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GENERALLY between 80,000 and 100,000 ... occasionally more. Quite obviously most of these people have no interest in attending speedway meetings live.

 

Wrong I attend plenty live speedway meetingsover the course of the season but It's a wee bit difficult for me to attend a live meeting in Poole or somewhere else's that's 200 miles + away when I live in The Scottish Borders , so I watch it live on Sky instead

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Wrong about you perhaps, but not the thousands of others.

 

Whenever I talk (preach!) to people about speedway, either those who went years ago or who know about it but have never been, they are flabbergasted with the price. I believe that is speedway's primary problem.

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Wrong about you perhaps, but not the thousands of others.

 

Whenever I talk (preach!) to people about speedway, either those who went years ago or who know about it but have never been, they are flabbergasted with the price. I believe that is speedway's primary problem.

Allied to the 'equal problem' of having to watch riders representing 'your club' who belong to other teams, meaning you just don't have that 'emotional' connection as often the team on show simply isn't 'your team'...

 

If the sport had that then (maybe) they could get away with the current admission level as your loyalty would mean you 'have to go' most weeks... (Many football teams get away with this)...

 

Now I can easily miss several meetings when 'select teams' are on show and not feel I have missed anything at all, such is the contrived nature of the event..

 

I would though still watch a 'select match' if it was on Sky and take it for what it was, ie 15 speedway races to be hopefully enjoyed, however I would be also glad that I didn't pay any money to attend it in person..

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I'm amazed at the comment that none speedway people are flabbergasted at the price to attend.

Yet I assume they are more than happy to pay nearly double to watch football!!!

Football is the leader, kids are brought up to play it, all the media is saturated with it and more people live within easy access of it at professional level. Imagine Wayne Rooney playing for both Man.U. and a Championship side at the same time, imagine him donning a black and white hat to take a penalty, imagine him guesting for Leicester while Vardy goes and practices in Poland. While we might love a good race, Speedway is just a circus act to most people.

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We come to the 'Chicken and Egg' syndrome. Years ago we had double the number of track for the supporter to attain their weekly ration of the sport and therefore there were far more people going to meetings.

 

So they say.... but if they had attended in vast numbers, then those tracks would've had a better chance of staying open...... So we need to look at other areas why supporters stay away and the obvious answer is cost....

 

Going back in time to the early 70's when Neil Street ( genius engineer and a awesome chap) created the first of the 4 valve engine, While others were standing there in amazement of what the engine could do, Terry Betts pointed out the sport can ill afford such development.. When his comments were questioned, he replied This engine has to be banned, if not then everybody would need to purchase similar just to be competitive. The costs will need to be met, Riders will want more money, the promoters will have to charge more to come in and the fans will be expected to pay. Speedway as we know it will be gone forever........

 

How true those words were. If they had taken more notice of what was happening then, probably the sport would be in better shape than it is today......

Edited by GRW123
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Football is the leader, kids are brought up to play it, all the media is saturated with it and more people live within easy access of it at professional level. Imagine Wayne Rooney playing for both Man.U. and a Championship side at the same time, imagine him donning a black and white hat to take a penalty, imagine him guesting for Leicester while Vardy goes and practices in Poland. While we might love a good race, Speedway is just a circus act to most people.

True, we all get that football is the bench mark to judge virtually all others sports for cost and attendance.

We know the product, in its purest form is up there with the most exciting sports around. No question.

 

The rules and regulations are the things that make it circus like that I agree. I personally think it adds to the excitement but the rules and the (lack) of available riders makes putting together teams and leagues extremely difficult.

We simply could not run 3 leagues with each rider in one league only. The lack of talent coming thru and lack of foreign riders riding here anymore makes this virtually impossible to avoid.

So I understand why we have double ups and downs. Hard to explain to any none speedway fan I agree.

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I'm amazed at the comment that none speedway people are flabbergasted at the price to attend.

Yet I assume they are more than happy to pay nearly double to watch football!!!

You get 90 minutes entertainment at a football match, you get 15 minutes at a speedway meeting.

 

Football doesn't need to attract fans, it could do more to make itself cheaper for people wishing to attend though. Speedway is too expensive and in need of more fans to physically attend meetings but unsurprisingly the cost puts many off.

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You get 90 minutes entertainment at a football match, you get 15 minutes at a speedway meeting.

 

Football doesn't need to attract fans, it could do more to make itself cheaper for people wishing to attend though. Speedway is too expensive and in need of more fans to physically attend meetings but unsurprisingly the cost puts many off.

Average ball in play time is closer to 60 mins for Premier League football.....still a valid point though

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True, we all get that football is the bench mark to judge virtually all others sports for cost and attendance.

We know the product, in its purest form is up there with the most exciting sports around. No question.

 

The rules and regulations are the things that make it circus like that I agree. I personally think it adds to the excitement but the rules and the (lack) of available riders makes putting together teams and leagues extremely difficult.

We simply could not run 3 leagues with each rider in one league only. The lack of talent coming thru and lack of foreign riders riding here anymore makes this virtually impossible to avoid.

So I understand why we have double ups and downs. Hard to explain to any none speedway fan I agree.

I won't be Mr Popular for saying this but we have too many clubs that are actually lame ducks being paid for by people with seemingly a wish to dispose of their wealth. The farce situations this winter have highlighted that and done even more damage. This year's levelling of the playing field between the two leagues, looks like it would make the move to one league much easier and if two or three clubs drop out, then that is likely. Hopefully there'll be an upsurge in attendances and big time sponsors, that would certainly make things look healthier.

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Average ball in play time is closer to 60 mins for Premier League football.....still a valid point though

bikes being pushed out equivalent to ball boy returning the ball.

Hands up signal before a corner equivalent to rider asking for green light test.

Back four exchanging 10 passes and ball ending up in same place equivalent to a bit of gardening.

Im sure a few other analogies could be made.

Id say the 'entertainment time' is actually comparable betwen the 2 sports.

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