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Tai Woffinden's Views On Single Night Racing In Uk


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Cheaper to run for a time.. then the top riders in that league will start wanting more money, certain clubs will pay it, others will try to compete, they'll lose money so they'll cut the costs and yet more fans will walk.

 

 

Spot on ..then the bigger clubs start getting the best riders just like last time and the smaller start to moan ...We need some new plans not olds one that have been done before .

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Cheaper to run for a time.. then the top riders in that league will start wanting more money, certain clubs will pay it, others will try to compete, they'll lose money so they'll cut the costs and yet more fans will walk.

 

It's simply a never ending cycle, only been going on now for around 10 years but still folk are too blind to see it.

 

So we keep hearing, but I haven't seen the multitudes flocking to Premier League speedway yet.

No but it is affordable and it would be more so with fewer foreigners and the attendant plane fares

 

The idea if flying people all over Europe to appear before less then 1000 fans is ludicrous

 

As a business model it's suicide

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No but it is affordable and it would be more so with fewer foreigners and the attendant plane fares

 

The idea if flying people all over Europe to appear before less then 1000 fans is ludicrous

 

As a business model it's suicide

 

No, what is suicide as a business model is not identifying why your fans have stopped attending, continuing down a route that has failed season upon season upon season.

 

Every year you think it will be affordable, till more fans walk away and suddenly its not affordable once again.

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No but it is affordable and it would be more so with fewer foreigners and the attendant plane fares

 

The idea if flying people all over Europe to appear before less then 1000 fans is ludicrous

 

As a business model it's suicide

The Pl is full of foreigners ..no doubt the idea of flying crap foreigners to appear in front of 500 fans is a fantastic business model ..Clubs go bust in both league's and find it hard to survive . Intill the likes of you start to understand that then Speedway has little chance of going forward

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The Pl is full of foreigners ..no doubt the idea of flying crap foreigners to appear in front of 500 fans is a fantastic business model ..Clubs go bust in both league's and find it hard to survive . Intill the likes of you start to understand that then Speedway has little chance of going forward

Actually I was referring to the pl which should be 6 Brits min in each team in my humble opinion

There are plenty of young riders and not wobblers either

 

You might think that bringing the worlds best riders to the el is the way forward but who is going to take the financial risk? I would suggest no one is

No, what is suicide as a business model is not identifying why your fans have stopped attending, continuing down a route that has failed season upon season upon season.

 

Every year you think it will be affordable, till more fans walk away and suddenly its not affordable once again.

Ok what then???

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You have me there what can I say dyslexia runs in the family ( not a joke) my apologies no offence meant to Tai

I'm sure no-one took offence! Fortunately I don't have dyslexia, but my fingers do get out of control on the keyboard quite often!

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Actually I was referring to the pl which should be 6 Brits min in each team in my humble opinion

There are plenty of young riders and not wobblers either

 

You might think that bringing the worlds best riders to the el is the way forward but who is going to take the financial risk? I would suggest no one is

 

Ok what then???

Putting crap teams out is a risk, as I said you don't save money if you lose most of the crowd . Putting out a cheaper product won't always save you money .

 

I have already said have a go at running top speedway on one or two race nights . Not sure if it would work but at least it's a new plan

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And less fans to watch it. I wouldnt go if it wasnt for the top names as i have no interest in watching a lower standard rider

Why? Surely competitive, entertaining racing is what fans want? I'd much rather see a heat with four riders of equal ability, as far as possible, race against each other

How many top names, as you call them, do you want to see in each and every meeting? If there's only a couple, then they're unlikely to get much competition during the match for you to marvel at

Remember, the top names in general only do four laps in a couple of seconds less than the large majority of riders

Perhaps without them, so they can concentrate on earning their zlotys and krona, and avoid unnecessary early morning dashes to Stansted and Luton, there would be closer, thereby more entertaining, racing for UK fans

Putting crap teams out is a risk, as I said you don't save money if you lose most of the crowd . Putting out a cheaper product won't always save you money .

 

I have already said have a go at running top speedway on one or two race nights . Not sure if it would work but at least it's a new plan

Which part of "most speedway teams only rent the stadia they ride in, so they are restricted when they are available" do you not understand?

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Why? Surely competitive, entertaining racing is what fans want? I'd much rather see a heat with four riders of equal ability, as far as possible, race against each other

How many top names, as you call them, do you want to see in each and every meeting? If there's only a couple, then they're unlikely to get much competition during the match for you to marvel at

Remember, the top names in general only do four laps in a couple of seconds less than the large majority of riders

Perhaps without them, so they can concentrate on earning their zlotys and krona, and avoid unnecessary early morning dashes to Stansted and Luton, there would be closer, thereby more entertaining, racing for UK fans

 

Which part of "most speedway teams only rent the stadia they ride in, so they are restricted when they are available" do you not understand?

What team's can't ride Home Matches on Mondays ?

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Why? Surely competitive, entertaining racing is what fans want? I'd much rather see a heat with four riders of equal ability, as far as possible, race against each other

How many top names, as you call them, do you want to see in each and every meeting? If there's only a couple, then they're unlikely to get much competition during the match for you to marvel at

Remember, the top names in general only do four laps in a couple of seconds less than the large majority of riders

Perhaps without them, so they can concentrate on earning their zlotys and krona, and avoid unnecessary early morning dashes to Stansted and Luton, there would be closer, thereby more entertaining, racing for UK fans

 

Which part of "most speedway teams only rent the stadia they ride in, so they are restricted when they are available" do you not understand?

 

Why? Surely competitive, entertaining racing is what fans want? I'd much rather see a heat with four riders of equal ability, as far as possible, race against each other

How many top names, as you call them, do you want to see in each and every meeting? If there's only a couple, then they're unlikely to get much competition during the match for you to marvel at

Remember, the top names in general only do four laps in a couple of seconds less than the large majority of riders

 

If that's what the Fans wanted then Pl and Nl would have the bigger crowds the fact that they don't shows it's not what the fans want

Those away at Monmore and Kirky Lane for two

Are ask the question again what team's in the El can't home Matches on a Monday ?

Why Monday? So we don't upset Poland or Sweden or Denmark?

 

How about Saturday?

Because a lot people want to watch the better riders I understand you don't but loads do

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If that's what the Fans wanted then Pl and Nl would have the bigger crowds the fact that they don't shows it's not what the fans want

Are ask the question again what team's in the El can't home Matches on a Monday ?

The bigger clubs are in el so crowds would be bigger

 

Coventry are always going to get bigger crowds than Buxton regardless of racing quality

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Tai's come in for a bit of stick on here, but surely he's just stating the obvious. Most riders I've met love the sport and would race every night given the chance, but the British schedule is unsustainable and has harmed the sport at the top level in this country, driving down the standard of the top league. No motorsport I know of has the world's top competitors appearing in Britain 30-plus times a year - correct me if I'm wrong - so why should speedway be any different? We'd be doing well if we could see Woffinden, Iversen, Ward and so on 12 or 14 times a year.

 

One night a week will only happen with fundamental changes to the league and even then it may not be possible because of track restrictions. The bottom line is that, if you want to watch the top riders in action you're going to have to accept a league of eight or even six ( I know Sky want eight, but how many tracks can you name that will be in business and be able to compete at the top level in three or four years?) riding each other once home and away. Having failed to establish a regular race night years ago, Britain has missed the boat and the sport is in such a fix they may even have to consider a four-team tournament style league like Denmark once had if they are to carry on featuring the top riders or to attract more of them.

 

It's tempting to tell the few top riders (and how many are really left - six? seven?) to leave and let us get on with a beefed-up Premier League, but what would the future of the Premier League be without the EL? Add Poole, Wolves, Lynn, Belle Vue and Lakeside to the league (with Cradley moving up) and you have at six tracks capable of outspending every current PL track. Also, with no Elite League, many PL riders would not have their vital second income stream and could go part-time, go/stay abroad or retire. Whichever way, the standard of the sport in Britain will drop. PL fans are massively complacent if they think this problem has nothing to do with them.

 

The writing was on the wall regarding the chaos of EL fixutes in 1995 when Hans quit British Speedway for Poland/Sweden/GP's. Yet here we are 20 years later and they still basically did very little to make it an attractive place to race.

It's the worst league for the riders finacially, hectic schedule, stupid rule changes, the BSPA really don't help themselves. Also, they never secured a major sponsor for the league (Im not counting SkyBet thats just Sky tv using free advertising on their own channel) again, not helping the finacial plight.

 

Theyve been complaining about costs for so long, but to my mind theyve never gone with simple solutions. 6 rider teams, less foreigners - ie only employ the best dont fill teams up with the Skornikis of the world.Team kevlars are a pointless expensive exercise as it's rarely a team without a guest. That's just 3 very basic ideas.

 

Anywway we all know Until the EL is taken over by independent professionals with no self interest it'll never be as succesful as it could or should be.

With regards to a single race night, yes it is pretty much impossible but they should try and narrow it to say Mondays and Fridays if possible

 

A good point spoiled by a bad example. Adam Skornicki is one of the best value foreign riders of the last 20 years. A cult hero at Monmore, he's popular just about everywhere he's raced and has been a great servant of British speedway.

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Belle Vue were at Brandon last Friday

Top name Matej Zagar was in the line up

Do you think this added to the attendance numbers?

No, fans in the main turned up to a) watch speedway B) support/follow their team/favourite rider(s)

The return of Scott Nicholls may have put a few on the gate

whats the problem on the squad system rather then move race nights? I for one like to travel to away fixtures when ive got time off,or im on holiday.The only good thing uk speedway has going for it is that you can go racing most days of the week,if your an anorak fan like myself!!

I was going to mark this as a like, except I'm not in favour of a squad system, but I do agree with the point about racing being available most days of the week

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If that's what the Fans wanted then Pl and Nl would have the bigger crowds the fact that they don't shows it's not what the fans want

Are ask the question again what team's in the El can't home Matches on a Monday ?

Because a lot people want to watch the better riders I understand you don't but loads do

Not enough to pay their wages seemingly

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Belle Vue were at Brandon last Friday

Top name Matej Zagar was in the line up

Do you think this added to the attendance numbers?

No, fans in the main turned up to a) watch speedway B) support/follow their team/favourite rider(s)

The return of Scott Nicholls may have put a few on the gate

Of course a rider like Matt Zagar would have an effect on crowd figures .it's common sense that the stronger the side the more likely the crowd's going to be bigger .

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Tai's come in for a bit of stick on here, but surely he's just stating the obvious. Most riders I've met love the sport and would race every night given the chance, but the British schedule is unsustainable and has harmed the sport at the top level in this country, driving down the standard of the top league.

 

The British schedule is not unsustainable, it's the jetting off to foreign lands two, three or more times a week that's unsustainable - the answer is riders 100% committed to the UK only

Of course a rider like Matt Zagar would have an effect on crowd figures .it's common sense that the stronger the side the more likely the crowd's going to be bigger .

Why "of course"? He's hardly a household name outside the speedway fraternity, and I would suggest that virtually all the Coventry supporters there last Friday were at the previous home match, and will be at the next one

Over the years I doubt there's been many riders who would add any sizeable numbers to a meeting attendance

Sayfutdinov obviously did so, but who before him had the impact a Fundin, Mauger, Craven, Briggs, Gollob, Penhall had?

 

Oh, and I see you changed from "top names" to Stronger sides" - there's a vast difference!

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