Speedway Gp's-does It Have A Future?

[severnsider]

Even though Sochi is going to have the Winter Olympics skiing had only recently had any events in Russia (think 1st was in early 2012 at the Olympic venue) but last Tuesday there was a slalom ski event in the exhibition park by the space museum. Therefore it seems that things are slowly moving in the Russian landscape

 

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[mickthemuppet]

Was it not about 4 year ago that a Russian League was going to be the biggest thing in Speedway but due to the size of the country it never really happened. There was also big problems with, if you got injured and the health facilities there

[iris123]

That is true.But wasn't a fair bit of that hype scaremongering from British promoters?.I seem to remember a PL promoter using the Russian league as an excuse as to why he couldn't sign any decent east European(i think) riders as they were all riding in Russia.Absolute nonsense as the amount of riders riding there was quite small.But there was still and still is to an extent very good money to be earnt there.The big individual meeting in Togliatti is one i think Nicki didn't want to miss.The vastness of the country makes it very hard for league to really take off.That doesn't mean that certain tracks like Togliatti aren't attractive to BSI

[Lord Skid]

People make Cardiff out to be the Holy Grail of British speedway, but on the grand scale of things, it's probably one of the worst supported Events that the Stadium hosts, just look at any of the televised Events and there's not an empty seat to be seen, the GP probably sells 30-40% of seats available, if you take all the freebies and guest tickets out. GP's are no different to the rest of Speedwa., It's not attractive to new supporters, ok for the old brigade, but they are getting fewer and fewer, with one EL track only averaging 600 paying supporters for the 2012 season, the writings on the wall when the Sky and rich owner money dries up.

[severnsider]

Rugby has got very poor crowds in Cardiff in recent years outside the very top nations. The matches Wales played in the autumn against Argentina & Samoa had very low crowds. Also Wales stopped playing football at the stadium as attendances were very poor

 

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[Humphrey Appleby]

Rugby has got very poor crowds in Cardiff in recent years outside the very top nations. The matches Wales played in the autumn against Argentina & Samoa had very low crowds. Also Wales stopped playing football at the stadium as attendances were very poor

 

I think the Millennium Stadium is struggling financially.

[Lord Skid]

Rugby has got very poor crowds in Cardiff in recent years outside the very top nations. The matches Wales played in the autumn against Argentina & Samoa had very low crowds. Also Wales stopped playing football at the stadium as attendances were very poor

 

(null)

Sorry i thought the Wales match this week with a full house was in Cardiff, would you go and watch the Argies or Samoa?

[severnsider]

Sorry i thought the Wales match this week with a full house was in Cardiff, would you go and watch the Argies or Samoa?

 

This week was but that is getting rarer. Both Argentina & Samoa beat Wales and are ranked above them. A full Samoan team are good to watch as play any exciting & physical game. Not much fun for the opposition however as a high casualty rate.

[pandorum]

It's been one of the best ideas the sport has ever had so hopefully the answer is YES!

The loss of SKY is a blow but hopefully it will find some new outlets to compensate.

Crowds are a problem as is really decent sponsorship but the actual product is excellent and provides an absorbing and most times exciting couple of hours.

 

Last season was one of the best ever and this years line up is frighteningly good.

SKY sadly seem to have picked a rather awesome year to bail out.

The Luddites who infest forums like this would have us go back to the one off final and hugely boring qualifying rounds starting in the PL level with riders who will never get near the final.

The same one off final that NEVER contained the top 16 speedway riders and never produced the excitement that SGP does in spades.

 

And don't wheel out the 1981 final as I was there and most of the racing was pretty dull and it was the atmosphere from the crowd that created the legend that it was some kind of fantastic speedway final NOT the racing.

 

Yes SGP has problems but Monster is a step in the right direction.

It needs to attract more people and houshold name sponsors and get more media coverage.

But SGP and SWC need to survive as they provide the sport with a bit of gravitas which is something our EL never could.

Edited February 7, 2013 by pandorum

[Hazzman]

A GP in Russia remains very much on the table. IMG have an office in Moscow, which helps, but Togliatti is probably more likely than the Russian capital at this moment in time. Humphrey is right, however, that staging events in Russia is a logistical nightmare although I understand it is getting easier as far as visas, etc, is concerned. Ensuring payment is made might be the biggest concern.

 

Personally think Togliatti is a red herring. The mayor who heavily supported the Speedway club is now in jail for corruption. The city's crime rate is booming and it's been a victim of Chechen terrorist attacks.

[PHILIPRISING]

SPOKE to Jason Crump after he rode there in a Russian league match last season and he was full of praise for the stadium and the organisation.

[Hazzman]

SPOKE to Jason Crump after he rode there in a Russian league match last season and he was full of praise for the stadium and the organisation.

 

16 riders and the entourages may be looked after but what about tourists etc?

[iris123]

Got to love this.Now we have Chechen terrorists being a threat to a GP!I went to plenty of speedway meetings in London including a world final at Wembley during the height of the Irish troubles.There might be hurdles to get over,but i think it is slightly ott to introduce Chechen terrorists to the list of problems facing BSI

 

As it is Togliatti just this wednesday held an international Ice Speedway meeting with a brand new Lada as the main prize with riders from Germany,Austria,Finland and Sweden.No trouble from terrorists

[SteveLyric2]

Got to love this.Now we have Chechen terrorists being a threat to a GP!I went to plenty of speedway meetings in London including a world final at Wembley during the height of the Irish troubles.There might be hurdles to get over,but i think it is slightly ott to introduce Chechen terrorists to the list of problems facing BSI

 

 

They probably heard Nicki Pedersen would be there!!!!

[iris123]

Laughing in the face of corrupt local politicians and Chechen rebels,Togliatti + the FIM will today and tomorrow be hosting two GP rounds of the world Ice Speedway Championship.How they do it can be seen live

 

Stream Live

[waiheke1]

It's been one of the best ideas the sport has ever had so hopefully the answer is YES!

The loss of SKY is a blow but hopefully it will find some new outlets to compensate.

Crowds are a problem as is really decent sponsorship but the actual product is excellent and provides an absorbing and most times exciting couple of hours.

 

Last season was one of the best ever and this years line up is frighteningly good.

SKY sadly seem to have picked a rather awesome year to bail out.

The Luddites who infest forums like this would have us go back to the one off final and hugely boring qualifying rounds starting in the PL level with riders who will never get near the final.

The same one off final that NEVER contained the top 16 speedway riders and never produced the excitement that SGP does in spades.

 

And don't wheel out the 1981 final as I was there and most of the racing was pretty dull and it was the atmosphere from the crowd that created the legend that it was some kind of fantastic speedway final NOT the racing.

 

Yes SGP has problems but Monster is a step in the right direction.

It needs to attract more people and houshold name sponsors and get more media coverage.

But SGP and SWC need to survive as they provide the sport with a bit of gravitas which is something our EL never could.

im firmly pro gp, thought ladt season was superb and very exciyed about this year - but think you do the old wc a disservice.

The qualifying meetings were far from boring, and for me attending the ovetseas/coomonwealth finals, even british semi finals were highlights of the season.

Personally i think the one off final generated more excitement, though i agree this was partly due to the atmosphere and largely due to the high presdure on every race for the contenders . and whike i agree agree that the racing wasnt as good as we saw last year in gps it wasnt universally bad- for example odsal in 90 and the second half of the 85 final were top notch speedway.

[Humphrey Appleby]

Got to love this.Now we have Chechen terrorists being a threat to a GP!I went to plenty of speedway meetings in London including a world final at Wembley during the height of the Irish troubles.There might be hurdles to get over,but i think it is slightly ott to introduce Chechen terrorists to the list of problems facing BSI

 

Most of the problems in Russia are more mundane. Stuff going missing in customs and bureaucratic delays unless you have a government fixer, criminal gangs with their fingers in everything, and then the Russian speciality of tourist abduction.

 

I was on a business trip to Russia last year and my colleague went missing for a day before turning up the other side of town minus his wallet and phone and not remembering how he got there. The British Embassy advised him to not even bother reporting it because half the time the police are involved themselves. And a quick browse on the Internet reveals this does not seem to be at all uncommon.

 

I actually like Russia and things have dramatically improved in the last 15 or so years, but there's still too much dodginess around everything to do with the bureaucracy. I know that ice racing seems to stage world championship events without too many problems, but usually half the field are Russians anyway, and perhaps it's just too low on the radar to attract hassle from the authorities.

 

The qualifying meetings were far from boring, and for me attending the ovetseas/coomonwealth finals, even british semi finals were highlights of the season.

 

Far from it. Following your team's riders as they progressed through the rounds made things far more interesting, and attending a World Final was far more exciting than I've ever experienced GP wise. I certainly don't suggest to return to that system, but it's wrong to suggest the qualifiers (at least before they were shorn of their GP riders) were boring.