Sky 2014

[Grand Central]

AT the end of the day the decision rests with Barney Francis, Head of Sport at Sky. So far he has not even been prepared to even talk or listen to anything Terry Russell has to say. Not a good sign.

 

And to those detractors of TR ... if I ever needed anyone to negotiate a deal for me Terry would be at the head of the queue. Sharp as a tack and lets not forget it is in his interests as much as British speedway as a whole to secure a TV deal.

 

ALSO being suggested that Sky Sports are garnering their financial loins in preparation of a BT onslaught on their (soccer) Champions League rights...

 

Getting back to the issue at hand.

Speedway on Sky in 2014.

 

Terry Russell is the guy to do the negotiating for British Speedway.

And Barney Francis at Sky is the only chap there to do business with in Isleworth.

 

So, is anything going to change to make Mr Francis speak to Mr Russell?

 

We are all quite bouyant about the play-offs (so far), but has Mr Francis even noticed them?

Is TR even one-percent better placed to get Barney to accept his call; or is everyone wasting their hopes?

 

Philip Rising spent most of the last winter maintaining our hopes that Sky would take up the calls from Paul Bellamy and talk Turkey about a new deal for the SGPs.

It never happened; and really, we now know that it was never going to happen.

When Sky have had enough they don't phone to say goodbye. They just disappear.

 

Has that point not already been reached with the Elite League?

 

In two weeks time the Sky boys will say their farewells.

And that will be it.

Forever.

[cityrebel]

Cardiff????

can you see the BSPA coming up with the funds to install the track at cardiff at the end of the domestic season. i would be thinking of the NEC as a possible venue, it's just a pipedream anyway.

[PHILIPRISING]

I think people have realised this for a longtime, but the sport will have to regroup and try to move on.Out of the group you named Ward would be the only one i would miss ( Greg is different he has said that Britain would not be on his full time agenda).As for Sky if they go so what the sport has come through harder times in the past so i would not shed a tear if they disappeared.

 

OUT of curiosity... when were those harder (economically) times?

[rob tatum]

What a lost opportunity speedway has lost if / when sky do leave planet speedway. You only have to look at darts to see what could have been achieved. From a fans point of view it just seemed that our goons in charge just took the money & just carried on making no effort to even make the product come over looking good on the box ,surely if efforts were made to make the meetings more professional & run quickly then that would benefit everyone. Oh well we only have ourselves to blame as reading some of these posts it seems the reason speedway in this country is rubbish is the fault of sky or bsi. Wakey wakey at least they give/gave it ago.

[philfromcov]

is it really a lost oppurtunity?

 

where has the money gone? to GSI and to riders who spend it on top tuned engines.

the grass routes has seen none of this cash.

 

what is the point of having 1 or 2 GP riders in the league, all it does is show up how bad the rest of the riders are.

 

no GP riders next year no sky a watered down product that keeps going for most of use into october?

 

The reality is that Poole cant afford that team from gate recipts, so you need to cut down to what each track can actually afford.

 

The only think sky has done is help start the GP series which has been the downfall of league speedway.

 

No sky, then each home team can start a streaming service of there own?

[rob tatum]

Good points but everything you said proves my point ,the sky deal could & should have been good for the sport but due to the shambolic amateur way the sport is run the money has gone & sky are going. The sport should of smartened itself up & invested the money in the infrastructure ,it didn't but that's not sky ,bsi ,eurosport ,david cameron or anyone elses fault except the pleps who RULE !!! Our sport in this country.

[SCB]

“People haven’t really thought about it. If the Sky deal, which comes to an end at the end of this season, (is not renewed) or a new deal found, then British speedway will have to make enormous changes because the revenues coming in would be substantially less."

That'd be the BSPA then? Because it's been discussed on here for years!

[SteveLyric2]

We all know what should and shouldn't have happened in the past with the money allocations - but that is history. What astounds me is why we the BSPA are in the final weeks of a multi-year TV deal and still seem not to know when or if a decision about the future will be made?! The BSPA and/or GSI should have had the ba**s to approach Sky much earlier and give them a deadline, on the basis of taking a presentation to BT Sport (or whoever)! I know its a bit like the 'tail wagging the dog', but we wouldn't be in any worse a situation than we are now - at least the sport would have had several months of being able to plan ahead (in theory - it is the BSPA after all!!), rather than seemingly not knowing and not having any plans before the winter break/AGM!!

 

Incidentally, why would Sky's Barney Francis need to be made aware of this year's play-offs? Its not as if we haven't had them for many years (although having 3 hours of overrunning semi finals this year - I hope they weren't brought to his attention, unless the viewing figures were phenomenal!?)

 

Personally, any new TV deal that offers any reasonable sponsorship funding, will merely be papering over the cracks. As much as I would miss seeing some of the 'top' riders in our league, the GPs and Euros are still on TV!! Clubs and the sport as a whole needs to cut its cloth accordingly and run/promote a sport that is affordable for all. Get back on a more even keel in the next couple of years or so and then look to expand again then.

[macinter]

took the money & just carried on making no effort to even make the product come over looking good on the box ,surely if efforts were made to make the meetings more professional & run quickly then that would benefit everyone.

 

Totally agree with this. Granted there were a couple of unavoidable and totally acceptable delays on Monday due to fallen riders but, that apart, why for the second week running did it take nearly three hours to run thirty heats? And why did we have so many lengthy discussions and interviews when the racing was clearly falling behind schedule? I found myself yet again shouting at the telly " For ***** sake just get on with it".

[Halifaxtiger]

What a lost opportunity speedway has lost if / when sky do leave planet speedway. You only have to look at darts to see what could have been achieved. From a fans point of view it just seemed that our goons in charge just took the money & just carried on making no effort to even make the product come over looking good on the box ,surely if efforts were made to make the meetings more professional & run quickly then that would benefit everyone. Oh well we only have ourselves to blame as reading some of these posts it seems the reason speedway in this country is rubbish is the fault of sky or bsi. Wakey wakey at least they give/gave it ago.

 

Very good point

 

When Berwick were awarded a TV match they did their absolute best with the track, lowered prices for entry and were advertising up to 30 miles away with the result that you had a big crowd (easily the biggest I have seen there) and decent racing.

 

Word was that these efforts were much appreciated by Sky and you can't help but think that if similar efforts had been made by EL clubs there's more of a chance that we wouldn't be staring the loss of the contract ion the face.

[arthur cross]

Nigel Pearson has been doing his best to give clues as to what Sky require if they are to continue their coverage during recent broadcasts.....top riders, big crowds, close meetings and minimal rain-offs. Speedway is sitting very close to the door in 'last chance saloon', so to my mind needs to do everything in it's power to retain Sky by fulfilling this criteria.

 

Much more likely ... Nigel Pearson knows 30-plus of his most lucrative nights' work each year are in serious doubt if Sky stop showing British domestic speedway so he's bound to talk up the "top riders, big crowds, close meetings" to try protecting his own bank balance, never mind the Elite League's finances in general.

 

Given Philip Rising has already pointed out on this thread that the main decision-maker at Sky, Barney Francis, is making no effort to reply to any of Terry Russell's contact, I find it staggering that anyone can still think the Elite League is "very close to the door of the last chance saloon" !!

 

It's much more the case that it's waving from outside the window without any sign of anyone paying attention from the inside, partly because the BSPA were still asking their promoters as recently as 3 weeks ago for their thoughts on next season's format ... that's something that should have been arranged, discussed and completed (preferably with various "tv" and "non-tv" formats) midway through this final season of an existing tv-deal that blatantly wasn't guaranteed to be renewed.

 

To give a good example for a sport that share its venues with plenty of speedway clubs, the BAGS contract for showing 3 sessions a day (between 5 and 7 meetings a day) of greyhound meetings in betting-shops is currently on a 5-year deal that began 1-Jan-2011, ends 31-Dec-2015 and is far more likely to be renewed than British speedway's deal with Sky ... there's no doubt BAGS and the greyhound tracks will be busy in the early months of 2015 sorting out their 2016-onwards contract rather than still fumbling around working out what they can offer at the same time as putting up their 2015 Christmas decorations.

[PHILIPRISING]

IT isn't just Nigel Pearson fearful of future employment - and why wouldn't he be? There is a whole production unit at Sky whose jobs might well be at risk without speedway to supplement the darts they are also involved with.

 

It was actually people within the Sky organisation hoping that Barney Francis might watch (not all obviously) the play-offs and see some value for his money. They, too, have a vested interest as explained above.

[SGP]

BT SPORT'S Marc Watson is keen on gaining new customers, especially from SKY so if the rights to 'Elite' league Speedway did become available then I know they would be keen.

[Mark]

Much more likely ... Nigel Pearson knows 30-plus of his most lucrative nights' work each year are in serious doubt if Sky stop showing British domestic speedway so he's bound to talk up the "top riders, big crowds, close meetings" to try protecting his own bank balance, never mind the Elite League's finances in general.

 

Harsh comment on Pearson. he may lose work but he obviously loves the sport. he's hardly short of a job with darts and football and Dudley is he.

[rob tatum]

I can fully understand why a company would show the GPs they look good & come across on tv & live as a quality product. Now can someone anyone tell me why any company would shell out for EL speedway ? I love the sport but we need to attract new supporters & keep the few we have & to be brutal the EL just dosent cut it on tv or live. It looks scruffy on tv,takes forever with teams that change week by week. It is sold as the Elite league but its far from that. If & its a big if any channel did take it then the money should be kept in a central fund then investment should be made in safety ,youth structure & stadiums not on riders wages. Then a massive effort should be made to get on with the meeting re starts have to be looked at & sorted ,scrap 2 minutes & make it 30 seconds etc etc etc etc. All my opinions of course but surely the time has come to sort this bloody mess out before its too late.

[Reliant Robin]

I can fully understand why a company would show the GPs they look good & come across on tv & live as a quality product. Now can someone anyone tell me why any company would shell out for EL speedway ? I love the sport but we need to attract new supporters & keep the few we have & to be brutal the EL just dosent cut it on tv or live. It looks scruffy on tv,takes forever with teams that change week by week. It is sold as the Elite league but its far from that. If & its a big if any channel did take it then the money should be kept in a central fund then investment should be made in safety ,youth structure & stadiums not on riders wages. Then a massive effort should be made to get on with the meeting re starts have to be looked at & sorted ,scrap 2 minutes & make it 30 seconds etc etc etc etc. All my opinions of course but surely the time has come to sort this bloody mess out before its too late.

Off the top of my head I'd go with decent viewing figures, flexibility to show a Live meeting to fit Sky's schedule (we've had Mon/Tues & Wednesday's this season), relatively cheap (apparently) compared to other sports for a channel that claims to be 'the home of Live Sport', and finally, to prevent BT Sport getting their hands on it. Edited October 2, 2013 by Reliant Robin

[cyclone]

Due to the vagaries of the weather which can either ruin or cancel/abandon meetings, Speedway, like Cricket, is a risky business to commit outside broadcasting resources.

 

I would imagine that the viewing figures for Cricket are far more substantial than Speedway and make the inclement weather a worthwhile risk.

 

I can therefore understand why SKY are taking cold feet and will not reconsider live Speedway broadcasts until there are effective measures taken to combat bad weather..

[Reliant Robin]

Due to the vagaries of the weather which can either ruin or cancel/abandon meetings, Speedway, like Cricket, is a risky business to commit outside broadcasting resources.

 

I would imagine that the viewing figures for Cricket are far more substantial than Speedway and make the inclement weather a worthwhile risk.

 

I can therefore understand why SKY are taking cold feet and will not reconsider live Speedway broadcasts until there are effective measures taken to combat bad weather..

Of course the weather is one of Speedway's biggest enemies, and had the contract been up at the end of 2012 then I'd agree. But in 2013 only one televised meeting has been lost to the weather where the covers were down and in place but there was no sign of a break in the rain

[RobMcCaffery]

BT SPORT'S Marc Watson is keen on gaining new customers, especially from SKY so if the rights to 'Elite' league Speedway did become available then I know they would be keen.

 

My personal feeling is that it would be a dream move for speedway to transfer to BT Sport, but only if it is prepared to adjust and give more value to the broadcaster than take the cash and let them in.

 

BT need to diversify their service away from the basis of football and rugby and I believe any sport that can get in there would find it given very good treatment. Away from live action their studio-based programmes are excellent and to see that treatment given to our sport, even if tied-into Moto GP it would be a wonderful opportunity.

 

Sadly speedway has a dismal record at seizing opportunities.

 

The negative is a sense that the whole BT project might prove to be unsustainable; that cuts would sweep away these studio shows and like predecessors who have tackled Sky eventually throw in the towel. Apart from rugby viewing figures haven't been that impressive so far - generally in tens of thousands rather than hundreds. It all depends on how committed BT are to the long-term. This article can explain far better than I can:

 

http://www.telegraph...s-all-over.html

 

A notable line is the reference to offering a cheaper alternative to Sky. Sky's been able to name its price for years and is vulnerable to undercutting. BT Sport is free to its broadband users and included in Virgin's top tier. Of course if you're a Sky customer with Sky Sports it is an extra expense but if you just wanted speedway it would be cheaper to take out a BT Sports package than Sky Sports.

 

If BT are genuinely interested and Sky aren't listening then the sport seems to have one choice but it must earn the right to a place, not take it for granted. Back in the 80s at Screen Sport I could see this complacency - it was all about easy money which is why I am so saddened that so little seems to have changed.

 

We're in a serious situation which cynicism won't resolve. It is long past the point where speedway has to wake up and smell the coffee. If someone is still prepared to pour a cappuccino then grab it, but don't forget to look at the price. The sport can recover but only through fundamental reform.

Edited October 2, 2013 by rmc

[Mad Potter 2]

OUT of curiosity... when were those harder (economically) times?

 

In the 1950's when tracks were shutting down due to poor crowds of less than 5,000 to 10,000. In 1959 there were only 9 Teams in the National League & 5 in the Southern League.