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The most important thing is that British Speedway remains on tv and the clubs really need this to keep their commercial partners happy. As it turns out on this occasion there is no need to worry about production

Well the 7th rider was at Beaumont Park on Wednesday and was only too pleased to have his picture took as a Lion and as expected said he is excited for the new season.

The announcement of the last Lion is just waiting on local media being able to run the story so should be in next couple of days. The PR Shots have been done with the rider in question and he looking forward to riding at Leicester in 2018 as thought that may have been frozen out of British Speedway this season.

RobboBee Vaculik average will be 8pts and KP will be 6pts as confirmed by BSPA management team

Leicester have now got a complete team just awaiting to announce the last rider which will surprise a few as would not think he would want to come to the Lions.

The hint I gave was not actually about Scotty but someone that may be at the bottom end of the team. As I said it all depends if they go as I think they should for another heat leader and then this rider will likely be in at Leicester. If not they may go for two 5-5.7 point riders

I have a feeling that a former Witch and good friend of Danny King will be one of the last two signings for Leicester. It all depends on the next signing on which route the promotion take.

It looks Poole will have two Polish riders in 2018 Woryna and Wozniak. Leicester tried to sign Wozniak but he belongs to the old Promotor who wanted too much money so I understand he is going to Poole.

JChapman- No what I was referring to in 2017 was that the BSPA received 128k total to be shared amongst all clubs/Premiership. As they wanted to keep Speedway on tv they asked BT to broadcast some meetings and BSPA paid towards the production costs each week out of the fund they got from Sky at the start of the season. What I have found interesting in these current circumstances is that Go Speed & BSPA have not tried to get Sky back on board other than a brief email to say the rights were available. To me I would have followed this up with emails and set out a deal that Speedway would accept along the lines of what BT have offered with broadcaster paying production costs and a small fee per meeting. I am not saying it would have been approved but just seems very laid back especially as the acquisition team have said door is not permanently closed on Speedway it may have at least got an increased offer out of BT.

JChapman- Its interesting that you mention about the loss of money from the Sky sports contract, I am not saying that clubs didn't make something from this final payment. However it has to be remembered out of the 128k that BSPA received they had to contribute £8000 per meeting towards BT production costs so if they accept the 2018 deal although they have not got the money coming in for tv rights they are not paying out 8k per meeting so what BT have offered is an improved deal. If they go down the PPV route it may work but there are going to be some quite significant setup costs to do it correctly if they want to monetise it. Having been to every track and done extensive site visits for Sky I think there is only possibly BV and Wolverhampton that have required broadband backhaul requirements and Wolves could be losing there's as they are due to be going on an SIS managed Fibre system in January which will not allow video as they will want you to use their broadcast service AnyLive service. The lack of decent broadband at tracks is why Sky always had to get BT out to install temporary circuits for tv meetings as stadium owners either would not allow Sky to use their service or it didn't exist. We did trial doing some bits using Live U service which runs over 4G which is fine for static interviews but turns into a blurry mess with fast racing action even if you bind 16 connections together it does not work. This is also the reason why the betting contract meant each track having a satellite broadband dish erected using RaceTech technology and staffing if I remember correctly each meeting cost £750 to do just for one camera

Personally I think the offer that BT have made is ok in today's economic market and the position that British Speedway is in. I dare say if another broadcaster was to show an interest in showing Speedway then BT would likely come back with a highly increased offer but unless that happens that offer will not happen. The GP mIn quota to me is no real problem as Cook,Holder,Doyle,Lindgren rode in UK and in all honesty Leicester and Somerset needed to sign top riders as do Kings Lynn

It has to remembered that BT are not doing this for nothing they are offering to cover all the production costs which will be over 18k a meeting and BT are keen to assist BSPA getting sponsorship so have offered to allow centre green ads like Poland and give promotions list of regular advertisers during speedway broadcasts. In my personal opinion British Speedway is lucky this deal is on the table as they could be like some sports like Netball,Rowing, and Greyhounds that pay the broadcaster to show their sport

Bw Double You may well be getting your wish sooner than you thought,

I had the opportunity to have a good catch up with some former colleagues yesterday after a trade event at the Oval in London they gave me the latest as far they are aware from the BT side. Deal has been offered to BSPA which is that BT will cover all production costs and each staging club will get a £3000 meeting fee. In return BT want minimum of 7 GP riders in the league, a minimum of 10 meetings to televise, All TV meetings apart from finals to be £10 or complimentary and full co operation of all clubs with regards to fixtures so the best meetings can be broadcast. Now some promotors are refusing to sign the deal as they feel they are being undervalued and that they are looking for more money per meeting and want some payment towards rights. It has to be all clubs or none that's the deal I just hope the No brigade can be convinced soon to save the deal.

If there is no British Speedway on tv in 2018 the blame will firmly be due to certain promotors thinking they know best. A deal has been offered and and even better offer has been made yet some BSPA members still want more which they are unlikely to get so take it or leave it. As a Speedway supporter I hope they hurry up and sign the contract before BT move onto another sport.

Was this all new to UK GP riders on 9pt average voted for in Tenerife or afterwards ? It seems strange that Leicester would vote for the 8pt rule knowing it was going to ruin their team plans as were planning to go with MV and AN Other now they have to choose between the two

From what I have been told by a few sources is that BT had offered a tv deal to British Speedway subject to a few conditions being met etc £10 entry,a min amount of GP riders. However some promotions over value what they think British Speedway tv rights are worth and think that they should be getting Thousands just for the rights to allow BT to broadcast the racing. Then of course you have Terry & Ron Russell in the middle if BT offer just a meeting fee to the clubs or nothing but do cover the production costs how do old Tel & Ron make their money

New Pole will be a 5 I think as never rode in GP and MV will be 8.5 The next two signings are crucial as we have possible No1 and potentially good 2nd string. Need good heat leader back up and reserves will be Josh Bates. The Bates family have obviously sorted the middle order out as have told Lasse and another 2017 Lion that they don't fit into current plans

Decision time for the Lions promotion now they know the rules from the conference and have MV starting average confirmed . Do they push forward with top 2 they originally wanted or do they go for a more balanced side with strong reserves ?

Let's just wait and see if it all comes off, if it does I think quite a few people are going to be pleasantly surprised. One that has to be remembered is that Leicester can offer riders unlimited track practice time pretty much whenever they wish. Most can of course go to Poland to practice but many riders have said that's ok but not so much use when you are trying to setup an engine for the indoor and temporary GP circuits and this type of practice is better more speed

Fan male- You may well be correct with Wozniak as the next signing it was just not the name of the rider that I heard that Leicester had offered a deal to and was looking possible that it would happen.

Wozniak was an option that was available to the club that would have seen MV,Wozniak and Kim Nillson & Bjerre But this not the rider whom I was on about as I said they are a GP rider and in all honesty didn't think they would want UK

It is not Zagar as others have said Leicester is not one of his favourite tracks and the rider I heard was more towards the top of the GP finishing order. The more I think of it the more surprised I will be if it comes off as I thought he would be wanted by his parent club.

The rider that was mentioned to me would be an excellent signing for Leicester but is far from confirmed so would be unfair to steal the clubs thunder and it may yet not happen. This would not be the first GP rider to discuss terms in the winter to ride in the UK and then change their mind when they consider the logistics more. Rest assured if I hear it's a confirmed deal then I will let you all know and further shows how the club is moving forward

Leicester may have more than one rider that rides in the GP in 2018. When I heard that they were taking terms with this rider it surprised me but if it comes off would give the Lions a real strong top end and can still fit in a couple of fans favourites too.