Helicopter View

[Theboss]

I see a few members are saying that PL is unsustainable, that may be true but imagine if you took the Sky money (circa of £100k per club per year) away from the Elite League clubs, they would very quickly go out of business!

 

From somebody who has the unique benefit of running a club in the Premier League with no TV money and one in the Elite League with TV money, I can assure you that one league with the benefit of Sky money (around £50k per year once shared amongst all the clubs) would make a fantastic product that is financially sustainable.

Edited April 4, 2016 by jchapman

[Daniel Smith]

If I had a helicopter I'd be requesting Air Traffic Control find me & anyone else alternative routes so the speedway vortex doesn't suck us in.

 

Makes you unhappy but you can't find a way out until you finally crash.

[Starman2006]

They might moan but they still go ..no one asking for all the top boys to come back but unless the crowds come back speedway dies a slow death ....the standard dropping has got hand in hand with the crowds dropping .

So whats the answer ? Because you cannot work around the top boys returning..

[ColinMills]

I see a few members are saying that PL is unsustainable, that may be true but imagine if you took the Sky money (circa of £100k per club per year) away from the Elite League clubs, they would very quickly go out of business!

 

From somebody who has the unique benefit of running a club in the Premier League with no TV money and one in the Elite League with TV money, I can assure you that one league with the benefit of Sky money (around £50k per year once shared amongst all the clubs) would make a fantastic product that is financially sustainable.

yes, one league, 7 riders, rid us of this mix n match...bring speedway back to a proper team sport

[orion]

I see a few members are saying that PL is unsustainable, that may be true but imagine if you took the Sky money (circa of £100k per club per year) away from the Elite League clubs, they would very quickly go out of business!

 

From somebody who has the unique benefit of running a club in the Premier League with no TV money and one in the Elite League with TV money, I can assure you that one league with the benefit of Sky money (around £50k per year once shared amongst all the clubs) would make a fantastic product that is financially sustainable.

Yea like it was such a fantastic product the last time they done it ..quite righty in sport the top leagues etc get the money as the viewers want to see them ..I doubt if teams like Southampton a etc could run to the level in premier league football without the tv money .

 

The pl the last time you were in it might have been great for you as you crushed everyone most the time as you had the most money but I doubt it was much fun for the rest of them .

Edited April 4, 2016 by orion

[ColinMills]

think levels has narrowed since the last time that happened. some EL line ups consist of 5 prem riders

[Theboss]

think levels has narrowed since the last time that happened. some EL line ups consist of 5 prem riders

 

Exactly, a few years ago I would not have suggested such a thing as one league, but levels have got closer and closer to a point where you could create a new league which gave the best of both worlds and was sustainable!

[Game On]

think levels has narrowed since the last time that happened. some EL line ups consist of 5 prem riders

Yep Coventrys do.

[ColinMills]

Yep Coventrys do.

fully aware of that, its a frustrating start...

[Daniel Smith]

JC, how financially viable would you see speedway if say:-

 

6 man teams

10 team league

Each club supply (own) 18 identical machines for riders + cover repair bills per season.

Start of season top heatleader picks 3 from 18 machines, 2nd in averages picks 3 from 15 etc.

Machines are then tagged to said rider's.

Only 2 machines per rider per meeting.

Any rider can use any of the other 10 team members machines per meeting after completing 2 rides.

 

Etc etc etc

 

Could taking the equipment away from the riders responsibility reduce costs?

[Theboss]

JC, how financially viable would you see speedway if say:-

 

6 man teams

10 team league

Each club supply (own) 18 identical machines for riders + cover repair bills per season.

Start of season top heatleader picks 3 from 18 machines, 2nd in averages picks 3 from 15 etc.

Machines are then tagged to said rider's.

Only 2 machines per rider per meeting.

Any rider can use any of the other 10 team members machines per meeting after completing 2 rides.

 

Etc etc etc

 

Could taking the equipment away from the riders responsibility reduce costs?

Nice idea and something i have previously looked in to but riders would not accept it....

[Countershaftcounter]

JC, how financially viable would you see speedway if say:-

 

6 man teams

10 team league

Each club supply (own) 18 identical machines for riders + cover repair bills per season.

Start of season top heatleader picks 3 from 18 machines, 2nd in averages picks 3 from 15 etc.

Machines are then tagged to said rider's.

Only 2 machines per rider per meeting.

Any rider can use any of the other 10 team members machines per meeting after completing 2 rides.

 

Etc etc etc

 

Could taking the equipment away from the riders responsibility reduce costs?

if someone is seriously injured or killed riding machinery maintained by someone else the lawyers would be wringing their hands with glee waiting for a claim.

[damosuzuki]

As a Glasgow supporter (remember we won hee haw last season) I hope sincerely we stay in the premier. I've seen how Scottish football went with blowing cash on big foreign names, no thanks. People talk about Speedway as if it's a special case - it isn't. FOOTBALL is the exception. If you market and package a minority sport well,and make sure it stays competitive it can succeed. It will succeed. Dropping the admission price would be bonkers. This is a professional motorsport with 14 riders on non production machines.

 

Sometimes I wonder where Speedway fans were in the past - it was worse up here in the eighties at various points!! Remember Blantyre ffs.

[Wackie]

Don't need a helicopter, from the top of a step ladder you can see that the sport is unsustainable in it's present form. It needs to cut costs across the board from admission prices to what it pays riders. It would no doubt lose some of the more demanding riders because of this, but it'll lose them all unless it cuts it's cloth accordingly as the sport won't exist in 10 years time!

 

Oh, and from the first step you can also see that it needs an independent governing body with representation from BSPA, SRA and Supporters.

[orion]

Don't need a helicopter, from the top of a step ladder you can see that the sport is unsustainable in it's present form. It needs to cut costs across the board from admission prices to what it pays riders. It would no doubt lose some of the more demanding riders because of this, but it'll lose them all unless it cuts it's cloth accordingly as the sport won't exist in 10 years time!

 

Oh, and from the first step you can also see that it needs an independent governing body with representation from BSPA, SRA and Supporters.

its been cutting it's cloth for years and getting rid of these demanding riders ....it's not worked ...the only hope it to get more fans the sport wont exist in ten years time by just sticking to the same plan year after year .

Edited April 4, 2016 by orion

[RobMcCaffery]

ZZZ The standard guff about wanting to run like the pl thou quite clearly as Plymouth have shown hardly anyone wants to watch it ...when are you going to wake up and understand the pl is dying as much as other league .it's not working

 

The only way forward to get more fans in and that is making the standard better just like any other sport.. it's utter guff about the bonding varied fixtures etc etc otherwise the pl would be packed with fans rather than clubs being on the edge of going broke .

 

The first thing we need to do it's to understand that speedway is not working at all levels rather this stupid thinking that it's only at El level and somehow the pl is the way to go .because it's not .

Meanwhile, away from the Fantasy League......................

spot on, quality line ups is what will get people back in stadiums, not watered down teams.

Clueless.

 

And in those two posts we have very adequate proof that there is no point in trying to have an intelligent discussion in the BSF. Simplistic answers based on guesswork and gut feeling to what are complex issues.

 

You could put the world's best on a EL track and I would doubt whether you could get enough people in the various stadia bar Belle Vue or maybe Coventry to even think about covering the cost. Thanks to Poland the cost of hiring the 'elite' is way beyond British ability to pay now, I suspect.

 

Yes the crowds would be bigger, but it's pointless if you can't get enough people in there to pay the riders without hiking the price to ridiculous levels.

 

Anyway, one very strong argument against merging the leagues is that you stop these blinkered EL 'superior beings' 'supporters' from ruining the fun in the PL and NL. It's probably best to just leave the EL to its problems and focus on the sane side of the sport.

 

It's like trying to discuss finance with someone whose expertise doesn't go beyond playing Monopoly....

Edited April 4, 2016 by rmc

[orion]

Meanwhile, away from the Fantasy League......................

 

Clueless.

No one is more clueless than you .

[Shale Searcher]

Elite League Admission = £17

Premier League Admission is £??

 

If its only £1 more for EL, then what's everyone moaning about admission to the EL???

 

Another 7p or 8p per race to watch Chris Harris, Holder, Zagar, Doyle..

 

Come on folks, get real.!!!!

[semion]

Maybe, at some point we will have to accept that Team League racing in this Country is past its sell by date and is not sustainable on a professional level.

[lynnboy]

If you put on a individual meeting at your track like say the pride of the east at Kingslynn, fill it with all the best riders in the world would you get 6k fans in the stadium ??? No you would not if you where lucky you would get 2.5k fans but it would not cover the running costs so you would loose money, this is why you don't see big individual meetings no more at tracks like Kingslynn and I personally think it would be the same if you did it in league meetings, I watch a lot of speedway from Poland and the crowds are very poor now compared to 10 years ago. and they have all the best riders do why do we think putting teams on the track with the likes of woffinden Hancock Pedersen would bring back the crowds ?? KingsLynns crowd for the match against lakeside was no less than when Wroclaw team came and they had the world champion in the team. Bring the costs down to £13 for adults £8 for oaps and £4 for up to under 16 and free for under 11. Make it a good value night out with one big league with equal teams. As people say you don't need world class riders to have good racing. Hopefully the powers that be in the bspa office are reading this and see what the fans want !!

Edited April 5, 2016 by lynnboy