Exactly How Much Weaker Is This Years League?

[Beowulf]

For Wolves it's a simple equation: 2017 = 2016-Woffinden-Karlsson+Skornicki+Greaves. Yup, weaker.

[waiheke1]

Would rather they put the British riders first lots of decent riders without teams this year just to accommodate other from abroad it's not British speedway anymore

If you went back to say 1985, my guess would be that the percentage of English riders in the top flight is roughly the same, so not sure what you mean by "anymore."

How many EL standard brits are without an el team place? Lawson bridger r worrall if not included at belle vue? Anyone else?

Watching the elite league on sky was awful Last year. Watching the so-called heat leaders and draft riders racing each other two or three times a meeting was boring.

 

Hopefully newbies will see more British riders on the TV making name's for themselves which inturn will bring in more sponsorship. When I first watched speedway on sky I would be rooting for the team that had the most Brit's. What's the point in having a British team with seven riders you can't even pronounce. We need to bring in new fans and they won't care if this crop of riders are 2 seconds slower then the top guys in the gp's are!!

So looking forward to watching riders riding for their teams and not just the money (which isn't a lot )

All personal opinions but I thought the elite league last year was excellent in terms of racing quality, I'd be surprised if it's as good this year.

And out of the teams named, aren't roughly half the riders brits?

[arnieg]

24 so far, and will probably end up as about 28 between nine teams.

 

In comparison in 2013 there were just 15 spread across ten teams (including three that had no Brits at all).

[CookieIpswich]

Until buster sorts out no double uppers then the sport will not be taken seriously and its at the level now where riders should not be professional and should get income from elsewhere.well some will be pro still but you get what I mean we live in a world of status

 

Would be better if teams owned the bikes, paid the costs etc and riders just turned up to race then what they earn prize money wise would be enough over a 30 meeting season

 

But sponsorship and gate receipts would have.to increase to allow teams to do this

[Woz01]

All personal opinions but I thought the elite league last year was excellent in terms of racing quality, I'd be surprised if it's as good this year.

And out of the teams named, aren't roughly half the riders brits?

Last year I watched some excellent racing live and on Sky.

[SCB]

All personal opinions but I thought the elite league last year was excellent in terms of racing quality, I'd be surprised if it's as good this year.

And out of the teams named, aren't roughly half the riders brits?

We barely saw a crap meeting on TV last season. It was a brilliant year for televised speedway.

[Crazy robin]

The sooner it goes to one big league & no double uppers the better for me as enthusiasm has never been lower.

 

Mind you I expect most of that is being a Swindon fan & them having a poor team.

[cityrebel]

I always have a lack of enthusiasm for speedway at this time of the year, but this close season has done nothing to rekindle my interest. Hopefully as the nights pull out my mood will lighten.

[Falcon Hammer]

I always have a lack of enthusiasm for speedway at this time of the year, but this close season has done nothing to rekindle my interest. Hopefully as the nights pull out my mood will lighten.

That'll be a first 😉

[cityrebel]

If I had your enthusiasm dave, I would consult a psychiatrist.

[Rayleigh]

I think the Elite teams from last year will have a shock reverting back to the Premier League race format. Last year Heat Leaders v Heat Leaders, Second Strings v Second Strings and Reserves v Reserves gave an unbalanced score, this year much harder for a reserve to go through the card (Newman nearly an 8 point average last season) whereas some good heat leaders barely got a 7 point average (Freddie Lindgren last season)

 

The big mistake though will be, with so many double up riders at the end of the season, as I understand the bottom team in the Premiership (possibly Coventry) will play the top Championship team (possibly Ipswich) then Heat 1 race card will have Danny King (Coventry) v Danny King r/r (Ipswich) Oh dear it could only happen in speedway.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

 

The big mistake though will be, with so many double up riders at the end of the season, as I understand the bottom team in the Premiership (possibly Coventry) will play the top Championship team (possibly Ipswich) then Heat 1 race card will have Danny King (Coventry) v Danny King r/r (Ipswich) Oh dear it could only happen in speedway.

actually it would be Danny King (Coventry) guest v Danny King (Ipswich) 😜😛

[Rayleigh]

Thank you, that exactly makes my point

[g13webb]

Until buster sorts out no double uppers then the sport will not be taken seriously and its at the level now where riders should not be professional and should get income from elsewhere.well some will be pro still but you get what I mean we live in a world of status

 

Would be better if teams owned the bikes, paid the costs etc and riders just turned up to race then what they earn prize money wise would be enough over a 30 meeting season

 

But sponsorship and gate receipts would have.to increase to allow teams to do this

 

I don't think this is a problem Buster can sort. The true state of the game is that there isn't enough riders to fill all the team spots without paying over the odds for the top ones, and secondly there are a lot of riders who what to ride more in the effort to earn an extra dollar.

 

The days when speedway was a part-time game has long gone, and riders need to earn as much as possible to meet their increasing costs. For these reasons 'Double Uppers' will always be part of the sport nowadays.... Probably making a unified rule regarding fixture clashes would be a better way to go........

[CookieIpswich]

If you have two regional divisons of 12 then you have more than enough riders for 6 man squads there is really no excuse.

 

Riders need to earn more but clubs need to earn more, thats why maybe standard engines to reduce cost, 13 heats so less cost to both rider and club

 

Riders race more to earn more but with more races their costs are higher.

 

30 meetings a season would be enough, speedway is at the level of the national league in football, some teams or players are full time some are not

[Pipeslice]

Smaller teams having less rides = less excitement.

[CookieIpswich]

Isn't having 6 committed riders better than now? 1 or 2 exclusive to your team with the rest committed to anyone else?

[Crazy robin]

If you have two regional divisons of 12 then you have more than enough riders for 6 man squads there is really no excuse.

 

Riders need to earn more but clubs need to earn more, thats why maybe standard engines to reduce cost, 13 heats so less cost to both rider and club

 

Riders race more to earn more but with more races their costs are higher.

 

30 meetings a season would be enough, speedway is at the level of the national league in football, some teams or players are full time some are not

13 heats would mean cheaper entrance then so never going to happen.

[stevebrum]

There is no way enough riders to fill all the team spots for just one team if the leagues were ever to merge. Perish the thought if that were to happen.

[Bruiser McHuge]

I don't know how much weaker the league is in comparison to last year...but I do know it looks weak....when I first started to go it was the big names that I wanted to see..those were the names I wanted to see..the names that made me go back every week....I went to Ellesmere Port some weeks as well and it just wasn't the same..nothing to do with racing quality ..it was just a feeling that I knew the riders were not as good...I would see Steve Finch go through the card and be a hero to the fans there knowing I would see him riding for Belle Vue the next night and score a couple of points ...so I liked the fact I was watching the big names..the stars of the sport.

Looking at today's teams it doesn't excited me...it doesn't make me want to make the effort to actually go to meetings any more.

How much are entry prices at the moment ?..I honestly don't know....I can get a season ticket at Lancashire cricket for every T20 and one day match for my son for £30..or a fiver per match for T20'sale .great value...I would suspect that speedway doesn't give quite the same value for money for the standard of riders currently on display.