How Do We Attract A New Young Audience?

[LagutaRacingFan]

This thread sums up the issue with speedway, old people trying to understand what young people want.

 

I'm young and what I want at speedway is a decent sound system, alcohol which is affordable, legal highs and girls.

[steve roberts]

This thread sums up the issue with speedway, old people trying to understand what young people want.

 

I'm young and what I want at speedway is a decent sound system, alcohol which is affordable, legal highs and girls.

To quote Maurice Chevalier as he sang the lyrics to a Frederick Loewe composition...

 

"I'm glad that I'm not young anymore...!"

 

Ps Sounds better when recited in a slight French accent!

Edited December 25, 2015 by steve roberts

[phillipsr]

Put OAP pricing up and let anyone under 30 in free. No young person wantsto go to a event thats stinks off wee and werthers originals

Edited December 25, 2015 by phillipsr

[pugwash]

This thread sums up the issue with speedway, old people trying to understand what young people want.

 

I'm young and what I want at speedway is a decent sound system, alcohol which is affordable, legal highs and girls.

You're on the wrong forum, Mozza, try here:-http://www.rave.org.uk/forum/

[trophykid]

Cant even put EL meetings on you tube, the sport is stuck in the past.

 

All under 16s free at Brandon next year, dropped the adult price by £1 and Students are just a fiver. They need to get the message out there pre season on normal and social media otherwise the public wont know about the reductions though.

I've been shouted at about this in the past on here, but I'll say it again. The student discount is a ridiculous anachronism. Let's go for a young persons discount (17-22) like many football clubs. It's more realistic and fair, and more likely to target People who will return year on year.

[damosuzuki]

 

Music, big screens, hype,lights, showbiz, fights after races, heart throb appeal for young women. Cool merchandise. Play on the characters, heroes and villains, jingles, glamour for the young lads,hip hop,edm,pit cam, interviews throughout,screens in bar etc., clean modern facilities,cool Kevlars, fireworks, special effects,hype

Edited December 25, 2015 by damosuzuki

[Gemini]

 

 

.....fireworks.....

 

That's me finished then.

[Woz01]

I've been shouted at about this in the past on here, but I'll say it again. The student discount is a ridiculous anachronism. Let's go for a young persons discount (17-22) like many football clubs. It's more realistic and fair, and more likely to target People who will return year on year.

In the past it was a huge jump from being 15 and it was say a fiver then at 16 it was £17, thats when they start to decide to knock it on the head. Now that you need to be in some form of education till your at least 18 a student rate is needed to try and keep them coming along. I agree it should be till around 22 years old as most will likely still be in Uni etc.

[iris123]

MORE RACING

Grasstrack racing, run entirely by amateurs, manages to put on a 30 to 50 race programme lasting around three hours. Even if one race is not very exciting there is another one along almost instantly. This makes for an interesting and sometimes exciting, few hours of racing. Speedway needs more racing!

And are attendances at Grasstrack a lot bigger than at speedway because of this?

Edited December 26, 2015 by iris123

[Vince]

Music, big screens, hype,lights, showbiz, fights after races, heart throb appeal for young women. Cool merchandise. Play on the characters, heroes and villains, jingles, glamour for the young lads,hip hop,edm,pit cam, interviews throughout,screens in bar etc., clean modern facilities,cool Kevlars, fireworks, special effects,hype

 

Hip hop, pit cam, interviews throughout, fireworks all sounds dreadful to me so almost certainly accurate as to the sort of thing youngsters would want.

 

Most of the rest I can live with and a couple of things I'd welcome.

 

What's edm?

[Robert Lee]

That's me finished then.

 

Me too. Having read some of the stuff on here, I'm beginning to think the question should be: "Why do we want to attract a new young audience?" !!!

[Daniel Smith]

This thread sums up the issue with speedway, old people trying to understand what young people want.

I'm young and what I want at speedway is a decent sound system, alcohol which is affordable, legal highs and girls.

As much as people won't take much notice of this post, it is absolutely bang on the money with that 1st sentence. How old is their youngest member of the BSPA?

[steve roberts]

I work in the tourism industry here in York and the thing that we are constantly being told is that attractions need to become more 'interactive'...unfortunately that often means having to 'dumb down' and often alienates some people. It's all very well discussing music, pre and post and/or between heat attractions but if the basic product isn't right you're not going to attract the punters. Track preparation, good racing (with less emphasis on speed?), admission prices (value for money), identifiable riders (locally based ideally and not those who flit in and out of the country on a whim), continuity of meaningful fixtures (not disrupted by the influence of GPs - should riders be given an ultimatum GP or British League?), continuity of team make-ups (they constantly change year on year and therefore difficult for the fans to relate too) etc etc.

 

I've given promotional talks at schools in the past but. alas, they didn't really generate much interest as most children who are not familiar with motor cycle racing find it difficult to equate. However football, cricket etc which is (or was?) taught at school is much easier to sell and of course the national media is obsessed with these sports unlike speedway.

 

But as I constantly refer to on this forum I am out of touch with speedway having not been for 12 years so there are those better placed than me to offer an incite to how the sport can move forward...if it's possible?

Edited December 26, 2015 by steve roberts

[Skid Sprocket]

It's often said that speedway is seen as an older persons sport, do the youngsters also think that the riders are the same age group? a good point to get across to the younger generation would be the age of the riders.

 

Does anyone know the average age of participating riders in the U.K leagues?

[steve roberts]

And are attendances at Grasstrack a lot bigger than at speedway because of this?

I've actually attended a couple of Grasstrack meetings within the last couple of years (Pickering, North Yorkshire) and to be honest the attendances on both occasions was very poor.

[RobMcCaffery]

I work in the tourism industry here in York and the thing that we are constantly being told is that attractions need to become more 'interactive'...unfortunately that often means having to 'dumb down' and often alienates some people. It's all very well discussing music, pre and post and/or between heat attractions but if the basic product isn't right you're not going to attract the punters. Track preparation, good racing (with less emphasis on speed?), admission prices (value for money), identifiable riders (locally based ideally and not those who flit in and out of the country on a whim), continuity of meaningful fixtures (not disrupted by the influence of GPs - should riders be given an ultimatum GP or British League?), continuity of team make-ups (they constantly change year on year and therefore difficult for the fans to relate too) etc etc.

 

I've given promotional talks at schools in the past but. alas, they didn't really generate much interest as most children who are not familiar with motor cycle racing find it difficult to equate. However football, cricket etc which is (or was?) taught at school is much easier to sell and of course the national media is obsessed with these sports unlike speedway.

 

But as I constantly refer to on this forum I am out of touch with speedway having not been for 12 years so there are those better placed than me to offer an incite to how the sport can move forward...if it's possible?

Steve, you may have been away for 12 years but your insight is excellent. Speedway is not a school sport so automatically faces a hurdle in getting people to feel empathy with it. Most people just don't know what it's like to race a bike, but then that applies to to all forms of motorsport. Others get over that hurdle though.

 

People need to care about speedway - the action and the team.

 

My wife's perhaps a useful example of a lost supporter. A devoted Hackney Hawks fan the arrival of the Kestrels in 1984 on a completely reshaped track killed it for her. Her Hawks were gone and while Barry Thomas returned to his old home it simply wasn't her team. She lost all identification with the side. She used to refer to the Hackney Kestrels as the 'Leyton Buzzards".

 

The track had been totally rebuilt, a sad necessity given how dangerous the old circuit had become with the racing line lethally close to lamp standards and an adverse camber luring the unwary into a frightening situation.

 

The relaid track rode well but didn't RACE well, but despite the hype from the new promotion people knew the fun had gone. My wife continued her involvement in the sport helping me out in my work but her love for the sport had gone. She'd lost her team and effectively her track.

 

Now obviously this isn't directly relevant to the topic but I feel it illustrates two fundamental points, applicable to supporters of any age. Supporters care about their team and enjoy the racing (hopefully, although it seems to be just about winning with too many now).

 

People have to care about and enjoy the product and not go out of habit or a loyalty to something they no longer really enjoy. In the latter case it just takes one flashpoint of disappointment to see people walk away, whether it be one defeat too many, a perceived snub or a realisation that there were other things to do on speedway nights.

 

To Jay speedway was Friday at 8 - EVERY week, and Friday without speedway was a hell that lasted from November to March. The Hawks were a team of relatively local guys mixed in with the occasional glamorous foreigner, who became her friends, not just her heroes.

 

One of speedway's assets is its intimacy - you can get so much closer and involved than at major sports. You can be more than a customer. Now, how do we sell that to people?

Edited December 26, 2015 by rmc

[New Science]

Music, big screens, hype,lights, showbiz, fights after races, heart throb appeal for young women. Cool merchandise. Play on the characters, heroes and villains, jingles, glamour for the young lads,hip hop,edm,pit cam, interviews throughout,screens in bar etc., clean modern facilities,cool Kevlars, fireworks, special effects,hype

We can have all the bells and whistles we want but unless young people are exited by the racing there is nothing that be done to keep them coming

[iris123]

We can have all the bells and whistles we want but unless young people are exited by the racing there is nothing that be done to keep them coming

It is a chicken and egg thing.It has often been said on here that the basic racing has to be good,but you also as the title said have to attract people into the stadiums.You can't regardless be 100% sure that the racing can be good for a variety of reasons,but you can be well prepared and make sure all the other things can be 100%

[Gemini]

It's often said that speedway is seen as an older persons sport, do the youngsters also think that the riders are the same age group? a good point to get across to the younger generation would be the age of the riders.

 

Does anyone know the average age of participating riders in the U.K leagues?

 

Good job Greg Hancock doesn't ride over here then as we are continually being told he is 45.

[steve roberts]

I know that it's a rather simplistic parallel but my brother is a member of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and he often says that he has frequented some rather grotty establishments over the years where there's no SKY TV and/or music and/or gaming machines but it's the ale that attracts him! In other words it's the product that excites him and he meets with other similar minded people (not me I might add!) who enjoy a good chat (putting the world to right!) enjoying traditional beverages!