk_martin

Poor ol' BSF & Speedway Updates administrators. They'll have whole new sections to create on their web sites for the new league

Not enough riders for One League, as has been shown in previous posts.

Last year, Birmingham season ticket sales were based on promises of having a team, including "the new Darcy Ward", capable of reaching the play-off's, a team with a genuine #1, and the assumption that riders contracted to the team were available to ride at least all the home fixtures that the season ticket covered. Within days, the #1was off to pastures new, with the blessing of the club, having fulfilled his task of boosting season ticket sales, another rider became injured and ended his season / career, the Darcy Ward pretender proved to be a huge disappointment and Birmingham only had partial access to the rider whose priority lay in the Danish league. Not the kind of legacy of broken promises that inspire people to invest again.

Fair point, but with the hype comparing him with Darcy Ward, so the comparisons will be made with what Ward did as a 16yo, 17yo etc etc. From memory, Ward was scoring maximums within his first few meetings, hence the disappointment with Pearson in comparison.

Who's likely to retire after a couple of meetings so that the Brummies can revert to type by employing a season's worth of tactical guest riders?

Anything less than a 4.00 would be an insult for "the hottest property to come from Australia since Darcy Ward" - as he was hyped-up, at the start of the year.

You're asking the British Rumours Forum whether a rumour is true or not???

I dare say that apart from the engines going from 2-valves to 4-valves, the sport hasn't changed much in all that time, has it?

If speedway fans are "struggling to pay their bills" (I think that's the latest politically correct terminology ) then how about closing down all the track shops that sell trinkets that fans would also not be able to afford, and instead have a Food Bank outlet running inside the stadium? Then, at least all those who are struggling to afford their evening's entertainment can go home with a bag full of life's essentials.

Do us a favour, please. As the season goes on, can you post on each fixtures thread which meeting you are not going to see because the admission price is £20 that you would have gone to see if it was only £18.

Considering that all but 6 or 7 "first tier" riders doubled down into the "second tier" last year, what's the difference these days?

Does it really? If you want to go you WILL go, whether it's £18 or £20. Looking at the 2007 season, there was an average attendance of 2,500 - 3,000, paying £14.00 admission (full fare). There were 30 fixtures that season, so the seasons spend could have been up to £420 in admission alone. The 2023 season promises 11 fixtures for certain, at £20 per meeting = £220 for the years activities. Possibly a bit more IF the Brummies make it into the play-off's, semi-finals of the KOC etc. (No guarantees of that judging by the team managers trophy cabinet) So a seasons worth of speedway now promises to be £200 more affordable than it was 15 years ago. And predicted attendances are anyone's guess, but hopefully higher than the 400 - 450 average last year. So, the bigger question is...who wants to go any more, at any price?

But, but, but...admission was £1 cheaper per meeting than Birmingham for the season that you went there.

How many clubs are totally independent of other business interests? If speedway had to stand on its own, it would fall flat on its face. However, if speedway is promoted by people who run other profitable businesses, e.g. Tolley at Birmingham, the Facennas at Glasgow, and previously the Duggards at Eastbourne etc, then speedway benefits from becoming a bit of an indulgence, where profits from the other business, instead of going to the tax man, get invested into an "enjoyable hobby", and get written off the tax bill. Let's just hope that the badge making business doesn't suffer too much in the recession.

Let's face it, if they don't say something, people will make stuff up just to fill the "knowledge gap". Invent a "fact", say it often enough and it becomes a "virtual truth".

I guess we will know for sure when the trading accounts are publicly available on the HMRC web site. However long that takes for that to happen.

Is that just an assumption, or hearsay or can you show evidence of that?

Probably an Aussie kid that nobody has heard of before who manages to score a win against a "big boy" during the Aussie season, and therefore gets hyped up as the next big thing.

An interesting return for "The Rizzla". In the olden days he was a Birmingham/Tony Mole asset. I wonder whose asset he is (or will be) now.

Would it? How far must it reduce to? £10? £5? I don't think that people go around thinking "how can I best spend £10, or £15?" They look at what is likely to give them a good night out, pay for it, and then decide afterwards whether that was money well spent or not, and on that decision base whether they would want to go again. On that basis, the onus is on the sport to deliver a good night out. You'll never get lose the "speedway at any price" public and you'll never entice the "no speedway even if it was free" types. The job is to convert those who go once into going many times, and that you will only do if the product and presentation is improved and brought into the 21st century. An analogy would be that in a world of streaming movies, speedway is still playing betamax video tapes. Exactly!

https://moneynerd.co.uk/average-personal-debt-uk-2022/ It seems to me that "our households" are full of people who "must have now" so much that personal debt is at record highs. I don't think that the way that the government runs the country is any different to how the average household is run. But of course, you can always blame the government but you can't blame ordinary Joe, can you? Because ordinary Joe looks just like you and me, and we can't be seen to be blaming ourselves now, can we?

I think the promoters are "wising up" to this fact, and now are basing their income projections on the concessionary admission levels. From that point of view, if the OAP discounted admission charge is "the new normal" then perhaps the question can be turned on its head...and you can ask "why should people of working age be penalised with excessive admission charges to be able to go to watch the speedway?" Can't wait to hear from the "Speedway's a £10 sport" brigade.

Morris comes in a 10.13 average. That's a higher average than Jason Lyons ever had. So, from that point of view, he'll win more races than Jason Lyons ever did. Now, how "exciting" was Jason Lyons? I seem to recall, he was a firm fans favourite, and if a rider like that can't gain enough popularity to "put more bums on seats", then that dead horse that's been flogged needs a proper burial.

Dan McCormack II

Continuity from last season? Maybe the Brummies now will sign some phantom riders so that the continuity with R/R and Guests can be continued. All that investment into Tipp-Ex (other correction fluids are available) that the fans have made last year mustn't be wasted.