Promoters Meeting (november 15th) - Forum Suggestions

[Kevin Meynell]

Of course we don't have 10 teams in the EL

 

There's talk of Arena-Essex moving-up, plus one other (the name of which will surprise everyone if it happens).

 

When I look at the Ipswich fixture list as it stood at the start of the season the first league match was Mar 27th, the last league match was Aug 28th!

 

Teams such as Ipswich will always be 'short' of fixtures as no-one else rides on a Thursday, and it doesn't really clash with the SGP. You can therefore run pretty much every week. Teams such as Oxford or Coventry don't have that option as they have to work around the SGP etc..

 

The other problem is that the introduction of the playoffs' means that all the league matches need to be crushed into five months instead of seven as before.

 

I certainly wouldn't disagree that the fixture list is a bit of a joke, but I don't see anything changing unless the BEL is run without regard to the SGP, and without SGP riders.

[Kevin Meynell]

Mylor,

 

A while back, Steve Purchase (then Oxford promoter) actually asked the fans for ideas as to how the sport might be improved. I sent him the following text, which although was written in 2000, is probably still relevant today.

 

How many of these things have been addressed? Hmm.. do I really need to answer that ;-)

 

Value for money

 

One of the factors that has undoubtedly contributed to the diminishing popularity of speedway, is that it has become poor value for money over the past ten years. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it was relatively cheap to attend speedway and this combined with the lack of entertainment elsewhere, meant the sport did not have worry too much about it's presentation.

 

However, since the beginning of the 1990s, admission prices have increased at a rate well above inflation (25%). Whilst this is also the case with football, that sport has changed beyond recognition with the introduction of superb new stadiums, all-star teams and branded merchandise. In contrast, speedway is still held in largely dilapidated stadiums, many of the top stars no longer compete in Britain (unlike ten years ago), and the number of heats per meeting has been reduced.

 

A meeting used to consist of at least 20 organised heats; the main match and either a support competition featuring the top riders or a junior match. Since 1994, the number of heats has been cut to 16 heats, and now to 15 heats, but dragged-out over the same time. This amounts to a reduction of 25%, and one can only wonder how football fans would have reacted if the playing time of their matches had been cut from 90 to around 70 minutes, with the half-time break extended to 30 minutes!

 

Admittedly some promotions make an effort to organise some additional races, but this is on an ad-hoc basis and the quality is often quite variable. If one takes into account the reduced number of races, speedway has actually become 50% more expensive in real terms since 1990.

 

Obviously some of the highlighted problems are due to external factors. Most promotions do not own the stadiums in which they race, and they have faced disproportionate rental increases in recent years. In addition, the shortage of top riders, their ability to earn good money in other countries, and spiralling equipment costs, have all conspired to increase the running costs of league competition.

 

Unfortunately, all of this inconsequential to the average supporter. He or she has a limited amount of disposable income each week, and will not spend it on something that is perceived to provide poor value. Nowadays, there are many attractions ranging from multi-screen cinemas to Premiership football shown on live television. Speedway must therefore compete for a share of the consumer's income.

 

The re-introduction of 18-heat matches (as used in 1993) would be step towards providing better value for money. The problems that were highlighted as a reason for dropping the format could easily be fixed, and many supporters would be content with an extended match.

 

Failing this, there should be some sort of organised junior competitition, either held BEFORE or DURING the main match (there can't be many forms of entertainment where the support event is held after the main event). It would probably be better to hold support races during a match (e.g. after heats 4, 8, 11 and 14) as it would give junior riders experience of changing track conditions, and would generally allow riders more time between each of their rides (thus allowing a swifter programme to be run).

 

Fixtures

 

The fixture list, at least in the BEL, really needs to be revamped. The traditional concept of each track staging a home meeting each week is unworkable given the small size of the BEL, and the demands of the GP and other national leagues. Instead, the league programme should be staged in rounds (as with football), with every team having approximately one home or away meeting per week.

 

The British season is about 32 weeks long (mid-March to end-October) and the current BEL programme is 32 matches. Even if you don't schedule meetings in October (thus giving a 32 week season), that still only amounts to one meeting per week on average, and that doesn't include the five bank holiday dates (Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring and Summer). Unfortunately, the current arrangement of fixtures has teams riding two or three meetings some weeks, then practically not riding during other weeks.

 

If you examine Oxford's original fixture list...

 

April - 3 home, 5 away + 1 Open

May - 3 home + 1 KOC, 1 away + 1 KOC

June - 3 home, 0 away

July - 2 home, 6 away

August - 4 home, 3 away

Sept - 1 home, 1 away

 

... you can see there are no away fixtures in June, then six during July! In addition, there are only two home fixtures in July - which also would be the case if you scheduled one round per week. Oxford is not an extreme example either.

 

The argument against having weekly rounds, is that supporters will 'get out of the habit' if there isn't a meeting each week. However, having irregular three week gaps in the fixture list is much more likely to do this than a regular one week on, one week off schedule. Football works in this manner without any problems.

 

If you scheduled one meeting per week, it would be possible to arrange fixtures so that the Monday and Wednesday night teams rode at home during GP weeks thus avoiding the need for 'off-weeks'. Furthermore, it would also be much easier to coordinate fixtures with the other national leagues. Teams could still ride on their normal race days, and KOC meetings could be easily fitted around the other meetings.

 

Guest Riders

 

Some serious effort needs to go into investigating how the use of guest riders might be reduced. No other sport allows teams to borrow competitors from other teams in the same competition, and the guest system does not even exist in the other national speedway leagues. It does more to undermine the credibility of the sport than practically anything else.

 

It is understood that riders often get injured or are forced to miss meetings due to commitments elsewhere. Teams need to be able to adequately replace these riders as under-strength teams do not encourage good attendances. The lack of finances, shortage of top riders, and the fact that riders are usually only paid when they ride, also means that it's impractical for teams to operate a squad system as in other sports. However, it might be possible to abolish intra-league guests in the BPL, and restrict their use in the BEL, if more use was made of inter-league guests.

 

At the present time, BEL riders are not allowed as guests in the BPL. This restriction should be lifted to allow riders with a CMA of 6.00 or less (corresponding to the existing restriction on riders dropping down) to guest for absent BPL heat leaders. BPL second-strings could be replaced by Rider Replacement (or by a BEL/BCL guest if both second-strings are missing), whilst BPL reserves could only be replaced by BCL riders. This system should still provide adequate replacements for absent riders, and would allow intra-league guests to be totally abolished in the BPL.

 

The BEL is more of a problem because it's difficult to replace the heat-leaders. Substitute foreigners might be a possibility, but these would undoubtedly be expensive. It might therefore be necessary to retain intra-league guests for heat-leaders only. Nevertheless, BEL second-strings and reserves could be adequately replaced by BPL guests, especially if the restriction on 'old-hands' was lifted.

 

Taking this idea one step further, a limited squad system might be considered. Teams could declare seven riders as before, but would also nominate an additional (say) 7-14 riders. These riders would normally ride for teams in one of the other leagues, but could be called-up to 'guest' as necessary (providing their other fixtures allowed and their averages fitted). Not all squad members might be available for a given meeting, but this shouldn't be a problem if enough riders are nominated. A similar system exists in Sweden where most teams have an agreement with a team in another division to share riders.

 

Points Limit

 

Most (sensible) supporters recognise that the points limit is good idea and generally works well. However, the manner in which CMAs are assessed could be improved.

 

Foreign riders that have never established a CMA are normally assessed at 5.00 or 7.50 in the BEL and 9.00 in the BPL, but this does not always provide a true reflection of their ability. For example, Tomas Gollob and Ales Dryml were both assessed at 7.50, but their actual abilities were very different (>9 compared to <5).

 

Conversion factors could instead be introduced for riders that have competed in another recognised national league (e.g. Danish, German, Polish & Swedish). These would allow the ability of a foreign rider to be more accurately assessed.

 

Conversion factors might be calculated by comparing the relative performance of riders already competing in both the BEL, and one or more of the other leagues. An analysis of the 1999 season, reveals that CMAs established in the Polish and Swedish leagues are similar to those established in the BEL (e.g. 8.00 = 8.00). CMAs established in the Danish Superleague should be divided by 1.15 (e.g. 8.00 = 6.96), whilst those established in the German Superleague should be divided by 1.3 (8.00 = 6.15). Conversion factors for the lower divisions could be based on the conversion factors already in use within the respective countries.

 

The rules for reducing the CMA of a rider that has missed one or more seasons should also be clarified. At the present time, a rider may have their CMA reduced by 8% for each season missed due to injury, but there does not appear to be any established method for reducing the CMA of a rider missing a season for any other reason. It is therefore suggested the 8% reduction is applied to any rider missing a whole season for whatever reason, but only if they have not competed elsewhere in the world during this period.

 

Stadiums

 

Whilst it is recognised that most promotions do not actually own the stadiums in which they run speedway, efforts must be made to try and improve these in the longer term. Many appear to have changed little since the 1970s and the facilities often leave a lot to be desired. Consideration should also be given to how rained-off meetings can be avoided. This is a particular problem with the sport, and supporters will often not travel to a meeting if there is a chance of rain. The introduction of live televised coverage makes this issue even more acute.

 

Perhaps covers similar to those used on cricket pitches could be used to keep the track dry before a meeting? The ultimate (but expensive) solution would be to build a roof covering the track and surrounding terraces, but leaving the centre green open. This type of construction is used to great effect in Assen where the Ice Racing Grand Prix is held.

[Mylor]

Excuse me guys for blowing the dust off this one just before the season starts but you may feel it's worth taking just a few minutes to review what's actually been achieved since the review of Forum members 'Future' threads took place very nearly 2 and a half years ago.

 

Many of you will recognise the topics reviewed in the original post as we've re-visited them many times. I forget who posted the original quote "- any predictions? where can you see speedway being in the next 5 years?" but the answer seems to be 'Pretty much no change, as long as we survive".

 

The emergence of the Academy is just about the only measure of progress in all that time. True the EL has grown somewhat but it would have died if it hadn't. The PL has shrunk and the sport is just as poor as it was then with nothing being done to generate the sort of cashflow we so desperately need.

 

Regulation, be it EU directives, national government initiatives and legislation, local authority and planning regulations will all conspire to squeeze the life blood out of the sport. We need to fight our corner but we seriously lack leadership.

 

Surely John Postlethwaite can't be the only 'visionary' around who can drag this sport into the 21st century? Is the country completely devoid of entrepreneurs? Can't they see what's blindingly obvious to most of us on the Forum, that speedway is a heaven sent opportunity to generate enormous profits, in the medium term, and have plenty of excitement along the way?

 

I, along with many on here despair at the wasted opportunities and the dire lack of vision amongst the people who are controlling, some would say stifling this should be great sport of ours. The promoters, national federations, the UEM and the FIM should all be ashamed of themselves. Their long record of neglect and their lack of leadership leaves this sport's status just a little above a fairground attraction................without the showmanship!

 

Can I see myself writing pretty much the same at the end of the 5 years? I'm afraid so, that is as long as the Forum and the sport are still going. A little OTT maybe but think about it. All it would take is an environmental legislation change and/or a Chancellor who decided to cash in on sport, especially football, by slapping on another tax. How many clubs out there are running on a shoestring? How many could survive? With fuel charges going up 20% or so how many of your club's casual supporters will be lost to the sport? Will there be a recession? Will we always have to live on this knifedge?...............'Fraid so, unless someone comes forward to show the way.

Edited March 6, 2006 by Mylor