Trees Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Doesn't he put some of it back though ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) But if( and it is if) that is the deal the BSPA as a whole agreed with Terry then who do you blame? It is no good thinking it's a good deal when you have nothing and then try and move the goalposts at a later stage. I'd say 20% was a fair fee for negotiating the initial contract, but arguably a lot for a straightforward renewal. Yes, if that's what the BSPA agreed to then fair enough, but more fool them... It probably should be pointed out that Go-Speed also appeared to have financially supported some of the ailing BEL tracks, although the television deal was reportedly conditional on having at least 8 teams in the league so there may not have been a lot of choice. The liquidator's report makes interesting reading though. Edited October 21, 2013 by Humphrey Appleby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Central Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Doesn't he put some of it back though ........ It probably should be pointed out that Go-Speed also appeared to have financially supported some of the ailing BEL tracks, although the television deal was reportedly conditional on having at least 8 teams in the league so there may not have been a lot of choice. The liquidator's report makes interesting reading though. Every track 'supported' then received it's own share of the Sky money too, remember. Does anyone know what 'net' amount Go Speed introduced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) Does anyone know what 'net' amount Go Speed introduced? Memory could be failing on this, but the first deal was reputedly for something like 5 million over 5 years, so about a million a year. Take out 20% and that leaves 800K per year. From this, each BEL track supposedly got something like 50K per year, with the rest going in payments to teams shown live (presumably to compensate them for lower crowds). Apparently some promotions were also unwritten for any potential losses in order to encourage them to stay in the BEL to ensure the requisite number of teams. Whether this involved any actual payments or just guarantees is unclear. Don't expect this to ever be explored by the Star though... Edited October 21, 2013 by Humphrey Appleby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Central Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) Memory could be failing on this, but the first deal was reputedly for something like 5 million over 5 years, so about a million a year. Take out 20% and that leaves 800K per year. From this, each BEL track supposedly got something like 50K per year, with the rest going in payments to teams shown live (presumably to compensate them for lower crowds). Apparently some promotions were also unwritten for any potential losses in order to encourage them to stay in the BEL to ensure the requisite number of teams. Whether this involved any actual payments or just guarantees is unclear. Don't expect this to ever be explored by the Star though... Yes, that's the general jist of what I thought. Edited October 21, 2013 by Grand Central Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nboy Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Sky have done a great job getting us to where we are, lets not forget that. If they hadnt been underwriting the GP's from the off they would not exist in the current form, end of. But, it costs money to produce a live UK audience specific meeting and they have to factor in rain offs in their budget also. Being fair, they probably havent done a great job of selling on the UK feed to be honest. Estimates for a single EL/PL live meeting are 100k, covering staff, media trucks and crane hire. Then they have to pay the BSPA +1m for the privelage. It just doesnt stack up anymore for them, or me, based on declining speedway specific customers. Why? Personally, with Eurosport taking on the GP and SWC essentially free (with PC subscription) and adding the Euro, i dont really need a Sky box anymore as my family are not big speedway fans. i get my fill of the top riders in the sport every 2 weeks, if not every week at the height of the summer. I can also watch DK league streamed free on Wednesday, and potentially the Ploish league on a Sunday for a very small fee. I dont need a Sky box any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 You're omitting my personal weekly highlight - Swedish Speedway on Premier Sports on Tuesdays. Well-matched teams and proper tactical substitutions to keep the tactics interesting. Unlike Poand it's not all about hanging onto the bike. There is talk about Premier joining the Virgin Media package soon along with BT, making Sky Sports a rather overpriced service for those not obsessed with British football. Sky is still a huge success but the overpayment on football and F1 is having sharp effects and, British football aside other services are beginning to build good packages at far lower cost for those with wider sporting tastes. Can Sky survive with just British football? Probably, but it might be better if the smaller sports began to look elsewhere. I would be very surprised if any deal ever delivered the £5 million over five years that speedway enjoyed. I'd say the easy money flow's been turned-off for now and potentially for the long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Sweetman Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 You're omitting my personal weekly highlight - Swedish Speedway on Premier Sports on Tuesdays. Well-matched teams and proper tactical substitutions to keep the tactics interesting. Unlike Poand it's not all about hanging onto the bike. There is talk about Premier joining the Virgin Media package soon along with BT, making Sky Sports a rather overpriced service for those not obsessed with British football. Sky is still a huge success but the overpayment on football and F1 is having sharp effects and, British football aside other services are beginning to build good packages at far lower cost for those with wider sporting tastes. Can Sky survive with just British football? Probably, but it might be better if the smaller sports began to look elsewhere. I would be very surprised if any deal ever delivered the £5 million over five years that speedway enjoyed. I'd say the easy money flow's been turned-off for now and potentially for the long term. Have to say probably the only reason ive kept Sky Sports is for the cricket.You have to applaud Sky for their coverage,its on all year round(currently watching India/Aus)and they spare no expense about the way it is shown. Would miss speedway if its not on next season,but still go to the meetings at Monmore,and then watch the recordings when i come back. The BSPA will miss Sky,more than Sky will miss speedway.The promotors have had plenty of time to get get their house in order,but have fell woefully short,and fear now they will pay the cost. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nboy Posted October 24, 2013 Report Share Posted October 24, 2013 You're omitting my personal weekly highlight - Swedish Speedway on Premier Sports on Tuesdays. Well-matched teams and proper tactical substitutions to keep the tactics interesting. Unlike Poand it's not all about hanging onto the bike. There is talk about Premier joining the Virgin Media package soon along with BT, making Sky Sports a rather overpriced service for those not obsessed with British football. Sky is still a huge success but the overpayment on football and F1 is having sharp effects and, British football aside other services are beginning to build good packages at far lower cost for those with wider sporting tastes. Can Sky survive with just British football? Probably, but it might be better if the smaller sports began to look elsewhere. I would be very surprised if any deal ever delivered the £5 million over five years that speedway enjoyed. I'd say the easy money flow's been turned-off for now and potentially for the long term. I had the P Sports Swedish package for a year. The two camera setup was pretty basic and the commentry was far from expert. Didn't really hold my interest week on week to be honest, but at least speedway was on TV . I think minority sports will eventually move to web based PAYG basis like Eurosport where the broadcaster can scrape a small margin per person from high volume of subscribers. Sky did report that speedway was their second most watched sport a few years ago but that has dropped off significantly, I guess. Problem with Sky is you have to make a 50.00+ month commitment for the full package even if, like me, you are only interested in speedway. If our future speedway menu is web based, then: saturday GP, SWP and Euro on ESport PAYG web; Sunday Polish on PAYG web; Tuesday Swedish perhaps BT Broadband; Wednesday Danish free web; and you watch a live match once per week; do you need any more speedway!! I certainly dont, so I dont beed a pricey satellite package. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manchesterpaul Posted October 24, 2013 Report Share Posted October 24, 2013 (edited) If our future speedway menu is web based, then: saturday GP, SWP and Euro on ESport PAYG web; Sunday Polish on PAYG web; Tuesday Swedish perhaps BT Broadband; Wednesday Danish free web; and you watch a live match once per week; do you need any more speedway!! I certainly dont, so I dont beed a pricey satellite package. I think you'll find that having to subscribe to multiple packages to access a single sport all adds up. When i initially subscribed to Sky Sports it covered pretty much ALL football and many other of my favourite sports, including ALL speedway. However, in the last few years i find that i have to pay fees to multiple companies just for full coverage of the football alone. Then my other sports such as Speedway, American Football, Nascar and MMA are all scattered across different platforms. I wish the various companies would group together for a multi ticket that allows one access to all the stations. Incidentally, and each to their own opinion no problem, the Premier Sports coverage of the Swedish league has been a fantastic and entertaining bonus with an excellent commentator. Edited October 24, 2013 by manchesterpaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 British Eurosport is included in most basic satellite and cable packages while BT at most is £15 a month. If you have Virgin's top level package both are included. If you are already paying Sky high prices it's a great deal extra to add these and Premier Sports. If you don't have Sky to pay it's not too bad. Premier's coverage is of course a version of Swedish pay-TV's programme and we miss out on all of the interviews and analysis. In any case although TV techniques and policies still fascinate me years after my own involvement in the case of Swedish Speedway like all other forms it's the racing that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Sky have done a great job getting us to where we are, lets not forget that. If they hadnt been underwriting the GP's from the off they would not exist in the current form, end of. Why was there a GP series this year without Sky then? The actual staging of the GPs is more to do with leveraging local authority money to get people to travel to obscure places. They also existed before Sky's coverage, and continue to do so now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorum Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Why was there a GP series this year without Sky then? For someone who spent years using words to bamboozle a Prime Minister you sure have problems understanding them. nboy did not say the GP would not exist if SKY was not onboard he simply stated the obvious that the GP would not have become such a force without SKYs involvement. The clue is in 'getting us to where we are' which infers that the GP is still in existence even though SKY are not there but may well have not been such a good product without SKY being involved. Bernard would not have made such an obvious error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldace Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Why was there a GP series this year without Sky then? The actual staging of the GPs is more to do with leveraging local authority money to get people to travel to obscure places. They also existed before Sky's coverage, and continue to do so now. He must be right Kev because he finished the statement with "end of". You cant really argue with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 For those worried about having to subscribe to different packages for their intake of TV speedway, how's about setting up a dvd exchange deal sort of thing. Know it could be dodgy, but as long as you're paying for one production... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMcCaffery Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Regarding comments about gratitude to Sky, senior management has changed there and I doubt very much that sentiment is high on their priorities. The rise of the Grands Prix is as much about the role of Polish, Swedish and Danish TV stations who also take the BSI programme as Sky who showed precious little sentiment or loyalty by dumping coverage in 2013. It's about the next 15 years, not the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storming Norman Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Philip, I think I remember a Terry Russell interview some years ago saying he'd become friends with his Sky counterpart and they went out to dinner socially together? Was that Barney Francis? Under context Terry could be highlighting that for less than Sky paid for Crystal v Fulham last Monday, they could renew the 5 year GB speedway contract giving Sky 300 hours of live speedway and about 900 hours of repeats. Plus Sky would retain those who only subscribe to Sky Sports because of the speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Well all I can say is that they (SKY) are hardly falling over themselves to talk of a new Contract. Very sad. We will have to live without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILIPRISING Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Philip, I think I remember a Terry Russell interview some years ago saying he'd become friends with his Sky counterpart and they went out to dinner socially together? Was that Barney Francis? Under context Terry could be highlighting that for less than Sky paid for Crystal v Fulham last Monday, they could renew the 5 year GB speedway contract giving Sky 300 hours of live speedway and about 900 hours of repeats. Plus Sky would retain those who only subscribe to Sky Sports because of the speedway. NO, not Barney Francis. The top two at Sky Sports have changed since then ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhamboy66 Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Anyone who has sky for speedway alone has far more money than sense Anyone who pays full subs (this is the third year i only pay 50%) to sky has more money than sense. Sky are made out to be the big baddie but they have a fantastic sports package which is well worth what i pay, the old pals act within speedway has been very shortsighted during the time the sport has been on sky. We shouldn't be blaming them for the predicament that the EL finds itself in but rather look at those who run our simple but fantastic sport. If only we had more Len Silvers and Matt Fords we would be ok. Sadly most of dopes involved are just big boys with expensive toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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