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Periscope. A Promoters Nightmare App.


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I am not sure why the BSPA have taken such a hard nosed approach to this other than to protect their income through the gates.

As although they have an exclusive contract with Sky as long as the clubs don't do the filming themselves or promote that you can watch heats online then nothing more would have been said about this.

 

I can see this being very difficult to control especially in the busier tracks I am sure there will still be streams appearing

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I am not sure why the BSPA have taken such a hard nosed approach to this other than to protect their income through the gates.

As although they have an exclusive contract with Sky as long as the clubs don't do the filming themselves or promote that you can watch heats online then nothing more would have been said about this.

I can see this being very difficult to control especially in the busier tracks I am sure there will still be streams appearing

So maybe by just issuing the statement the BSPA have covered themselves legally

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I think its a great idea if periscope or such idea was used. As its been said previously Pete from Clean Cut Sports is very much the person in the know about setting these up as he has for a good while with the ice hockey. How many people subscribe is another matter but where sky can't make it and its available I cant imagine it effecting people who go regular anyway. I doubt its as easy as it looks and you wouldn't want to be paying for someone trying to stream a race from ground level and it all blurring past you. Done right this could be a really good way for people to watch meetings they just cant get to but the powers that currently hold the contract will not want to know. It could bring extra revenue and exposure to all clubs. Its not like they are daft enough not to think how many people watch sky sports through streaming websites anyhow that is free !! Riders are the worst asking for links :lol::nono:

Edited by Coventry_Bee
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The only reason folk are bleating on here is because they want to be able to get something for free again... of course hiding behind the argument of it being better for the sport etc.

 

A professional service, properly administered charging folk to watch meetings online would be great and I would happily pay for that.

 

I have little doubt that many of those complaining on here would be then finding ways of obtaining same coverage for free.

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I am not sure why the BSPA have taken such a hard nosed approach to this other than to protect their income through the gates.

As although they have an exclusive contract with Sky as long as the clubs don't do the filming themselves or promote that you can watch heats online then nothing more would have been said about this.

 

I can see this being very difficult to control especially in the busier tracks I am sure there will still be streams appearing

So, I take it from this that it's just Go-Speed and the BSPA that have a problem, not Sky. Criminalising supporters - the sport reaches new depths of idiocy. It's like watching King Canute trying to keep the beach dry.

Edited by rmc
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So, I take it from this that it's just Go-Speed and the BSPA that have a problem, not Sky. Criminalising supporters - the sport reaches new depths of idiocy. It's like watching King Canute trying to keep the beach dry.

 

New depths of idiocy? lmao.

 

Pop along to your local cinema, and broadcast the film on periscope for us. I'm sure they'll happily let you do that.

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Well its a hard line statement and so no more filming which is a shame for everyone. Providing a view of a couple of heats in a meeting is hardly going to stop fans from attending but provides a great service for fans of e away team to see that vital heat.

 

A shame and backwards thinking imo.

 

There is a demand to watch and in the future a steaming service behind a pay wall would bring in a new revenue stream to clubs.

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Well its a hard line statement and so no more filming which is a shame for everyone. Providing a view of a couple of heats in a meeting is hardly going to stop fans from attending but provides a great service for fans of e away team to see that vital heat.

 

A shame and backwards thinking imo.

 

There is a demand to watch and in the future a steaming service behind a pay wall would bring in a new revenue stream to clubs.

watching heat 12 last week on here was the only chance i've had to see Adam ride in Poole colours until I can get over to the UK. shame that'll be denied now

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I'm glad that this theft of something that is owned by Gospeed has been stopped by the BSPA. I'm expecting the empty terraces to fill back up straight away... Our sport should be awesome, but it's not, it's run by idiots from the dark ages.

No our sport is virtually bankrupt and all tracks rely on promoters and sponsors to subsidise the, already too high, admission prices.

One alternative source of income is from pay TV but that relies on people buying viewing packages. If their streams are stolen and published for nothing then there is a decreasing worth to TV of speedway which will be reflected in the next round of negotiations by a lower price or no TV deal at all.

While apps and streaming may be of use to those who don't want to pay admission to watch their speedway live they are worthless to promoters whose focus should be getting more people onto the terraces.

Additionally it should stop my view of the action being spoiled by some knob waving an i-pad in the air in an effort to film the action for his nerdy "friends".

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So the BSPA wants to stop their product being 'stolen'... and the speedway community is up in arms.

 

 

The only reason folk are bleating on here is because they want to be able to get something for free again... of course hiding behind the argument of it being better for the sport etc.

 

A professional service, properly administered charging folk to watch meetings online would be great and I would happily pay for that.

 

I have little doubt that many of those complaining on here would be then finding ways of obtaining same coverage for free.

 

I see where you are coming from, and I suspect the BSPA have had to put the message out because of the nature of their contract regarding broadcasting rights.

 

However, I can't for the life of me believe that the opportunity of watching amateur footage streamed from a mobile phone on the terraces (such as that posted by Steve Shovlar recently) would really convince someone who had a genuine intention of attending a meeting to decide not to. As a result, I suspect the amateur footage posted on Periscope would have a virtually insignificant impact on turnstile revenue. It's a poor substitute for being there.

 

To me, the Periscope content was more akin to the Live Updates service. It gave the supporter a the chance to keep up to speed with a meeting which they either had no intention of attending (such as, in my case, the Poole v Swindon meeting) or were unable to attend (again, in my case, a meeting such as Coventry v Poole). Live Updates are great, but watching on Periscope is better.

 

However, I believe that a professionally run streaming service such as you suggest would not be so great for the sport. There is a world of difference between watching amateur mobile phone footage and the kind of footage which would be 'live streamed' from a track for a fee. If people had to pay the club/BSPA for a live stream, they would (quite rightly) expect a commentary and broadcast quality uninterrupted coverage (even if it was just single-camera footage). And, of course, the better the quality of the broadcast, the more attractive it would be to customers. We all know the effect a Sky meeting has on attendances. I believe a broadcast quality stream would have a similar effect.

 

A professionally produced live feed, like a live tv broadcast, is not such a poor substitute for 'being there'. On a cold night, or a night where there was a question mark over the weather, or when a 'less attractive team' is visiting, it could convince many home fans who would otherwise have attended, to pay the £5-£10 to watch at home, rather than the £20 plus petrol, plus other misc costs to 'be there'. Would I stay at home to watch mobile phone footage on Periscope, filmed from the terraces? No. Would I stop at home to watch a professionally produced stream such as documented above. Occasionally, if it suited me to, yes.

 

Of course, this effect on turnstile revenue could be offset by away fans paying for a live feed who would be otherwise unable/unwilling to travel. Or by the 'casual' supporter paying for an 'attractive' fixture not featuring their supported team. Or by the supporters of the home team who are unable to attend. I suspect this wouldn't be the case though. More likely, it would make even more of the few away fans who do travel to meetings stay at home, because they can watch a broadcast-quality live stream instead. And the revenue from the casual fans or the 'home' fans who are unable to attend the meeting would not compensate for the amount of home fans who decided not to go to the meeting, but rather to stay at home and pay to watch a professionally produced product from the comfort of their living rooms.

 

I'm a pretty committed supporter, but I'm not sure I'd pay even a fiver to watch a streamed Bees away meeting which, looking at the make-up of this year's team, they would probably lose. Yes, I'd probably watch bits of free Periscope footage, but the effect on turnstile revenue, or any other revenue to the staging club of me doing this would be nil.

Edited by G the Bee
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It is getting to a stage where quite a lot of people are happy to sit on their arse and watch a product rather than attend and thus streaming etc benefits some sports, I am not convinced Speedway is one of them.

 

It is great pointing at other sports that use streaming like UFC, WWE and NFL but they are huge companies who generally pack out the stadia they are showing with the people who do want to attend sports paying excessive money to attend..

 

Speedway is a sport that gets about 700 people standing in a field in generally pretty crap weather…stream that, chances are you end up with 500 in attendance and 50 people paying £10 less than they would have to watch it on a stream.

 

It would evidently require research but a Speedway Network probably wouldn’t get the numbers to justify it, throw in people then illegally streaming that, sharing accounts etc it would accelerate closures IMO.

Edited by sparkafag
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No our sport is virtually bankrupt and all tracks rely on promoters and sponsors to subsidise the, already too high, admission prices.

One alternative source of income is from pay TV but that relies on people buying viewing packages. If their streams are stolen and published for nothing then there is a decreasing worth to TV of speedway which will be reflected in the next round of negotiations by a lower price or no TV deal at all.

While apps and streaming may be of use to those who don't want to pay admission to watch their speedway live they are worthless to promoters whose focus should be getting more people onto the terraces.

Additionally it should stop my view of the action being spoiled by some knob waving an i-pad in the air in an effort to film the action for his nerdy "friends".

 

I agree about the sport being potless and that promoters focus should be on getting the punters in. I guess we just have differing views on people filming it. In my head it's spreading the word by putting a few heats on a mobile phone out there, but I agree that proper streaming of content is different. Not convinced that Sky would care a jot about some nerds sharing a minority sport as they have a few more problems generally with fire sticks and kodi.

 

I'd love to be watching speedway where my view could be spoiled by someone in front of me rather than empty spaces...

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I noticed at Lakeside last night notices at the pay booths about live streaming is not allowed, my take on it is that I think there could be a place for such a service but only if it can be charged for and clubs recieve some recompence for it, if crowds drop because people want to stay at home rather than attend it will force tracks to close which will only hurt those who do make the effort to attend.

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