Eglese 19 Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Apologies if this has been discussed before, I'm fairly new here. I was just wondering if there was a lot of dislike for the GP series out there as I've seen in a few topics a lot of negativity towards them. It looks a bit like a lot of people would prefer a return to the world final system. For what it's worth I'm a fan of the GP series, whilst I wish some of the GPs were better I think the series is great. I think it's better at finding the world champion also takes the GPs around the speedway world a bit. Am I in the majority or not? For whatForbnmbf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Apologies if this has been discussed before, I'm fairly new here. I was just wondering if there was a lot of dislike for the GP series out there as I've seen in a few topics a lot of negativity towards them. Not against it per se, but against the way it's been set up and run so that little or no benefits accrue to the grassroots level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
severnsider Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Personally a big fan of the gps. As well as the racing it has given me the opportunity to visit a lot of places I wouldn't have otherwise so broadening my knowledge. Also been lucky to live in a time when travelling to Eastern Europe is much easier than in the past (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f-s-p Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Also been lucky to live in a time when travelling to Eastern Europe is much easier than in the past Not just with visa's and such. Thanks to Ryanair and Easyjet and whatelse it's affordable and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Science Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Apologies if this has been discussed before, I'm fairly new here. I was just wondering if there was a lot of dislike for the GP series out there as I've seen in a few topics a lot of negativity towards them. It looks a bit like a lot of people would prefer a return to the world final system. For what it's worth I'm a fan of the GP series, whilst I wish some of the GPs were better I think the series is great. I think it's better at finding the world champion also takes the GPs around the speedway world a bit. Am I in the majority or not? For whatForbnmbf Can't be long before the White Knight gets his teeth into this thread ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 The GP's put speedway back into decent stadiums. If we'd stayed doing the one off, the grand final would probably be held at Rye House or something of a similar size. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eglese 19 Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Not against it per se, but against the way it's been set up and run so that little or no benefits accrue to the grassroots level. Never really looked at it that way to be honest but I guess that's a fair point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 The GP's put speedway back into decent stadiums.If we'd stayed doing the one off, the grand final would probably be held at Rye House or something of a similar size. Said it before, but it's a bit of myth that World Finals crowds didn't justify decent venues, but the problem was that rota expanded to less mainstream countries that decided to hold their World Finals in glorified fields (e.g. Pocking. They were not attractive destinations for fans, and it became a self-fulfilling prophesy that crowds would fall. The latter World Finals in Munich, Bradford, Wroclaw and Gothenburg pulled crowds that were comparable or better than the more popular GPs today. I can't see any reason why a one-off final couldn't have been held in the Millennium Stadium and not draw crowds of 40K+ had it been available before 2000. A cynical person might think the old World Finals were run into the ground to justify a GP system that favoured particular interest groups. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Said it before, but it's a bit of myth that World Finals crowds didn't justify decent venues, but the problem was that rota expanded to less mainstream countries that decided to hold their World Finals in glorified fields (e.g. Pocking. They were not attractive destinations for fans, and it became a self-fulfilling prophesy that crowds would fall. The latter World Finals in Munich, Bradford, Wroclaw and Gothenburg pulled crowds that were comparable or better than the more popular GPs today. I can't see any reason why a one-off final couldn't have been held in the Millennium Stadium and not draw crowds of 40K+ had it been available before 2000. A cynical person might think the old World Finals were run into the ground to justify a GP system that favoured particular interest groups. The LA Coliseum wasnt a track in a field but had a dreadful crowd by the standards of the day. Likewise Gothenburg was an OK stadium in a country with a speedway tradition but struggled to break 30,000 by 1984. One off finals, had they been around today, would be lucky to fill Scunthorpe let alone the millenium Stadium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Likewise Gothenburg was an OK stadium in a country with a speedway tradition but struggled to break 30,000 by 1984. And how many GPs get more than 30,000 today? Far too many are taken in by the SGP hype, when in reality attendances with maybe one exception are no better than the latter days of the World Finals. For that matter, the last World Final was held at Vojens, and just where was the Nordic GP held last year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudleywood4eva Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Unfortunately whether u like them or not, a revamp of the world championship was needed and the GP's were the way to move the sport forward. To some - myself included - the one off world final was a fantastic event for drama excitement and tension.. but apart from the odd highlight latterly they were never televised. We now have a series held in some brilliant venues which is broadcast live and we are attracting the likes of monster as sponsers. So i dont dislike the GP's at all - its only failing is how riders qualify for it imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 We now have a series held in some brilliant venues which is broadcast live and we are attracting the likes of monster as sponsers. Broadcasting live? Is that for sure? You also can't really compare what happened 20 years ago with now. Satellite and cable was just taking off in the latter days of the World Finals, whilst now there are hundreds of channels looking for content. I very much doubt World Finals wouldn't have got on some TV channel in the past 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudleywood4eva Posted March 3, 2013 Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 Broadcasting live? Is that for sure? You also can't really compare what happened 20 years ago with now. Satellite and cable was just taking off in the latter days of the World Finals, whilst now there are hundreds of channels looking for content. I very much doubt World Finals wouldn't have got on some TV channel in the past 10 years. True. Hadnt thought of that. And as for live broadcasts - obviously this has been since 1995 to date - not sure about this year!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsloes 1928 nearly Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 One off finals, had they been around today, would be lucky to fill Scunthorpe let alone the millenium Stadium This comment simply makes not one tiny bit of sense... Why would a World Final held in the UK be held at Scunthorpe...? It would clearly be held at the Millenium Stadium and would without question attract a higher crowd than the SGP round held at that same venue currently gets.. Give me just ONE reason why your 'argument' holds any currency whatsoever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 the one off final vs GP debate has been done to death, and I'm firmly in the pro GP camp, but I can't agree with some of the things being argued here. 1. I'd certainly expect the attendance at a one off final to exceed that for a GP in that country, and certainly not expect a final to be held in a smaller venue than the GPs currently are 2. I wiould be almost certain that a one off final would be shown live on TV, and assume that the major qualifying rounds would be too under that format 3. That said, I'd be pretty confident that TOTAL ATTENDANCE and TOTAL VIEWING FIGURES for the GP series would exceed those for a one off Final (including qualifiers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Know Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 I think the sgp is great to watch and far better than a one off, however BSI have had the rights for a long time now and done very little with it. Now seems to be going backwards in terms of tv and number of sponsors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 There's no issue with TV or sponsors - other than in the UK, which has the worst support of the leading speedway nations!! New rounds coming on stream and the best field of riders for some time. All they need to do now is find a better TV company/audience in the UK and maybe consider running it at a different time or a different day?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eglese 19 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Must say that if they did switch to a one off I'm sure they'd have no problems attracting similar/bigger crowds than the GPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Must say that if they did switch to a one off I'm sure they'd have no problems attracting similar/bigger crowds than the GPS. for the finsal itself i'm sure you are right. but there's no way you'd get 30000 to cardiff for a qualifying meeting, and how often would the uk host the finsl - once every 5 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eglese 19 Posted March 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of the GPs and I prefer them, as someone said on the whole they bring in a bigger crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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