Sky Sports New Deal

[SteveLyric2]

Over the top responce.

 

The advance publicity is not Appalling, it is absent and you already know why. See this thread.

As you said yesterday 12 more weeks to go, and you don't get adverts for football or any sport with that lead time.

Except for the Sky promos for their Summer Sports coverage.........!

[Tsunami]

Except for the Sky promos for their Summer Sports coverage.........!

Yes, the general one only.

[stevebrum]

don't think I actually blamed sky, I maybe should of said sky hasn't increased attendances

What about the meetings advertised as £10 that SKY covered that were very well attended?

Would promotions have dared to try without SKY?

[Conkers in Gravy]

If there is a new deal, I hope (but I don't expect) that the promoters have told sky that clubs want to hold their meetings on their normal race night rather than sky browbeating them into always changing to monday nights.

 

Maybe then the "live" attendances would look better - I know a lot of people who can't get to the track on mondays as they have other things to do but never miss a meeting on normal race night

 

I know it's a pain when meetings are moved around for TV, but every other sport has the same issue - even :Premier League football - so I reckon we'll have to put up with Monday nights.

[The White Knight]

What about the meetings advertised as £10 that SKY covered that were very well attended?

Would promotions have dared to try without SKY?

 

I asked this question a while ago steve - nobody answered it.

 

IF SKY was so good for Speedway - why have Gates gone down in the last FIFTEEN Years and not up. Fifteen years being the length of time Speedway has been broadcast.

 

You would have thought that if our Sport showcasing on SKY was doing the job of getting Speedway in to the General Public's eye - that Gates would have gone UP!!

 

It patently obviously hasn't. Sadly.

[stevebrum]

I asked this question a while ago steve - nobody answered it.

 

IF SKY was so good for Speedway - why have Gates gone down in the last FIFTEEN Years and not up. Fifteen years being the length of time Speedway has been broadcast.

 

You would have thought that if our Sport showcasing on SKY was doing the job of getting Speedway in to the General Public's eye - that Gates would have gone UP!!

 

It patently obviously hasn't. Sadly.

My point is how do we know gates have gone down BECAUSE of SKY?

Attendances were falling before SKY came on board so it is obvious that its part of a pattern that was forming before their involvement.

It doesn't even bear to think what a state our sport would be in if SKY weren't involved.

SKY have made Speedway visible. Plenty of sports fans have an idea what Speedway is these days.

SO, who`s job is to ensure we get people coming through the turnstiles because of this visibility??

NOT SKY - that is down to our governing body, no one else.

 

Thank god for SKY at least for keeping our sport visible and recognising what a great product it is.

[manchesterpaul]

My point is how do we know gates have gone down BECAUSE of SKY?

Attendances were falling before SKY came on board so it is obvious that its part of a pattern that was forming before their involvement.

It doesn't even bear to think what a state our sport would be in if SKY weren't involved.

SKY have made Speedway visible. Plenty of sports fans have an idea what Speedway is these days.

SO, who`s job is to ensure we get people coming through the turnstiles because of this visibility??

NOT SKY - that is down to our governing body, no one else.

 

Thank god for SKY at least for keeping our sport visible and recognising what a great product it is.

 

I agree strongly with the above and have pointed that out elsewhere before. Also the same can be applied to the Sky Sports viewing figures. I'm sure many households have had to cut back by discontinuing their subscription to various movie and sports channels.

 

If you go back to the 70's and compare sports attendances to today there has been a drastic drop with many of them, major and minor. Whilst football crowds are now rising, especially in the lower divisions - possibly due to one hell of a lot more TV exposure of those leagues? - there was a long period after the 70's where even crowds in the top division were very poor to years gone by. When i was little lower levels of the football league had regular five-figure crowds. That all disappeared upon the arrival of the new leisure/electronic age.

 

You can often turn on the tv and witness major athletic competitions and a host of other sports in near deserted stadiums and that despite the vast publicity the 'major' sports receive in all aspects of the media. I can assure you speedway isn't alone in the 'one man and his dog' syndrome. I'm just glad that speedway doesn't have the agreement in place that American Football has where unless around 100% of all tickets have been sold for the game then it is blacked out on local tv!

 

Does anyone remember when Rugby League was first shown on tv, either regional or BBC 2 at something like 11pm at night, WOW! totally deserted terraces many a time and YES! honestly i did once see a man and his dog at one ground lol, Just shows you though how sports can be turned around when you look at Rugby League these days.

 

Also going back to speedway in the 70's when mundane weekly meetings had attendances way higher than tracks can attract for their best of the season nowadays, the vast majority of the general public didn't know speedway existed. Some will disagree but i strongly ascertain that more people have caught sight of the sport and are aware of it's existence nowadays due to Sky Sports and also now with Eurosport coming on the scene. There was no weekly speedway on tv all season either domestic or international. Often we had just the one-off world final in a given year, maybe sometimes a couple more but always highlights up to a week later, NEVER any LIVE meetings.

 

The only times that Sky Sports has had a damaging effect are twofold, firstly, when we had a season or two with the most dire processional racing in televised meetings, often due to rain. Sadly the main reason is because of the striving to get more and more powerful bikes and technical advantages making our sport become more and more like F1 where it's the machine and not the rider's skill that wins the races.

 

The second thing that doesn't help the sport is when you get Pearson and Tatum going delirious with excitement and screaming when there clearly ain't all that much at all going on in a race, or when they make out a rider is about to overtake when it is clear from every single lap of every preceding race all night long that due to the track a rider will NOT be passing. This gives the casual viewer an instant opinion of "if that's the best the sport can offer i for one am switching channels and for sure never ever going to attend a speedway meeting". Don't want to divert this into a commentator's thread so i'll quickly balance by noting that both commentators do have the sport's best interest at heart.

Edited January 27, 2014 by manchesterpaul

[The White Knight]

My point is how do we know gates have gone down BECAUSE of SKY?

Attendances were falling before SKY came on board so it is obvious that its part of a pattern that was forming before their involvement.

It doesn't even bear to think what a state our sport would be in if SKY weren't involved.

SKY have made Speedway visible. Plenty of sports fans have an idea what Speedway is these days.

SO, who`s job is to ensure we get people coming through the turnstiles because of this visibility??

NOT SKY - that is down to our governing body, no one else.

 

Thank god for SKY at least for keeping our sport visible and recognising what a great product it is.

 

The alternative view to that, of course, is that SKY have also facilitated people watching Speedway from their armchairs. This saves them the bother of getting off their backsides and going to a Meeting. Ergo - less money through the Gates. IF, as is rumoured, SKY are NOT paying anything for the privilege of showING our wonderful Sport - then I fail to see where the benefit TO Speedway is to result.

 

If it's NOT coming through the Gates because folk can stay at home and watch it on Television, and it's NOT coming from the Television Company - PLEASE someone explain the benefit of showing Speedway on the Television and how it BENEFITS materially our Sport.

 

FOR THE LIFE OF ME - I JUST CAN'T SEE IT!!!

[TesarRacing]

My point is how do we know gates have gone down BECAUSE of SKY?

Attendances were falling before SKY came on board so it is obvious that its part of a pattern that was forming before their involvement.

It doesn't even bear to think what a state our sport would be in if SKY weren't involved.

SKY have made Speedway visible. Plenty of sports fans have an idea what Speedway is these days.

SO, who`s job is to ensure we get people coming through the turnstiles because of this visibility??

NOT SKY - that is down to our governing body, no one else.

 

Thank god for SKY at least for keeping our sport visible and recognising what a great product it is.

Good post.

I think it is impossible to quantify how Sky has affected speedway in the UK since it has been televising it as you say, it was in decline before Sky came on the scene.

 

My personal view and it is a guess, is that may well have been finished as a league sport in this country by now without Sky.

 

I have some mates that are MotoGP/roadracing fans and they started watching speedway on the TV about 10 years ago and are now regular viewers and also go to Brandon 7 or 8 times a season and they see the sport as very exciting. They came with me to watch it a few times many years ago but it took the regular viewing on the TV to get them hooked. Perhaps we underestimate this element of it being live on TV?

[StevePark]

 

I know it's a pain when meetings are moved around for TV, but every other sport has the same issue - even :Premier League football - so I reckon we'll have to put up with Monday nights.

 

Why Monday nights??

 

I seem to remember live meeetings on a Tuesday and a Wednesday on Sky last season.

[Conkers in Gravy]

 

Why Monday nights??

 

I seem to remember live meeetings on a Tuesday and a Wednesday on Sky last season

 

Good question. Sky started televising Rugby League on a Monday night and in the football season, they had their Monday Night Football - probably the best sports show on TV. Also, the chaotic nature of last season's EL programme won't have helped. I'm only guessing here.

[arthur cross]

It's whatever night suits Sky best to fill their schedule with a live event when their higher-profile sports are quieter ... they do the same with most of their scheduling of roughly 30 greyhound nights.

 

Judging by last season, they preferred Mondays (sometimes alongside live Premier League football) during the football season to leave Tuesdays and Wednesdays clear for the Champions League.

 

But in the football off-season, they made a big thing of shifting live Super League rugby into Monday nights and that's when they often shifted the speedway into Tuesdays or Wednesdays to give them a live event on those nights.

 

Tuesdays are awkward for our Elite League because of clashing with the weekly round of the Swedish Elit so that's why our Premier League tended to get a few of those slots.

 

It's only rarely that Sky have ever used Thursdays or Fridays for speedway as that's the point each week where a hefty chunk of their evening schedules go to golf (either Euro highlights or live US action).

[Woz01]

In the future Sky are likely to show meetings midweek as they have lost the champions league coverage, if there is a deal with sky of course.

[A ORLOV]

The showing of speedway works both ways on attendance levels. If your team was on tv and they are either not doing well, have awful opposition visiting or there is a possibility of a rain off, some people will stay at home and watch it. Others who used to go to speedway or just happen to come across it on the box could be tempted to visit their local track, but only if what they have seen is exciting and not a long drawn out meeting.

[StevePark]

It's whatever night suits Sky best to fill their schedule with a live event when their higher-profile sports are quieter ... they do the same with most of their scheduling of roughly 30 greyhound nights.

 

Judging by last season, they preferred Mondays (sometimes alongside live Premier League football) during the football season to leave Tuesdays and Wednesdays clear for the Champions League.

 

But in the football off-season, they made a big thing of shifting live Super League rugby into Monday nights and that's when they often shifted the speedway into Tuesdays or Wednesdays to give them a live event on those nights.

 

Tuesdays are awkward for our Elite League because of clashing with the weekly round of the Swedish Elit so that's why our Premier League tended to get a few of those slots.

 

It's only rarely that Sky have ever used Thursdays or Fridays for speedway as that's the point each week where a hefty chunk of their evening schedules go to golf (either Euro highlights or live US action).

 

Didn't help Newcastle much either (although, in the end, Adam McKinna in for Ludvig Lindgren had no bearing on the result, but it could have done).

[BWitcher]

 

I asked this question a while ago steve - nobody answered it.

 

IF SKY was so good for Speedway - why have Gates gone down in the last FIFTEEN Years and not up. Fifteen years being the length of time Speedway has been broadcast.

 

You would have thought that if our Sport showcasing on SKY was doing the job of getting Speedway in to the General Public's eye - that Gates would have gone UP!!

 

It patently obviously hasn't. Sadly.

 

How many fans had the sport lots BEFORE Sky.

 

The sport has also lost many, many more since due to the corrupt/inept way it has been run during that time, some long term hardcore supporters too who finally just said enough is enough.

 

The point that has been made over and over and is blatantly obvious to everyone, bar it seems promoters, is that TV is the most powerful too at their disposal. They HAVE to make it look like a speedway meeting is the place to be at. That means ensuring, by whatever means, there is a big crowd on hand for tv meetings. It's the sheep factor... and it works.

[muirspud]

Perhaps im in the minority what enjoys the sky coverage on tv and without it, i probably wouldnt be able watch any speedway at all. It could be with alot of tweaking, and from a neutral perspective, we see just random matches, british final and then a playoff at the end of the season. Could do with a weekly show, what covers all the leagues, U21, grand prix qualifiers etc, more in depth program which will get the casual viewer more interested in speedway. (this may cost alot, and if sky dont make much from speedway, then not going to be worth it)

 

The price for going to a speedway match has become to expensive compared to how much it was and in comparison to other things, it for me has become a luxury.

 

What sort of product will we see this year if sky shows matches? I actually dread to think, top riders gone, reserves at national league level. Going to be a long time before we see an actual Elite league standard match. Give the premier league alot more coverage and we may be onto a winner in a few years.

[The White Knight]

Perhaps im in the minority what enjoys the sky coverage on tv and without it, i probably wouldnt be able watch any speedway at all. It could be with alot of tweaking, and from a neutral perspective, we see just random matches, british final and then a playoff at the end of the season. Could do with a weekly show, what covers all the leagues, U21, grand prix qualifiers etc, more in depth program which will get the casual viewer more interested in speedway. (this may cost alot, and if sky dont make much from speedway, then not going to be worth it)

 

The price for going to a speedway match has become to expensive compared to how much it was and in comparison to other things, it for me has become a luxury.

 

What sort of product will we see this year if sky shows matches? I actually dread to think, top riders gone, reserves at national league level. Going to be a long time before we see an actual Elite league standard match. Give the premier league alot more coverage and we may be onto a winner in a few years.

 

You are probably NOT in the minority. Personally - I LOVE the Speedway on SKY - I watch all of it. I think the SKY Team do a great job.

 

BUT - looking at it in the round - I ask, is Speedway itself benefiting from the Television Coverage - the ONLY answer that I can come up with is that it isn't.

[fullbore]

 

Speedway desperately NEEDS people to come through the Gates, at present this is NOT happening. Why?

 

I am not against Television per sé - I just do not see where the benefits of fifteen years of TV coverage are. Simply, as far as I can see, there aren't any.

 

Well personally the answer is a 300 mile round trip...

Niamh

Edited January 27, 2014 by Niamh

[stevebrum]

The alternative view to that, of course, is that SKY have also facilitated people watching Speedway from their armchairs. This saves them the bother of getting off their backsides and going to a Meeting. Ergo - less money through the Gates. IF, as is rumoured, SKY are NOT paying anything for the privilege of showING our wonderful Sport - then I fail to see where the benefit TO Speedway is to result.

 

If it's NOT coming through the Gates because folk can stay at home and watch it on Television, and it's NOT coming from the Television Company - PLEASE someone explain the benefit of showing Speedway on the Television and how it BENEFITS materially our Sport.

 

FOR THE LIFE OF ME - I JUST CAN'T SEE IT!!!

The benefit to Speedway really is quite simple. It keeps and makes our great sport visible and relevant to other sports fans. It is that simple. The rest of the job IS NOT for SKY to bring in people through the turnstiles. That is the job of our promoters.

As others have said, SKY show sports with sparse support in the crowd. SKY SHOW the sports,the promotions of various sports PROMOTE their sports.

I cannot believe people blame SKY for fall in attendance and all that is wrong in our sport.

That falls at the feet of our promotions who don't do enough (or don't know how to to do more) for the continued fall in attendance. It was happening before SKY, which some seem to choose to ignore.

 

 

 

 

Good post.

I think it is impossible to quantify how Sky has affected speedway in the UK since it has been televising it as you say, it was in decline before Sky came on the scene.

 

My personal view and it is a guess, is that may well have been finished as a league sport in this country by now without Sky.

 

I have some mates that are MotoGP/roadracing fans and they started watching speedway on the TV about 10 years ago and are now regular viewers and also go to Brandon 7 or 8 times a season and they see the sport as very exciting. They came with me to watch it a few times many years ago but it took the regular viewing on the TV to get them hooked. Perhaps we underestimate this element of it being live on TV?

Likewise i have neighbours, friends, associates who can make an informed opinion on Speedway BECAUSE of SKY showing our sport. That cannot be measured in the amount of people through the turnstiles. I know (and have introduced) many `newcomer` to Speedway since SKY came on board because they wanted to see it live.

If the supporters are doing there bit to promote Speedway its now up to the promotions to follow suit, because the visibility that SKY give our sport cannot be measured either.