Speedway In Britain & Rain Leading To Numerous Postponements, Why?

[Shale Searcher]

Why does it seem that so many meetings are rained-off in the UK? Other European Countries seem to be able to get meetings on even in what appears to be far worse weather conditions than here.....

 

Is it the riders?

Is it the promoters?

Is it the tracks themselves?

Is it the referees?

 

Also, what's happened to the Sky Meetings Covers?

 

It also appears that meetings are called off far to early, I'm sure this is getting far more frequent than it used to be?

 

 

 

[Vince]

^{It's running a meeting that's going to cost a fortune because no spectators will turn up. Years ago with much bigger crowds and less alternative entertainment I think people would turn up in sufficient numbers to make it not quite so financially crippling.}

 

^{Those that do turn will complain about the lack of racing because the visibility for riders under light is terrible.}

 

^{I would imagine that given the cost of travelling these days the majority appreciate early call off's.}

Edited May 9, 2014 by Vince

[foamfence]

Why does it seem that so many meetings are rained-off in the UK? Other European Countries seem to be able to get meetings on even in what appears to be far worse weather conditions than here.....

 

Is it the riders?

Is it the promoters?

Is it the tracks themselves?

Is it the referees?

 

Also, what's happened to the Sky Meetings Covers?

 

It also appears that meetings are called off far to early, I'm sure this is getting far more frequent than it used to be?

It's said that most overseas track material is more porous and therefore better draining. There have been mixed opinions on track covers, but I'm sure the right ones could help. The other problem is stadium access, some promoters are severely restricted on their time allowed in the stadium. Rain-off's are bad news as is anything else which causes a late postponement.

[ch958]

one thing an independent body could look at is different track materials - there seems far less work on this than bike 'improvements'

[Shale Searcher]

^{It's running a meeting that's going to cost a fortune because no spectators will turn up. Years ago with much bigger crowds and less alternative entertainment I think people would turn up in sufficient numbers to make it not quite so financially crippling.}

 

^{Those that do turn will complain about the lack of racing because the visibility for riders under light is terrible.}

 

^{I would imagine that given the cost of travelling these days the majority appreciate early call off's.}

Don't you think though because its supposed to be a "Professional" sport, more effort needs to be made to get meetings on! No wonder the sport and support for it is in rapid decline!!

Supporters are now not committing to go, knowing it's going to be off with the slightest hint of the wet stuff...

Don't you think though because its supposed to be a "Professional" sport, more effort needs to be made to get meetings on! No wonder the sport and support for it is in rapid decline!!

Supporters are now not committing to go, knowing it's going to be off with the slightest hint of the wet stuff...

 

To add to your comments Vince, are you saying promoters are postponing meetings on the basis they are concerned about the size of the crowd turning up because of inclement weather, rather than an unfit track? Surely that's just going to keep spiralling down, oh it's gonna be cold tonight, well let's postpone, we'll say rains forecast.... Sounds daft?

Perhaps it is, but how many meetings have been lost to weather forecasts when it's not actually rained? Ok, bit damp and cold, but I bet the tracks been fit come start time.....

[arthur cross]

Why does it seem that so many meetings are rained-off in the UK? Other European Countries seem to be able to get meetings on even in what appears to be far worse weather conditions than here.....

 

Is it the riders?

Is it the promoters?

Is it the tracks themselves?

Is it the referees?

 

Also, what's happened to the Sky Meetings Covers?

 

It also appears that meetings are called off far to early, I'm sure this is getting far more frequent than it used to be?

If a meeting still goes ahead, despite lousy weather making too many of the crowd thinking it'll be either off or dreadful to watch, the home club still has to pay the same amount of bills (riders' wages, stadium rent, ambulance cover, etc) as if the meeting had gone ahead in weather good enough to tempt everyone to turn up without any fear of a rain-off.

 

The only problem is there's a significant difference between the crowd receipts from a good-weather day or a lousy-weather day ... and too many lousy-weather gate receipts over a season is going to make a hefty difference in a club's profit-or-loss situation.

 

What's certainly affected the balance of how many supporters are reluctant to turn out in lousy weather is the cost of petrol/diesel (or bus/train fares) getting to-&-from meetings on lousy-weather days.

 

At least you get a rain-off ticket for your speedway turnstile-money once you've got to the track ... try getting anything similar from the bus-driver or the petrol-cashier by explaining you're only going to get value-for-money from what they're selling you as long as the speedway's still on after you've used their bus/fuel !!

 

If more meetings are now being called off earlier, it's because enough clubs have finally worked out how stupid they were being in previous generations trying to get every meeting on at all costs regardless of what the weather was throwing at them.

 

Also, far more of the clubs across the rest of Europe either own their own track facilities or rent them on a municipal basis from their local council ... however, most UK tracks rent their tracks from private stadium landlords and so their stadium rent is a bigger percentage of their overall bills and, therefore, a bigger burden on a lousy-weather day than would be the case for those European track-owning or council-renting clubs.

[Shale Searcher]

If a meeting still goes ahead, despite lousy weather making too many of the crowd thinking it'll be either off or dreadful to watch, the home club still has to pay the same amount of bills (riders' wages, stadium rent, ambulance cover, etc) as if the meeting had gone ahead in weather good enough to tempt everyone to turn up without any fear of a rain-off.

 

The only problem is there's a significant difference between the crowd receipts from a good-weather day or a lousy-weather day ... and too many lousy-weather gate receipts over a season is going to make a hefty difference in a club's profit-or-loss situation.

 

What's certainly affected the balance of how many supporters are reluctant to turn out in lousy weather is the cost of petrol/diesel (or bus/train fares) getting to-&-from meetings on lousy-weather days.

 

At least you get a rain-off ticket for your speedway turnstile-money once you've got to the track ... try getting anything similar from the bus-driver or the petrol-cashier by explaining you're only going to get value-for-money from what they're selling you as long as the speedway's still on after you've used their bus/fuel !!

 

If more meetings are now being called off earlier, it's because enough clubs have finally worked out how stupid they were being in previous generations trying to get every meeting on at all costs regardless of what the weather was throwing at them.

 

Also, far more of the clubs across the rest of Europe either own their own track facilities or rent them on a municipal basis from their local council ... however, most UK tracks rent their tracks from private stadium landlords and so their stadium rent is a bigger percentage of their overall bills and, therefore, a bigger burden on a lousy-weather day than would be the case for those European track-owning or council-renting clubs.

So, the other edge of the sword is fans find other things to do on evenings when rain-offs occur, find that what they did/went to watch was on or nearly on a par with a night at the Speedway, and decides that the next slightly damp/slightly below par opposition is at his local track is not tempting enough and does his rained off alternative!!

It's rock and hard place, gradually you lose fans .............. to the point the promoters have, inadvertently shot their own feet off, they've shot their ankles, shins and knees off as well!!!!!

Edited May 9, 2014 by Shale Searcher

[Vince]

_{How many more fans will they lose if they leave postponements to the last minute in the hope the forecast is wrong and then get rained off?}

 

_{That just costs the club and it's fans a lot of money, far better to err on the cautious side generally I think because then fans know there is a good chance the meeting will run and be more willing to take the chance.}

 

_{As you say it's a professional sport and as such wouldn't want to be seen to leave all it's decisions to the last second on a wing and a prayer. The professional way is to look at all the information available and if possible save fans a great deal of time and money on a wasted trip. Fans might gradually find an alternative when faced with a rain off, they most certainly will find a better way to spend their money if they turn up several times and don't see any racing.}

[guitar_art]

_{The question was asked about the 'sky covers'. As someone who was involved in putting them out for a match last year I thought this might be a helpfull insight.}

 

_{Firstly the covers take a very long time to put down. Its not as straightforward as you may think. So for them to be effective you need to start covering the track well before any forecast rain.}

_{When we put them down we were severely limited to the time we had available because of a greyhound meeting this meant that we ended up covering only the entries into the first and third bends effectively.}

 

_{The counter-intuitive thing was that when we took up the cover's from the track that the wettest part of the track was the part's that we had covered.}

[Lord Skid]

Wasn't the Briggo Dirt Deflector introduced as the saviour of wet Meetings, and what does it actually do on our super slick tracks nowadays.

[Shale Searcher]

Wasn't the Briggo Dirt Deflector introduced as the saviour of wet Meetings, and what does it actually do on our super slick tracks nowadays.

Have just mentioned this on the Belle Vie v Kings Lynn meeting thread, as that's now off tonight....! I thought it was a Speedway magic bullet..... Will help keep dirt off the crowd, and keep it on the track and keep wet dirt/muddy spray off chasing riders? Apparently not then... So what is it actually doing then apart from lining Briggos pockets???

[Adder]

What happened to that giant hairdryer thing that was mentioned a few years ago that was supposed to dry the track?

 

Did it ever exist or was it all an April Fools thing?

[Trees]

Makes sense calling matches off on days like this, rain puts fans off travelling big style.

[robert72]

Wasn't the Briggo Dirt Deflector introduced as the saviour of wet Meetings, and what does it actually do on our super slick tracks nowadays.

I think they should be taken off bikes now as they do very little and would save riders money.

[Triple.H.]

Covering the track is time consuming but could maybe work this way. Ie cover secured at whiteline and top of fence and dropped down the 6ft or so and secured to ground outside the fence. Track would be ventilated so hopefully preventing sweating and any wetpatches could be solved by grading when covers removed. Some may think its daft but at least its an idea.

[BRITISHSPEEDPOWER]

I think they should be taken off bikes now as they do very little and would save riders money.

I got Totally peppered at Berwick last week. What a mess, covered from head to toe, Dirt deflectors are crap

[Shale Searcher]

What happened to that giant hairdryer thing that was mentioned a few years ago that was supposed to dry the track?

 

Did it ever exist or was it all an April Fools thing?

I have seen it in action!!!!!! Sworn to secrecy, nuff said!!!

[Chewbacca]

What happened to that giant hairdryer thing that was mentioned a few years ago that was supposed to dry the track?

 

Did it ever exist or was it all an April Fools thing?

 

As used at dragstrips. A bit heavy on the kerosene to dry wet shale though

Edited May 13, 2014 by Chewbacca

[Oafski]

Not only in Britain. Tonight's televised Swedish League match has just been called off. Not even Eurosport could save it.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Oafski

[Tsunami]

Not only in Britain. Tonight's televised Swedish League match has just been called off. Not even Eurosport could save it.

Even with warmed shale material as well.