Future Of British Speedway?

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

Proposal for the future of British Speedway - in many aspects going back to basics and growing the sport from the bottom up, rather than trying to accommodate change just to try and attract about 10 GP riders to compete - who are expensive and unaffordable in the current climate with low crowd, no investment and no direction. My ideas are for riders who want to ride in Britain who are not potentially associated to the GP series, offering lots of opportunities to "earn" with lots of meetings with some diversity to mix it up for the fans.

 

- All teams consist of 6 riders built to a maximum of 38 points, no restrictions on how a team is built I.E. no draft riders etc. I will use 6 teams as an example for this post for what teams could look like using the latest averages from today. Reserve to ride at 5 & 6

 

IPSWICH WITCHES

1. Scott Nicholls

2. Gino Manzares

3. Nico Covatti

4. Ben Barker

5. Adam Ellis

6. Danyon Hume

 

KINGS LYNN

1. Mads Korneliussen

2. Kai Huckenbeck

3. Robert Lambert

4. Richie Worrall

5. Lewis Rose

6. Josh Bailey

 

SOMERSET

1. Troy Batchelor

2. Jake Allen

3. Josh Gracjzonek

4. Charles Wright

5. Arthur Sissis

6. Zach Waijknecht

 

POOLE

1. Krzysztof Buczkowski

2. Kyle Newman

3. Jack Holder

4. Bjarne Pedersen

5. Bradley Wilson-Dean

6. Oliver Greenwood

 

GLASGOW

1. Hans Andersen

2. Nike Lunna

3. Richard Lawson

4. Paul Starke

5. Danny Ayres

6. Fernando Garcia

 

RYE HOUSE

1. Edward Kennett

2. Ludvig Lindgren

3. Rory Schlein

4. Kasper Lykke

5. Ben Morley

6. Rob Banford

 

LEAGUE STRUCTURE

 

Two Leagues split between "Northern/Southen" yes some tracks are closer to others but it can work. 12 teams

 

British League Northern - Belle Vue, Leicester, Coventry, Wolves, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Workington, Sheffield, Newcastle, Glasgow, Berwick & Edinburgh.

 

British League Southern - Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Swindon, Lakeside, Poole, Kent, Plymouth, Peterborough, Somerset, Rye House, Isle of Wight, Eastbourne.

 

Race each other once Home & Away then top 6/bottom 6 race each other home & away (additional 10 meetings) whoever is top of the bottom 6 wins the Regional Shield, only 4 of the top 6 can qualify for the play-offs.

 

Top 4 from each League race off against each other end of season play-offs for overall British Champion, each winner of the regional league declared regional champion. You can only guest riders during the league from the other region, during play-offs you can only guest from riders who are not involved in the play offs.

 

League Race format is 15 fixed heats with no nominated heats, highest average rider at no.1, second highest at no.3, lowest two riders at 5 & 6, points 3-2-1-0, no protected races.

 

Example Ipswich vs Kings Lynn

 

1 - Nicholls/Manzares vs Korneliussen/Huckenbeck

2 - Ellis/Hume vs Rose/Bailey

3 - Covatti/Barker vs Lambert/Worrall

4 - Nicholls/Barker vs Lambert/Rose

5 - Manzares/Hume vs Huckenbeck/Bailey

6 - Covatti/Ellis vs Korneliussen/Worrall

7 - Nicholls/Ellis vs Huckenbeck/Worrall

8 - Manzares/Barker vs Korneliussen/Rose

9 - Covatti/Hume vs Lambert/Bailey

10 - Nicholls/Hume vs Korneliussen/Bailey

11 - Manzares/Covatti vs Worrall/Rose

12 - Barker/Ellis vs Huckenbeck/Lambert

13 - Barker/Hume vs Huckenbeck/Rose

14 - Manzares/Ellis vs Worrall/Bailey

15 - Nicholls/Covatti vs Korneliussen/Lambert

 

REGIONAL LEAGUE CUP

 

Consists of 4 mini leagues of 3 teams racing against each other Home & Away once, Group winner progressing into the Semi-Finals.

 

The twist is that The league cup is contested over 12 standard heats with two nominated heats, managers must nominate riders for the last two heats in private to make them use their tactical nous - also as a twist this competition would feature a point scoring format of 4-3-2-0 to put the emphasis on team riding.

 

Example - Poole vs Somerset

 

1 - Buck/Newman vs Batch/Allen

2 - BWD/Greenwood vs Sissis/Waijknecht

3 - Holder/Pedersen vs Gracjzonek/Wright

4 - Newman/Greenwood vs Allen/Waijknecht

5 - Buck/Pedersen vs Batch/Wright

6 - Holder/BWD vs Grajz/Sissis

7 - Buck/Holder vs Batch/Grajz

8 - Pedersen/Greenwood vs Wright/Waijknecht

9 - Newman/BWD vs Allen/Sissis

10 - Buck/Newman vs Grajz/Wright

11 - BWD/Greenwood vs Sissis/Waijknecht

12 - Holder/Pedersen vs Batch/Allen

13 - Nominated Heat

14 - Nominated Heat

 

BRITISH CUP

 

4 clubs to obtain buys into the 2nd round from both North & South divisions leaving 16 clubs to battle it out in Round 1, all teams go into the same hat and draws are done at random - all meetings are 2 legged knockouts and this competition provides the opportunity for northern/southern clubs to clash.

 

To keep things interesting points will remain 3-2-1-0 but will run over 12 standard heats with a heat 13 nominated race.Highest average at no.1, lowest at no.6 - the rest can be slotted anywhere else in the team.

 

for example, Glasgow vs Rye House

 

1 - Andersen/Luna vs Kennett/Lindgren

2 - Ayres/Garcia vs Morley/Banford

3 - Lawson/Starke vs Schlein/Lykke

4 - Lunna/Garcia vs Schlein/Morley

5 - Andersen/Starke vs Kennett/Lykke

6 - Lawson/Ayres vs Lindgren/Banford

7 - Andersen/Lawson vs Kennett/Schlein

8 - Starke/Garcia vs Lindgren/Morley

9 - Lunna/Ayres vs Lykke/Banford

10 - Andersen/Ayres vs Kennett/Morley

11 - Lawson/Garcia vs Schlein/Banford

12 - Lunna/Starke vs Lindgren/Lykke

13 - NOMINATED

 

 

SUMMARY

 

If you look at a team that go all the way in all competition, you have 32 League meetings, a potential 6 play off meetings at the end of the league, 4 meetings from the League Cup Group, then a further 4 meetings from semi/final. Moving into the British Cup even if you get a buy in round 1 you then go into the last 16 so thats 8 meetings

 

A total of 54 domestic club meetings. those who fail at the first hurdle get 38 meetings.

 

COMMERCIAL TERMS

 

All competition should have a Title Sponsor, there is no reason why the regional leagues cannot be sponsored by a betting company who get exclusivity on betting rights for domestic speedway, someone like BetFred, Bet365, PaddyPower etc.

 

The League and British Cup competitions should also attract a lower-level sponsor - there are loads of opportunities, for example British Cup could attract a power-tool company like Metabo, Milwakee, Snap On etc. and the League Cup could get an energy drink sponsor or an oil company etc. it would really be easy to get if you don;t ask for crazy money.

 

TELEVISION DEAL

 

I would personally explore having an online speedway channel, first of all I would partner with a broadcaster either Sky Sports or BT Sport and sell League rights only - agree a fixed number of race nights exclusively live with the broadcast partner.

 

Then utilise a pay-monthly online channel where selected meetings from the remaining league fixtures and cup competitions are streamed live.

 

Take the 24 clubs, if each averaged 1,000 spectators thats 24,000 people, if 20% of these people signed up to the online channel at a pay-monthly £4.99 to get exclusive online streaming of meetings, interviews with riders, features on teams, re-runs of old meetings etc. etc. That is a monthly revenue of £23,952 or (£287,424) annually which potential to grow if marketed correctly against marketing the sport correctly and increasing attendances/popularity.

 

I am sure most speedway fans would happily pay £4.99 per month (which is not a bank buster) if it can guarantee some decent content, which could include say 10 additional meetings per month LIVE, interviews with riders, team features, maybe could introduce a chat show etc. It could also hold archive footage of meetings, can re-run classic meetings, and if savvy enough - could have a fanzone section where those supporters who are techy advanced can submit their own videos - maybe of a fans day out view, traveling to an away meeting, their own interview with club riders etc. it would pack the content out on this basis without paying the fan.

 

 

 

thats my 50 pence worth of input, speedway in my opinion in broken, and as with anything you build a foundation first, i won't meet a girl tomorrow, marry her the following day then build a relationship after.

 

Also out of interest - who would win the above example meetings lol

 

 

[LisaColette]

Certainly has been thought though! The problem I have is Poole and Coventry being split up, I love those meetings, to me they are the equivalent of Liverpool vs Man Utd in football.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

If both teams continue to build successful sides, they would meet each other in the latter stages of the British Cup and of course the play-offs with the top 4 from each division meet at the end of the season.

[Daniel Smith]

Well thought out, the thing that stands out to me is the commitment that's required for that to work from foreign riders. 38 league fixtures is a no go first off. It's difficult to get the none GP riders to commit to the current EL 28 fixtures. Adding an extra 10 league fixture + cup comps is madness

Even in the 6 teams above a number of the riders would be elsewhere on better pay days.

Teams running guests would likely be worse than today.

 

1. Tuesday (Sweden)
2. Wednesday (Denmark)
3. Thursday (Sweden)
4. Friday (Denmark / Poland)
5. Saturday (SGP / SEC qualifiers)
6. Sunday (Poland)

[royal]

Other than the issues pointed out by Danny, its a well thought out plan, and for me, worth some exploring. Something needs doing, and fairly qiuckly. An independant ruling body is very important too, in my eyes.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

Maybe scrap the idea of the additional 10 league meetings but that was added to give those people extra meetings that do not race in other leagues mainly our British lads, However also a point is that too many riders now want to have that tag of "professional rider" when several years ago people had day jobs and still competed.

 

I'd stick to the original 22 league meetings and include the cup matches and play-offs, as I would say that is do-able even for those few clubs who manage to reach the latter stages.

 

the appeal in hope to foreign riders is that, if you can get more meetings in the UK with potential to earn more £££ you would prioritise the UK more which is what the top riders don't do now, so eliminating the top riders, you don't worry too much about people who have Polish commitments either, I think there would maybe be a handful that would ride in Poland too

[Deano]

Just one comment on a well thought out proposal. Is there enough riders? You could end up with one riders doubling for a North and South.

[poolebolton]

I will admit that I like the top riders, who doesn't. I think one problem we would need to sort out is that lots of riders especially the Aussie's have committed to the UK, Holder living in Poole, Doyle lives outside of Swindon, Batch lives in King's Lynn and so does NKI and even Niki Pedersen has a house here. The problem we need to sort out and I admit it as a Poole fan is the gap in finance. Poole, having the largest crowd and have the biggest sponsors ReadyPower, Meridian Lifts and Adrian Flux are the three big ones and Poole have 2. Matt Ford can always afford top riders it's really not a problem for him. Look how we (as Poole) can just bring in Hancock for 18 meetings. If your plan is going to work we need someway of saying well Matt this is what you need to do, because Poole could make much more money than they will do with that structure.

[stevebrum]

There isn't enough riders for one big league so it's a no go anyway no matter how you address it.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

Just one comment on a well thought out proposal. Is there enough riders? You could end up with one riders doubling for a North and South.

 

I did put together all 24 teams with 6 riders and there were enough with a few left over but thats why I would say guests are only allowed from the oppositie division so people are not seeing the same old faces.

I will admit that I like the top riders, who doesn't. I think one problem we would need to sort out is that lots of riders especially the Aussie's have committed to the UK, Holder living in Poole, Doyle lives outside of Swindon, Batch lives in King's Lynn and so does NKI and even Niki Pedersen has a house here. The problem we need to sort out and I admit it as a Poole fan is the gap in finance. Poole, having the largest crowd and have the biggest sponsors ReadyPower, Meridian Lifts and Adrian Flux are the three big ones and Poole have 2. Matt Ford can always afford top riders it's really not a problem for him. Look how we (as Poole) can just bring in Hancock for 18 meetings. If your plan is going to work we need someway of saying well Matt this is what you need to do, because Poole could make much more money than they will do with that structure.

 

The sport can't sustain the big names, and the big names are few against the majority who have committed to racing in the UK, I know some people like to see the top riders but I would bet most would love to see close racing or a better product than now.

 

Under my proposal, I think Matt Ford could make much more money, first of all he saves in rider wages as there are no GP riders, I think the loss of fans would be minimal, more local derby matches should in essence boost attendances, potential more exposure for potential sponsors via the online streaming and so on...

There isn't enough riders for one big league so it's a no go anyway no matter how you address it.

 

There are enough riders, If you take the top batch from the National League, take the full quota from the PL, then the remaining few from the EL who are not GP riders and do not D/U then you have enough - couple that with some riders who are not racing in the UK at the moment - 24 x 6 = 144 riders I think my list contained well over 200+ riders unless I doubled up on any lol

[heathen chemistry]

not enough riders for one big amalgamated league,

riders wouldnt want it, theyre happy riding for 2 clubs = more money, with one league some riders would be at risk of quitting due to not earning enough to pay engine bills

and those that do would no doubt be cutting back on spending which would mean inferior equipment, hindering them on the world stage

 

a bigger elite 10 teams would be better, but i dont think there are those that want to join,

[stevebrum]

 

The sport can't sustain the big names, and the big names are few against the majority who have committed to racing in the UK, I know some people like to see the top riders but I would bet most would love to see close racing or a better product than now.

 

 

You are claiming you are proposing a better product?

I have been watching great close racing at ALL levels year this and particularly in the EL.

So there is nothing wrong with the product. How it is packaged is a very different thing however.

I see close racing and a good product already. Take out the top tier and I and plenty others would disappear from watching any regular speedway overnight.

Sorry to interject your positive proposal however you're quoted post above is a very bold and subjective comment with little merit.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

not enough riders for one big amalgamated league,

riders wouldnt want it, theyre happy riding for 2 clubs = more money, with one league some riders would be at risk of quitting due to not earning enough to pay engine bills

and those that do would no doubt be cutting back on spending which would mean inferior equipment, hindering them on the world stage

 

a bigger elite 10 teams would be better, but i dont think there are those that want to join,

 

I think it would affect only a few - the d/uppers

 

More points money in the EL, less in the PL, so all teams under one roof.... you would expect money to sit somewhere in the middle..... or maybe someone like Poole will pay the lower order PL money and put the top boys on EL money still to attract them? Its possible....

[stevebrum]

 

There are enough riders, If you take the top batch from the National League, take the full quota from the PL, then the remaining few from the EL who are not GP riders and do not D/U then you have enough - couple that with some riders who are not racing in the UK at the moment - 24 x 6 = 144 riders I think my list contained well over 200+ riders unless I doubled up on any lol

The issue with a lot of the NL riders is that they are thrown into the PL and a lot have failed.

That's why the PL should have adopted a tier system long before the EL did to aid the progression.

 

With my EL hat off you have a well thought out idea however it's one I wouldn't be interested in following without the big names.

[MrMungo]

There was a piece in the Speedway Star about a testing of a new 6-man race format.

Wonder if it is something similar to this format?

[poolebolton]

There was a piece in the Speedway Star about a testing of a new 6-man race format.

Wonder if it is something similar to this format?

How would this work? I think it would be a good idea get rid of the EDR and just have some decent racing. I don't really understand the fuss about having British riders in the EL because there are not enough to go around. EL should be about having good racing with have the PL for letting British riders find there feet then they can move up. Which riders are currently good British riders who are actually great to watch. Tai, Cook, Harris( still not GP standard rider), Lambert, S Worrall, Ellis. I don't think Garrity or Newman ever going to make the grade so get rid of it. I think any British club should take pride in getting riders to GP standard. As a Poole fan I take great pride in Holder, Magic and of course Darcy getting to the standard and I'm sure Matt wants to get Brady, J. Holder to that level. We need the EL for the sake of British racing. As a young speedway fan(in U6th) you might call me a speedway snob by all I have ever known is GP riders and without them I would think about going to watch speedway because there is nothing better than watching heat 13 with big riders going against each other.

[heathen chemistry]

There was a piece in the Speedway Star about a testing of a new 6-man race format.

Wonder if it is something similar to this format?

 

which rider will be allowed 7 rides..

 

6 man teams would mean 3 sets of pairings, then in other races mix it up 1+2 , 3+4 ,5+6. then 1+3 , 2+4 , 3+5, 2+6, etc etc would it work thou

[sparkafag]

I don’t think it is fair on either Poole or Scunthorpe (as an example) to be in what is basically the same division despite regional splits.

 

These two tracks and regions are a million miles apart on so many different levels, one has a decent fan base, tradition, built up infrastructure, built up sponsor base to lean on etc and the other doesn’t, and this is before even considering the economy in each area.

 

This same logic could apply to a lot of teams.

 

I think that from simply looking at clubs, catchment areas, facilities, potential growth you can place what leagues clubs should be in, that might change over time with organic growth of clubs in what may be seen as lower end areas (no disrespect meant by that).

 

It should also be a minimum two tier structure IMO, I think we might see that soon with basically a watered down EL/high end PL and a watered down PL/NL. A structure like that appears to satisfy the needs of loads of different clubs for loads of reasons and allows the chance for DU to remain/Brits to progress into FTR spots.

 

The idea of one league was tested during the BLC I think that was a toe dipping exercise and it failed miserably and seems to have put the idea of one big league to bed.

Edited June 9, 2016 by The Mockingjay

[Christopher Bcmma Cook]

You are claiming you are proposing a better product?

I have been watching great close racing at ALL levels year this and particularly in the EL.

So there is nothing wrong with the product. How it is packaged is a very different thing however.

I see close racing and a good product already. Take out the top tier and I and plenty others would disappear from watching any regular speedway overnight.

Sorry to interject your positive proposal however you're quoted post above is a very bold and subjective comment with little merit.

 

To be fair granted, no matter what state of the sport, you will see some close racing at all levels, but also on the flip side of the coin you will see some dross - the same would happen even under my own proposed ideas - but my proposal is about building from the bottom down and working its way back up again to maybe a time in the future where the "stars" will come and play in the UK.

 

At the moment all but a few don't want the UK, i fear the BSPA will bend over backwards just to attract a few additional names which in essence does nothing for british speedway because there is not enough interest to warrant having these guys at present, if all these changes are made to accomodate the big stars, what will happen is clubs will go bust, and these big stars will just carry on racing elsewhere.

 

I'm amaized that people like holder, NKI etc. still do the UK and all credit to them

[foamfence]

I think some of the clubs featured in this initial plan will be out of the equation in the next two seasons and there will likely only be enough to form one league.