Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

Does British Speedway Have Future?


Recommended Posts

I think the first thing to do is to charge realistic admission prices. How can I justify £42 every week plus the odd away match for myself and my wife? It's not the money but what am I getting for this.

 

Santa Pod went down this route and went bust 3 times before a realist took over. A full days racing 9 hours, bikes, cars all classes 240+ mph costs us about £40 for a National event. Come on Speedway get into the real world !!!

Spot on, but....

 

Santa Pod don't pay salaries twice a week to seven people from one meetings income...

 

Speedway does, it cannot afford to do it, but it ignores that small fact and still does it anyway...

 

Speedways business model is totally wrong with regards to it being a team sport in Britain, ie too much paid out and not enough coming in, no credibility in the competition's that are ran, no integrity in its rule making and administration etc. etc..

 

Basic economic reality is that it doesn't work but very little is done to change it, no radical ideas or plans..

 

The frustration is that the Sport can be great to watch, (mostly at GP and SEC level), it's sadly the capability in bringing that level of 'greatness' to the masses that is lacking..

 

Watch a great GP from the comfort of your armchair, cans chilling nicely in the fridge, take away curry leaflet sat next to the TV remote, ready to ring up during an interval in the racing to arrive at the optimum time when your lager is chilled to perfection, and you will have a 'great night'....

 

Decide that you will attend a local meeting that week inspired by what you have seen and hearing that two of the riders you have watched will be there...

 

Attend the track, baulk a wee bit and raise an eyebrow at the admission cost, (almost double what you paid for your lager and curry) stand there in the cold with no one within five metres of you, desperately trying to hear a muffled announcement over the tannoy, hear enough of it to realise that the two GP riders you watched on Saturday night are actually 'somewhere else' so the teams have 'borrowed' riders from elsewhere. Between races instead of expert punditry to pass the five to ten minutes, you get to watch tractors going round and round and round, whilst listening to a muffled Brotherhood of Man belting out their 1976 hit Save your Kisses for Me followed by some Jethro Tull..

 

Two and a half hours later you have seen fifteen minutes of action, some good but most not so, watching some riders wobble around at the back a full straight behind the leader, your fingers and feet have gone numb, you have tasted coffee like you have never tasted before (but at least it kept your hands warm for a while) and you go home thinking..

 

"Is that really the same sport? Think I will stick to the TV in future"...

 

Speedway (in this country) will, for me, evolve into 'stand alone' events, similar to other motor sports, all day events with different ages, ability levels and even disciplines, (flat track, sidecars, quads etc all at the same event) and have to dispense with twenty odd meetings a week raced on random nights, just to fit fixtures in, crammed with any level of rider just to make up 'select teams'..

 

Still can be a great sport to watch when done right, so there is always hope it can rise again. If a pub game like darts can attract huge audiences to the venue and to watch on TV, and make household names out of its competitors, then Speedway must have a chance if it can organise enough meaningful, well marketed, professionally presented and promoted meetings surely?

 

Less may actually be more going forward...

Edited by mikebv
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pleased to hear that someone ( mikebv ) is telling it as it is - the difference between the TV experience and the in-stadium experience. When you get to your local track that is just what it is like. Poor value and lacking much content other than - if you are lucky - three or four heats with some passing or a point of interest. " is it the same sport" is really the case at my local track. Fallen out of love with it, as it is at the trackside and there seems little or no interest by the BSPA or individual promoters in improving all aspects of presentation. A dwindling attendance can only get worse until/ unless the promoters actually take look at what they are selling at live matches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do hope that this is not a downbeat post but something that can get to the fundamentals of why our wonderful sport is stuggling to survive. Please can we have more idea's really radical proposals to get those turnstyles turning !!! Anything barmy or different as long as it's not offensive. Some of the most illogical things have gone on to be world beaters. Take for example skiing which has been totally upstaged by snow boarding but they sucessfully co-exist.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching speedway at National League level is like watching any other sport at grass-root level. I don't go there for comfort / first class production but to watch honest guys performing at their highest level, on top of that I am maybe seeing the beginning of a starling career in the sport.

 

I don't have the large number of years watching as many of the contributors on here have, and I don't have the memories of the halcyon days (apart from watching World of Sport) but I from one am happy to pay my hard earned cash to watch.

Edited by Newbie65
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A new fan of modern day speedway has the luxury, the comfort of knowing not a lot of the halcyon days. Keep it that way. You won't realise how low the sport has sunk. how fast. Stay happy... don't ever trawl back.. back to a time before clapping eyes on speedway racing. Those were Golden Days. This is the best it should get for you. There is nothing like your initial years of watching your new sport. Enjoy it while it lasts...

Edited by moxey63
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching speedway at National League level is like watching any other sport at grass-root level. I don't go there for comfort / first class production but to watch honest guys performing at their highest level, on top of that I am maybe seeing the beginning of a starling career in the sport.

 

I don't have the large number of years watching as many of the contributors on here have, and I don't have the memories of the halcyon days (apart from watching World of Sport) but I from one am happy to pay my hard earned cash to watch.

 

The NL for me is probably the best ran League, unfortunately beholding to its bigger brothers who decimate it throughout the season by taking riders as their needs must...

 

Admission prices are about right, minimal amount of guests, teams of similar standards due to a less disparate difference between the 14 riders on show who are, in the main, semi pro if not even amateur...

 

Similar to how the second tier was ran years ago, young often local British lads dreaming of stardom mixed with old experienced heads earning a few extra quid alongside their day jobs, whilst others in the team (often the journeymen) used it as a paid hobby, they covered costs and even if they didnt quite do that it was worth it as they loved what they did..

 

Keep enjoying the NL, a good competitive League and probably Team Speedways true level from an economic perspective in this country...

Edited by mikebv
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Your team, but they're not your riders....

 

You turn up to watch "your" team, only to find out that your number 1 is actually riding in Sweden tonight and is replaced by a rider that rode against your team last week!!

 

Your teams number 4 is also not there... He got injured last night riding for one of his "other" teams...!!

 

You also have your number 3 absent, he's has a meeting tomorrow in Poland, and his Polish team insist he's there the day before for team practise, so you have to have a "wobbler" guest from a lower league to replace him!!

 

 

And you wonder why people fall out with speedway, and why it's hard to get new people to attend for a second time....

Edited by Shale Searcher
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

As a result of digital broadcasters speedway is in terminal decline. I find unless your an ardent fan watching the sport on tv be it digital or terrestrial is utterly boring. Watching speedway taking in the noise, smell, atmosphere and excitement is the only way and without spectators the sport will die. The revenue gleaned from this is hastening the closures and doing nothing to promote the sport. The administrators need to critically analyse the model they are using and realise it is not working. Enthusiasts like use need to be heard before it's too late. Parochial nit picking is not the answer I don't think everyone understands how serious this is !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a result of digital broadcasters speedway is in terminal decline. I find unless your an ardent fan watching the sport on tv be it digital or terrestrial is utterly boring. Watching speedway taking in the noise, smell, atmosphere and excitement is the only way and without spectators the sport will die. The revenue gleaned from this is hastening the closures and doing nothing to promote the sport. The administrators need to critically analyse the model they are using and realise it is not working. Enthusiasts like use need to be heard before it's too late. Parochial nit picking is not the answer I don't think everyone understands how serious this is !!

Actually - I think they do

 

The problem is I don't think they know what to do about it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a result of digital broadcasters speedway is in terminal decline. I find unless your an ardent fan watching the sport on tv be it digital or terrestrial is utterly boring. Watching speedway taking in the noise, smell, atmosphere and excitement is the only way and without spectators the sport will die. The revenue gleaned from this is hastening the closures and doing nothing to promote the sport. The administrators need to critically analyse the model they are using and realise it is not working. Enthusiasts like use need to be heard before it's too late. Parochial nit picking is not the answer I don't think everyone understands how serious this is !!

 

I'd disagree in that we live more than an hours drive from our nearest track and I know several people locally who only watch Speedway on TV. I'd completely disagree about it being boring, of course sometimes it is but especially with the GP's you get some fantastic racing on the TV and the sport is made for it with it's short races.

 

For me the only harm the TV does is when you see how empty the stadiums are it reflects badly, I think the BSPA should look at £1 entry for Sky matches. I know this has been proven not to increase crowds afterwards but for me it would be sensible use of the TV as an advertising medium and full crowds on TV would help the sponsorship chase.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just can't understand why the authorities and promotors want to charge so much and be left with an empty stadium. Lets make speedway cheap and cheerful with spectators.

 

 

Don't think the top league in any professional sport should have an image of "cheap and cheerful"

 

If a sponsor could be found that could provide funds for televised fixtures, on top of the sky deal monies, perhaps the tv fixtures could be run at no cost to the promoter, then, they could run the tv matches at little cost for admission, perhaps even on a donation to the "Ben Fund" could secure admission....

 

That's a win, win in My book, although that would mean a better and more spread of tv fixtures being allocated amongst the clubs..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just can't understand why the authorities and promotors want to charge so much and be left with an empty stadium. Lets make speedway cheap and cheerful with spectators.

 

The 'Sky money' that should compensate a track for a reduced crowd due to being on TV should be used to reduce the admission...

 

Instead it has helped cover some of the cost (but not always all of it) of the No1 riders...

 

Wasnt it over 100k each the top league teams got per season for many years till the much reduced new deal came in?

 

Imagine if instead of paying out a huge proportion of that in 'dead money' to a No1 who invariably didnt put any extra on the gate whether there or not, the tracks had used it to showcase their sport and themselves when on live TV, or used it to market their club locally and professionally?

 

I would suggest British Speedway would be a lot more healthier today if the millions recieved over the past decade and more had been used more intelligently.....

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 'Sky money' that should compensate a track for a reduced crowd due to being on TV should be used to reduce the admission...

 

Instead it has helped cover some of the cost (but not always all of it) of the No1 riders...

 

Wasnt it over 100k each the top league teams got per season for many years till the much reduced new deal came in?

 

Imagine if instead of paying out a huge proportion of that in 'dead money' to a No1 who invariably didnt put any extra on the gate whether there or not, the tracks had used it to showcase their sport and themselves when on live TV, or used it to market their club locally and professionally?

 

I would suggest British Speedway would be a lot more healthier today if the millions recieved over the past decade and more had been used more intelligently.....

Yes - unfortunately the chance to really put Speedway on the map was when SKY first came on board.

 

I often wondered what happened to all of that money - it can't all have gone on top Number Ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is it wrong to aspire to have the best riders possible in the league. People say star riders don't attract bigger crowds. I disagree I remember the time that Emil signed for Coventry. It created a buzz , brought in more fans especially when Coventry rode away.At Wolves there was always a buzz and a bigger crowd when Nicki Pedersen returned. I'm not saying bankrupt clubs but its a fact, fans in any sports turn out to see superstars. I understand now the reasons why every year promoters will want to reduce costs, I can still see the same clubs being in the same situation at the end of next season as I can't see anything getting any better. I think in 5 years we will be left with only 2 divisions. One of current Premier League standard and the rest forming a big amateur National League

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is it wrong to aspire to have the best riders possible in the league. People say star riders don't attract bigger crowds. I disagree I remember the time that Emil signed for Coventry. It created a buzz , brought in more fans especially when Coventry rode away.At Wolves there was always a buzz and a bigger crowd when Nicki Pedersen returned. I'm not saying bankrupt clubs but its a fact, fans in any sports turn out to see superstars. I understand now the reasons why every year promoters will want to reduce costs, I can still see the same clubs being in the same situation at the end of next season as I can't see anything getting any better. I think in 5 years we will be left with only 2 divisions. One of current Premier League standard and the rest forming a big amateur National League

It isn't wrong - but you have to cut your costs in some way. The sad fact is that Speedway in Britain today is in a very parlous financial state. There is not a lot of money in the Sport.

 

Top line Riders come at a cost. It is my contention that the cost is too much to bear for some Clubs and will eventually, if persevered with, bankrupt the Sport.

 

I believe that we can probably run British Speedway fine without the top Stars. They take far too much money as it is, from an almost impoverished Sport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to Shale Searchers comments regarding pay to view, while useful there are a lot of 'if's' what speedway needs is definites and stability. As like many fans I don't have that platform nor will I ever subscribe it for a complexity or reasons, financial not being one of them. Taking a pragmatic look at the situation televised events seem to be doing more harm than good. Could I run a viable profitable operation with a few dozen fans and conditional payments from Sky the answer is a firm no. As for the GP a comment at the time was 'who wants to go and watch the Scandinavian World Championships at a clearing in the middle of knowhere'. This competition was formulated by a former Wolverhampton World Champion and while very exciting with excellent racing it has definitely had a detrimental effect on British Speedway.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy