Elite League The End Is Nigh ?

[SteveLyric2]

So, the end of the EL is nigh.........because Milik was signed on a 4 point average!!!?

 

Yay - glad we cleared that up!!

[therefused]

i would like to see something like this for the el

 

kings lynn

poole

coventry

swindon

wolverhampton

belle vue

lakeside

leicester

 

each team rides each other once home and once away.

 

ko cup to return.

 

3 legged british final to be held at different tracks each year. poole, swindon, coventry one year, wolverhampton, kings lynn, lakeside the next and so on.

 

play offs to be run as normal between top 4 teams. bottom 4 teams in similar competition for craven shield. winner of craven shield meets play off winners the next season newly announced competition.

 

less league fixtures overall but to be replaced with meaningful ko cup competition and british final dates bi annually.

[pandorum]

Once the new National Stadium opens next year everything will be fine.

TV deals and sponsorship will come flooding in and the EL will go from strength to strength.

 

Either that or the sport will continue to collapse whilst fiddling hopelessly whilst everything around them crashes and burns in the forlorn hope 'something' will happen to arrest the slide.

[T.N.T.]

There WILL be an Elite League next season due to the following reasons

 

 

• Some only want to put on Speedway at the highest level and that means riders that are GP standard in teams
• The Premier League will carry on regardless of the sport and won't want 9 or 10 teams joining them
• The SKY money is needed and they want Elite League racing with Darcy, Tai etc
• There will still be riders wanting to ride here that are too strong for the Premier League

 

However changes are needed and issues should be addressed to avoid the Elite League closing down

 

• Monday matches only
• Race Format changed back or a new system introduced
• Prices made more friendly to hopefully attract a larger crowd
• The sport pushed into the high street to promote it to new fans
• The help of the Premier League in setting up a British League with ALL teams
• Fast track riders reduced to just ONE per team

 

My views in more detail are posted elsewhere and have been for years and each season these have become more clear that the sports needs these changes in order to move forward and I have passed this on to a few people.

[Tsunami]

Once the new National Stadium opens next year everything will be fine.

TV deals and sponsorship will come flooding in and the EL will go from strength to strength.

 

Either that or the sport will continue to collapse whilst fiddling hopelessly whilst everything around them crashes and burns in the forlorn hope 'something' will happen to arrest the slide.

And no doubt you will be rubbing your hands with glee.

[weatherwatcher]

The is now very little money coming into the sport from Sky. The big money earner for the Elite League stopped at the end of last year with the new TV deal. The Elite League and the BPSA only have themselves to blame. What has happened now that Sky no longer support the Elite League they had enough warning from them and I still can't see that the BPSA have done anything to replace them with a new sponsor. That was an awful lot of money to lose every year, into the golden honey pot. Still for the life of me can't see where all the money went to. With the cash that came in over the last 15 years we should have had every team in the Elite League with a stadium to the class of the Poluish ones.

The goose that laid the golden egg has now gone broody and it is looking like the BPSA are finding it hard to find even a bronze chicken to come and take the place..

[Wolfsbane]

The is now very little money coming into the sport from Sky. The big money earner for the Elite League stopped at the end of last year with the new TV deal. The Elite League and the BPSA only have themselves to blame. What has happened now that Sky no longer support the Elite League they had enough warning from them and I still can't see that the BPSA have done anything to replace them with a new sponsor. That was an awful lot of money to lose every year, into the golden honey pot. Still for the life of me can't see where all the money went to. With the cash that came in over the last 15 years we should have had every team in the Elite League with a stadium to the class of the Poluish ones.

The goose that laid the golden egg has now gone broody and it is looking like the BPSA are finding it hard to find even a bronze chicken to come and take the place..

'Welcome to Eurosport Elite League speedway on Sky Sports 1'.

[ColinMills]

the lack of fans at foxhall in this weather, prob prem on its knees as well

school hols as well

[wealdstone]

You have to wonder if even the most remote vestige of integrity is left in the sport. Take the case of RF treated as a cash cow, mafia content to let him pay two large transfer fees to get a sum of money circulating then shafted him. In the case of Troy Batchelor they were content to let him go back to Swindon with no fee and shouts of outrage when it was suggested that KL should pay for NKI.

 

We have cases of tracks closing owing money to both Stadium owners and riders but the lack of cash flow does not seem to have impinged on the owners lifestyle.

[The Voice Of Reason]

The sport has been in decline for decades, and nothing will convince me otherwise that it will continue in this vein for a few years to come.

 

To my mind, Sky do absolutely nothing to increase fans into the sport. I remember only too well being in my local on many a Monday night; people may watch Speedway with a passing interest but they aren't likely to be seduced into attending their local club. I would guess that many watching at home would take the same stance. And if anyone thinks otherwise, then my only question would be despite the Sky coverage, why are attendances dwindling?

 

So what's the alternative? Well, if a seasoned promoter like Barry Hearn can turn darts into such a popular spectacle, with sell-out attendances, then I certainly don't think all hope is lost. However, the sport needs some fresh life being breathed into it by somebody who is successful in what they do - i.e. PROMOTE. Unfortunately, many Speedway Promoters do not appear to be living up to their job title. Lack of local advertising, poor local media partnerships being just two things that spring instantly to mind.

 

And as I said in another post quite recently, I truly believe that the product is over-priced. In times of austerity and consumers being more 'value for money' orientated than for many years, it simply is too expensive. For example, Hackney Speedway in 1982 cost around £2.50. If we compare, with inflation the worth of £2.50 today, it's value is £7.71. That's less than half what admission generally costs today (Elite League costs around £17).

 

So is there a viable market for the sport? Well, having gone to Birmingham last year when they were giving free admission, the place was absolutely packed. The same can be said of Lakeside a few years back for our televised Sky Meeting. So YES, there IS significant interest for the sport BUT this can only be realised IF admission prices are affordable.

 

And worryingly, many of us die-hards also appear to be dwindling away. We have been brought up watching the very top names in the sport; but the GP Series has basically decimated where we were back in the days of The British League.

 

Just my points of view - don't shoot me for it.

Edited July 24, 2014 by The Voice Of Reason

[fish keeper]

I have been watching speedway since the 60s but now I must admit even I pick and choose witch meetings I go to.

[foamfence]

Some people on here think that strengthening Elite League teams would be a panacea for a recovery to viable crowd levels, it wouldn't! In Sweden and Poland the crowd levels have fallen by just as big a percentage as here and there have been just as many if not more cases of none or late payment to riders. People also seem to skim over the fact that a lot of PL teams are losing money as well, those who always seem to be also-rans and who fill their sides with the less up and coming riders, do so because they really can't afford to compete. You have to do your best with what you can afford and at the moment most clubs struggle to afford what they currently have.

[pandorum]

And no doubt you will be rubbing your hands with glee.

Why would I be doing that you arrogant simpleton?

Because the 'Big I Am,' that is you, says so?

 

I don't think that it will ever be built but I take no pleasure in it and hope I am dead wrong and it's a massive success.

Just because you promoted a track for a while does not make you better than those who went through the turnstiles and just because someone says something critical about speedway on a daft forum does not mean they want a track to fail.

I have been there and gotten a T Shirt in the failed track business as I am sure you have and it's not nice.

 

You are one of worst by a mile for causing unrest here with some of the garbage you have posted here.

Just because you have 22000 posts here does not mean that you are the forum Sage or make your opinions more important than anyone else here.

[foamfence]

I have been watching speedway since the 60s but now I must admit even I pick and choose witch meetings I go to.

Joined a coven have you?

[fish keeper]

Joined a coven have you?

No but I do like value for my hard earned money no second half now no golden helmet all which added value for money.

[New Science]

The EL will still be here. The only problem is that 2 or 3 top clubs that have all the spare money can always and will always want the top GP stars in thier teams. The clubs that are the real losers are the ones who can't afford the tp riders but know they can't compete in the EL league without the big names and struggle year in year out to make a profit.

The whole EL needs to be resturctured to make it an even playing field if we are not going to lose it.

Where is all the advertising to say that our sport is out there. I am sure that it only the do or die base of fans that even know that we have the sport of speedway in this country.

Until the BPSA get thier heads out of the sand and let the public in general know about our sport, then we are on a rocky road to see it death knell.

There will always be speedway in this country as there are people who ride who do it for the love of the sport. Much like our counties grass track riders. Where you can go and get in for free at some meetings.

Without the BPSA doing something very drastic in the next year or so all we will have are tracks up and down the country, where the riders ride on a pure amatuer basis, just because they love the sport. Maybe in some way this would not be to bad a thing, with young riders from this country and some from the EU and some older riders, making the sport good to see agian with some good close racing.

I don't want to see that happen. But unless they pull thier fingers out and advertise the sport and get some new big sponsers on board then we will see an end to speedway in this country as we know it.

If you read Bob Dugards piece in the Speedway Star he said he had aggressively promoted the sport in the area this year, had provided a team which have been winning every week at home,and runs on a Saturday nights in the summer and people are still not coming through the gates. Some promoters do promote and it still does not work ! BSPA can,t do anything to change that !

[Adder]

As I have pointed out previously, speedway used to be a cheap sport to watch so many people, like myself who follow the local football team could also support the local speedway team.

 

Now speedway costs almost as much as football and is generally held in stadiums that wouldn't get a health and Safety certificate if they were football grounds (back straight bogs at Blunsdon for example!).

 

Many people who used to support both teams can't afford to go to both anymore so speedway misses out.

 

People generally have many other options for spending their hard-earned these days and standing out in the cold being charged over the odds for refreshments in antiquated stadia falls further down the pecking order.

[weatherwatcher]

As I said before. With all the Sky money that has been pumped into the EL over the past all the Stadiums in the EL should be up to par with the Polish Stadiums. With seating all the way way that is covered, and all of them brought into the 21st centuary not looking llike they are still being run after WW1. Some stadiums are down right terrible, is it no wonder that they can't get people to go, one at at the places and they do a quick u turn.

More than half the country havn't even heard of speedway or even know that thier town have a sppedway track.

We are a forgotten sport and until they update the tracks and let people know that the sport exsists, then I am afraid we are on a very fast road to rack and ruin. With stadiums getting worse year by year.

Instead of spending the hard cash on riders that no promoters can really afford they should run with riders they can afford and then update the stadiums before it all falls apart.

[foamfence]

The vast majority don't actually own their stadiums.

[Tsunami]

Why would I be doing that you arrogant simpleton?

Because the 'Big I Am,' that is you, says so?

 

I don't think that it will ever be built but I take no pleasure in it and hope I am dead wrong and it's a massive success.

Just because you promoted a track for a while does not make you better than those who went through the turnstiles and just because someone says something critical about speedway on a daft forum does not mean they want a track to fail.

I have been there and gotten a T Shirt in the failed track business as I am sure you have and it's not nice.

 

You are one of worst by a mile for causing unrest here with some of the garbage you have posted here.

Just because you have 22000 posts here does not mean that you are the forum Sage or make your opinions more important than anyone else here.

Ah Bless.

 

No I don't, but I have a PL winners trophy and introduced several top riders and juniors into British Speedway, and still continue to try to as well at my own expense.

I think you being in the construction business, you must have been in the demolition side, as you don't find any good in anything or anybody, regardless of the subject.