Birmingham Future In Doubt ? Alan Phillips Has Had Enough!

[Crump99]

Edinburgh fans would say it's an H&S requirement

 

Speedway these days isn't value for money it's effectively £1 to watch each race these days and when they orsky want to bring a holt to meetings it's even more per race, for that £1 you get in some cases just one minute of action and over the whole meeting just 15 minutes of action you can see why people look elsewhere for they enjoyment

 

They look elsewhere because that 15 mins isn't enough unless it's top notch action throughout which it rarely is. Good efficient presentation for the rest of the time isn't that difficult really. Get that right and then see if things improve.

[OGT]

If that's the argument nobody would bother to watch Usain Bolt, hell you regularly get less than 10 seconds but he's the biggest crowd puller and highly paid athlete in the sport.Seen plenty of good 15 heat Elite league matches taking between 1.5 / 2 hours.If the quality is right people wont moan its only 15 minutes,they only moan when the quality is not up to scratch, which is most often the case these days !

TBF, there are a few other events to watch other than whatever Bolt is running in.

 

One of Brum's big problem's is their restricted revenue stream, with basically just the gate, progs and merch (maybe) money going into the club's coffers. Food drink and parking goes to the GRA on top of the high rent, that's a sizeable disadvantage against many other clubs, which is where the myriad of sponsorship deals have been a huge help over the last few years. So as has been said, losing Joe Mc along with the Drury's and Wizzer has been a massive blow and the club will do well to survive at all let alone in a lower league without any of those names being replaced with experienced heads.

[Brummie Kev]

I am not sure if there is ever going to be a solution to the Brummies problem. They have tried hard not this year but other years to get the public to come and support them. Not sure what the problem is there but it looks like the general public in and around Birmingham are just not interested in the sport. It may be Britains second largest city, but what is the make up of the population of the city and do they really care about going to watch the sport what ever league they are in.

They could probabbly better cutting thier loses get in some new blood to run the place and move the whole set up to an area where they could draw in a good crowd week in week out.

They could even consider going along the lines of a joint venture with Coventry and build a new state of the art stadium and sharing it on alternate days to get the most out of it. Just a though as they are not to far apart. I am sure there is land far enough from housing that a new stadium could be built that is also near enough to keep the fans of both sides happy.

 

We have numerous problems in attracting people to watch the sport. The people of Birmingham are obsessed with football, neither of our clubs Aston Villa and Birmingham City are in good shape, but despite that Villa's average crowd went up last year despite almost getting relegated. The Birmingham Mail do give speedway coverage but its usually 8 pages in and not always a full page. Football always gets back page even during the off season, others sports don't get much of a chance, certainty not minority ones like speedway.

 

Its not only speedway that has struggled other small sports have. The Birmingham Bullets basketball team is no longer around because it went bankrupt in 2006, don't think the support was there. Birmingham & Solihull Rugby club a few years back went into Voluntary Liquidation, their situation was then similar to us. They were spending too much money on players wages and expenditure generally and not getting enough people through the turnstiles to compensate. Even look at Cricket, in the T20 this year we have the "Birmingham Bears", its stupid. It was only done because they want relate more with the Birmingham public, so they must have been concerned support locally to have done that.

 

Despite all that, I believe speedway has a place in the city. What I think is needed is a massive advertisement campaign. Billboards in the city centre, newspaper ads, radio ads ( the gra advertise greyhound meetings) and a pretty extensive leaflet campaign in may areas of the city. That might sound unrealistic due to the costs involved, but we are a small fish in a big pond. To get significant improvements in the crowds we need significant advertising. There are man people in the city that dont know a speedway club exists, how sad is that?

 

 

And the strange comments Alan Phillips now makes "The prospects for next season being extremely bright with the new sponsorship deals agreed."

 

 

But was unable to carry on putting money into the club,to cover the shortfall.

 

Was this in todays local paper?, this was mentioned a week or so back by the commerical manager Victoria Pyke on the Brummies forum. Apparently the sponsors want a full season and not come in part way through. If Phillips is mentioning it now despite clearly wanting to sell, then he will more than likely use it to bump up the price to the person hes selling to. Just hope it dont end in tears.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Brummie Kev

[scaramanga]

Cheers for sticking the boot in Vog, nice to see some fans actually care.

never been to perry bar but i have been to tracks that i proberbly wont go back to for the very reasons vog listed

i dont want any speedway track lost to the sport but we pay to be entertained if the track dosnt produce entertainment then people wont get that bug that makes us return week in week out

its not about a winning team for me its about excitment if thats not there then you cant expect people to give up there spare cash

Edinburgh fans would say it's an H&S requirement

 

Speedway these days isn't value for money it's effectively £1 to watch each race these days and when they orsky want to bring a holt to meetings it's even more per race, for that £1 you get in some cases just one minute of action and over the whole meeting just 15 minutes of action you can see why people look elsewhere for they enjoyment

unless your meeting gets called off after heat 9 then you only get a reduction for the next meeting bassed on 1 heat reduction as the call off point is now heat 10

i thought we paid for 15 heats not 10 the promotion save 5 heats points money if its called of after 10 but we get nothing back ?

[Tommy Sweetman]

 

We have numerous problems in attracting people to watch the sport. The people of Birmingham are obsessed with football, neither of our clubs Aston Villa and Birmingham City are in good shape, but despite that Villa's average crowd went up last year despite almost getting relegated. The Birmingham Mail do give speedway coverage but its usually 8 pages in and not always a full page. Football always gets back page even during the off season, others sports don't get much of a chance, certainty not minority ones like speedway.

 

Its not only speedway that has struggled other small sports have. The Birmingham Bullets basketball team is no longer around because it went bankrupt in 2006, don't think the support was there. Birmingham & Solihull Rugby club a few years back went into Voluntary Liquidation, their situation was then similar to us. They were spending too much money on players wages and expenditure generally and not getting enough people through the turnstiles to compensate. Even look at Cricket, in the T20 this year we have the "Birmingham Bears", its stupid. It was only done because they want relate more with the Birmingham public, so they must have been concerned support locally to have done that.

 

Despite all that, I believe speedway has a place in the city. What I think is needed is a massive advertisement campaign. Billboards in the city centre, newspaper ads, radio ads ( the gra advertise greyhound meetings) and a pretty extensive leaflet campaign in may areas of the city. That might sound unrealistic due to the costs involved, but we are a small fish in a big pond. To get significant improvements in the crowds we need significant advertising. There are man people in the city that dont know a speedway club exists, how sad is that?

 

 

 

Was this in todays local paper?, this was mentioned a week or so back by the commerical manager Victoria Pyke on the Brummies forum. Apparently the sponsors want a full season and not come in part way through. If Phillips is mentioning it now despite clearly wanting to sell, then he will more than likely use it to bump up the price to the person hes selling to. Just hope it dont end in tears.

Yes Kev,in thursday,s Express & Star.

 

Also,today Nigel Pearson is saying next wednesday,s fixture is in doubt,as the stadium is no longer available to speedway until new owners are put in place and money owed to the landlords is paid in full.

[spanner47]

As much as I hate to say it, and I obviously feel sorry for the genuine fans, but losing a track or two wouldn't be the end of the World for the sport in this Country. There's too many tracks and not enough riders. Most fans are moaning about too many guests, most teams are different every week depending on when the fixture was arranged, It's a bloody mess!

But let's face it, you aren't going to attract new supporters when you cant even offer them a seat, this is 2014 for Christ's sake. Not many parents would take their kids to sit in a bar for two hours, and the thought of standing around that long for 15 mins action is hardly appealing, especially when your forking out for sky and you can watch it on the box.

Sky and a lack of modern facilities are killing Speedway as a spectator sport.

[racers and royals]

As much as I hate to say it, and I obviously feel sorry for the genuine fans, but losing a track or two wouldn't be the end of the World for the sport in this Country. There's too many tracks and not enough riders. Most fans are moaning about too many guests, most teams are different every week depending on when the fixture was arranged, It's a bloody mess!

But let's face it, you aren't going to attract new supporters when you cant even offer them a seat, this is 2014 for Christ's sake. Not many parents would take their kids to sit in a bar for two hours, and the thought of standing around that long for 15 mins action is hardly appealing, especially when your forking out for sky and you can watch it on the box.

Sky and a lack of modern facilities are killing Speedway as a spectator sport.

Some might say that without SKY( SKY money primarily) top flight speedway in this country would have been dead years ago.

[david2905]

 

Why does 15 heats of speedway need an interval?

 

Correct me if wrong, but doesn't the GRA insist on one to push their mediocre, overpriced food ?.

[Trees]

Such a shame the GRA are so greedy, how difficult, how sad for Brum!

[stevebrum]

Some might say that without SKY( SKY money primarily) top flight speedway in this country would have been dead years ago.

 

 

The EL (or top flight) would still be running.

[philfromcov]

hang on a second, GRA are greedy for demanding payment?

 

wouldn't we all?

[Lord Skid]

Only himself to blame, the EL 2014 was a disaster waiting to happen with the NL fill in riders, and expecting the public to pay top dollar for the privilege of watching them, should have stood up and gone PL, his current Team would be in the top 3, and he would have stood a chance financially.

[Starman2006]

Such a shame the GRA are so greedy, how difficult, how sad for Brum!

If the GRA are to blame for putting Birmingham in this position, then really they, should look to do a compromise with the club. If, they don't then i do hope they can live with looking at themselves in the mirror. Then at the end of the season, the club can decide their future whether its no speedway or go back to the PL. In the meantime, it would buy the club a bit of breathing space.. Your call, GRA, some rent is better than none... I wish Birmingham all the best..

Edited June 27, 2014 by Starman2006

[semion]

Why should the blame be laid at the door of the GRA ? They had an agreement in place over rent, which we can assume the parties involved were happy to sign. If a tenant owed you money, then I why would you allow the debt to mount up without taking any action. I am sure The GRA have staff and overheads to pay.

[abbo]

I'll tell you what is wrong with Elite League speedway, it's no longer Elite, you turn on the Swedish League on television to see Greg Hancock Freddie Lingren etc and all the top stars of World speedway, these top riders we no longer see on the tracks in the UK. When Emil came to ride for Coventry the gates were increased. When Coventry rode at Birmingham with Emil in the team increased their gate by 900 I am reliably informed, speaks for itself. Incidentally due to stupid speedway regulations Emil was riding in Russia the next home meeting and our No 1 was not Emil but Todd Kurtz not a suitable replacement, speaks for itself people want to watch the best and vote with their feet which us their privilege. What's going on is self defeating and explains that Elite should mean the BEST. I must say that as a semi regular at Birmingham I was amazed this season at the absence of supporters and predicted the writing was on the wall. Come on you Brummies you waited and protested for along time to get the Second City back into Live Speedway don't let it fade away without a wimper. The Elite League needs you as does Speedway as a whole!.

[Starman2006]

Why should the blame be laid at the door of the GRA ? They had an agreement in place over rent, which we can assume the parties involved were happy to sign. If a tenant owed you money, then I why would you allow the debt to mount up without taking any action. I am sure The GRA have staff and overheads to pay.

Im sure they do, but they know the position of Birmingham speedway. and imo, some rent is better than none. If they cannot Compromise, then its a very poor show.

I'll tell you what is wrong with Elite League speedway, it's no longer Elite, you turn on the Swedish League on television to see Greg Hancock Freddie Lingren etc and all the top stars of World speedway, these top riders we no longer see on the tracks in the UK.

Yep, and the speedway is no different to what you see in the EL. Now, are you going to pay posibly £25 per head to watch the big boys in this country, every week??? Many many fans i speak to every week tell me they cannot afford to go on a regular basis anymore now, at £17, so your going to tell me just because the big boys are riding in the EL week on week people's financial situation will just suddenly change?? Add to the fact riders scheduals have changed so much in the last 10 years, they go where its more convienient and where the money is.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Starman2006

[Trees]

I'll tell you what is wrong with Elite League speedway, it's no longer Elite, you turn on the Swedish League on television to see Greg Hancock Freddie Lingren etc and all the top stars of World speedway, these top riders we no longer see on the tracks in the UK. When Emil came to ride for Coventry the gates were increased. When Coventry rode at Birmingham with Emil in the team increased their gate by 900 I am reliably informed, speaks for itself. Incidentally due to stupid speedway regulations Emil was riding in Russia the next home meeting and our No 1 was not Emil but Todd Kurtz not a suitable replacement, speaks for itself people want to watch the best and vote with their feet which us their privilege. What's going on is self defeating and explains that Elite should mean the BEST. I must say that as a semi regular at Birmingham I was amazed this season at the absence of supporters and predicted the writing was on the wall. Come on you Brummies you waited and protested for along time to get the Second City back into Live Speedway don't let it fade away without a wimper. The Elite League needs you as does Speedway as a whole!.

But these top riders don't want to race here, we can't make them, they have obviously got enough meetings to keep them in the manner they are accustomed! We must work on something that they want to be involved in, make British speedway attractive to all, riders and fans!

hang on a second, GRA are greedy for demanding payment?

 

wouldn't we all?

It's not about wanting payment, it's how much, they've always been known to want a packet, they could cut the bill in the circumstances, better than have the speedway stop?

[semion]

Im sure they do, but they know the position of Birmingham speedway. and imo, some rent is better than none. If they cannot Compromise, then its a very poor show.

I dont think you will find it is as straight forward as that. have you any inside knowledge on what the running costs are for GRA to have Speedway running at their premies. ? Also GRA, will have shareholders who have to be apeased, plus GRA will have other Tennants, and who would no doubt we then looking for rent reductions. There are such things as rent tribunals so landlords have to be very careful what offers they make.

Edited June 27, 2014 by semion

[teddy2706]

 

Kev, I care about all teams, and losing any would be a massive blow, but the simple fact is that Birmingham moved up and were solely reliant on the Sky money. Crowds have dropped after the initial honeymoon period, and the cloth wasn't cut accordingly. When they moved up, there was no jump in crowds to support the move, and any sensible businessman would have seen this and moved back down. I've enjoyed previous trips to Birmingham, but on the last couple of occasions, it felt like the life had been sucked out of the place. Crowds were down, the racing wasn't as good as it had been, and it very much felt like they were going through the motions. I wish it had worked out better for them, and I hope that it does work out in the end, but if they get through this period, lessons have to be learned. Not just by Birmingham, but by all clubs.

Vog is correct, whether it is palatable or not. Some businesses, due to demographics or location (same thing really), leadership, poor product or an apathetic customer base are doomed to fail. I have visited Brummies several times over the last few years, but have never, despite that club's excellent marketing efforts, felt at home, nor really enjoyed the product offering. The fact that Cradley can pack out a stadium down the road for NL, yet Birmingham cannot for EL is a conundrum for better economic minds than mine. But sadly, that is how it is. Other posters have come up with solutions to Brummies ills, some of which demand completely altering the speedway product. These maybe desireable, but are not the answers to Brummies problems today, bums on seats are the only remedy. Compared to Owlerton, a similar stadium situation in a smaller city, Brummies always feels remote, cold, heartless, unwelcoming and lacking in atmosphere. Why is this? It took them months to add a picture of ex. British Champion Andy Grahame to their own picture gallery for goodness sake!

[spanner47]

Some might say that without SKY( SKY money primarily) top flight speedway in this country would have been dead years ago.

You could well be right, but we'll never know. But I cant remember clubs losing fortunes before sky came along, it's the same in football, the smaller clubs chase the glory and end up in trouble. Problem is, for every £1 sky give to a sport, the riders, players agents etc want £1-20 of it. I'm told that the signing on fees have rocketed since sky came on board, that's where the money has gone, if sky hadn't come in the crowds would still be watching and riders would be earning a sensible amount, probably, maybe, who knows? But it did seem a more sensible sport financially before they came along.