2017 Marketing "push" By Bspa

[The Third Man]

Its all due to slick track and one racing line at most tracks.Belle Vue is a purpose built track for modern day speedway plenty room to race more than one racing line and produces great racing and is the exception to the rule.Most Polish tracks are in the same mould as Belle Vue and produce reasonable speedway.

 

last seasons match in the league cup against Newcastle was one of the best matches anywhere last season, on the Sheffield track which was the same as it was for the rest of the season

 

its not the shape it is how it is prepared, Sheffield has the potential to be one of if not the best racing track in the country, if it is prepared correctly, sadly that is rare these days

What seems confusing is the pricing structure.

 

For example concessions at some tracks are age 60, others is 65 and some state retirement age.

 

Adult prices vary as do the programme charges.

 

Why do the clubs not work together to sell admission tickets for adult, family, child, concession at one price across the board so that you can buy a batch of tickets to attend whatever track/meeting you wish. Have tiiered pricing for the three leagues and work on the basis that you have a base cost of £10.00 and add to it depending upon the track and the meeting. Tickets can be bought from the BSPA and can be used at any track over a season. Buy Five meetings and get 5 per cent discount on the gate price, ten meetings and get 15 per cent and twenty meetings get twenty five per cent discount on the base price of £10.00.

 

Clubs need to join the modern era when it comes to payment and to centralise this through the BSPA with options to pay by PayPal, credit card etc. which may be the way forward.

 

Forget programmes and have race cards at £1.00 with fifty per cent going to the Ben Fund

 

All charge car parking at 50p which the club keeps and distributes to riders at the end of the season based on points scored(pro rata)

 

Just ideas as in reality I have been going to speedway for nearly fifty years and the pricing structure is archaic and needs a uniform structure.

 

what other sport in the country does anything like this?

 

it would mean a track with a 1000 supporters would get the same share as a track with 500 supporters, with varying running costs.

 

Scunthorpe pay no rent and keep all food / drink and parking revenue

 

Sheffield pay rent and keep nothing for the parking or the food / drink outlets

 

there is not a level playing field unfortunately

[Fromafar]

last seasons match in the league cup against Newcastle was one of the best matches anywhere last season, on the Sheffield track which was the same as it was for the rest of the season

 

its not the shape it is how it is prepared, Sheffield has the potential to be one of if not the best racing track in the country, if it is prepared correctly, sadly that is rare these days

 

what other sport in the country does anything like this?

 

it would mean a track with a 1000 supporters would get the same share as a track with 500 supporters, with varying running costs.

 

Scunthorpe pay no rent and keep all food / drink and parking revenue

 

Sheffield pay rent and keep nothing for the parking or the food / drink outlets

 

there is not a level playing field unfortunately

Sheffield is a good track but is obviously too slick on many occasions

[Gemini]

Some good points Hawk127 but unfortunately a lot of the stadiums are rented and the car park money goes to the owner not the Speedway promoters so they can't decide on the price.

[Trees]

Sheffield is a good track but is obviously too slick on many occasions

Never used to be, was always know as a good old deep track ....

[uk_martin]

My speedway team 17.50 adult 6.00 kid = 23.50

My football team 26.00 adult 14 kid = 40.00

Local Ice hockey 18.00 adult 13.00 kid = 31.00

 

Birmingham Speedway, in Perry Barr, Birmingham = £13 for over 16's & £2 for under 16's - average attendance 500-600ish ***

Birmingham Athletics, in Perry Barr, Birmingham = £50+ to see Usain Bolt for 10 seconds,- attendance 50,000+

 

Don't tell me that people don't have money to spend. If the product is right they will come. If the product is pants it will be hung out to dry. Simple as.

 

 

***EDIT - attendance estimate is an observational estimate of what was evident in 2016. The prices are those for 2017. The 2017 attendance figures may drop significantly from 2016 due to the withdrawal of OAP's concessionary prices, as this will have an impact on the majority of the fan base. The product may have been worth £8 to them in the past, we will have to wait and see how many think it will be worth £13 this year.

Edited April 4, 2017 by uk martin

[waytogo28]

All clubs should at least offer the option of a race card for £1 or sell that instead of a programme. I make my own race card because most of the programme content is on the club's website and that leaves only the adverts to read. I would willingly pay £1 and the club should retain most of that as profit if self printing race cards. I don't know how much the ads are worth but keeping up the fan base would seem more important.

[The Third Man]

Didnt have a problem with a race card at Sheffield before the new promotion took over.

 

it did what you wanted it to do, so maybe an option of either might work and might even make some money

[Hawk127]

All valid comments but the problem seems to be who owns what and who gets what in terms of revenue from the various portions of the speedway pie. Not easy to resolve but surely some common denominators such as programmes/race cards and age groups with kids under a certain age free, as the sport really needs the younger supporters to build for the future. I also think that to encourage youngsters perhaps using lower powered off the shelf bikes and giving them time before the main event(three or four scratch races) and a final run off after the main league meeting. Surely brighter minds on here can come up with some better ideas before the sport disappears up its own backside

[Mr Snackette]

As is often the case when a new initiative is announced the usual cliche riddled arguments are trundled out.

For some, it is admission costs that determine the crowd levels at meetings. THIS IS CLEARLY NONSENSE!!!!

As another poster has observed: "Don't tell me that people don't have money to spend. If the product is right they will come. If the product is pants it will be hung out to dry......" HOW TRUE!!!

To illustrate the point, Wasps Rugby rocked up in Coventry. Despite the fact the city already had both Union and League clubs, not to mention an EFL team, an ice hockey team......oh yes and a speedway track.

So Wasps had to grow their fan base. Ok, some Wasps fans traveled up from London, but more recently, of the growing fan base, the top places fans are traveling from to watch Wasps are Coventry, Leamington, Warwick, Solihull, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and Hemel Hempstead.

Despite the fact that you can pay up to £55 for a single game ticket, crowds regularly top 18,000......indeed over the Christmas period the club welcomed over 54,000 fans to the Ricoh Arena – 26,292 watched their 40-26 win over Bath on Christmas Eve, followed by 27,930, for their 22-16 victory over the Leicester Tigers.

People have found that Wasps provide a product worth watching, and at a cost significantly more than Coventry Speedway ever charged.

So the bottom line is clear. Admission costs play little part in attracting punters through the door, it's down to one thing:

THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT!!!!

[SteveLyric2]

I'm fairly certain that the facilities at the Ricoh are far better than any British speedway venue - including the NSS.

 

So if the 'product' includes the venue facility as well as the VFM of the racing then I would agree.

[Daniel Smith]

King's Lynn

 

Kids are off school and opening night of the season so advertising should be maximised, so you would think anyway.

The only thing being advertised around the town is Stock Cars for Bank Holiday weekend

Edited April 5, 2017 by Danny Smith

[uk_martin]

Despite the fact that you can pay up to £55 for a single game ticket, crowds regularly top 18,000.

How does that compare to Coventry City FC who also play there?

[mikebv]

As is often the case when a new initiative is announced the usual cliche riddled arguments are trundled out.

 

For some, it is admission costs that determine the crowd levels at meetings. THIS IS CLEARLY NONSENSE!!!!

 

As another poster has observed: "Don't tell me that people don't have money to spend. If the product is right they will come. If the product is pants it will be hung out to dry......" HOW TRUE!!!

 

To illustrate the point, Wasps Rugby rocked up in Coventry. Despite the fact the city already had both Union and League clubs, not to mention an EFL team, an ice hockey team......oh yes and a speedway track.

 

So Wasps had to grow their fan base. Ok, some Wasps fans traveled up from London, but more recently, of the growing fan base, the top places fans are traveling from to watch Wasps are Coventry, Leamington, Warwick, Solihull, Birmingham, Leicester, Oxford and Hemel Hempstead.

 

Despite the fact that you can pay up to £55 for a single game ticket, crowds regularly top 18,000......indeed over the Christmas period the club welcomed over 54,000 fans to the Ricoh Arena – 26,292 watched their 40-26 win over Bath on Christmas Eve, followed by 27,930, for their 22-16 victory over the Leicester Tigers.

 

People have found that Wasps provide a product worth watching, and at a cost significantly more than Coventry Speedway ever charged.

 

So the bottom line is clear. Admission costs play little part in attracting punters through the door, it's down to one thing:

 

THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT!!!!

Didn't Lakeside geta rumoured 7000 a few years ago when everyone was let in for nothing?

 

Don't think anyone cared about what quality of racing they were going to watch...

 

Think it 100% was the cost of admission (or lack of it) that got them to the track...

 

Or, at the very least, it played more than a 'little part in attracting the punters'

[George Dodds]

I get the fact that Wasps are a success now. However, the same club with the same marketing strategy (and huge budget) playing in a sport which has a huge TV (satellite and terrestrial) and national newspaper presence has failed at Loftus Road and Hendon in London and at Wycombe (they were London Wasps until they moved to the Midlands) so it is not always a case of targeting a market - often it is being in the right place. Would, I wonder, they have been as successful if Coventry City were still in the Premiership?

So maybe speedway clubs don't just need to market themselves better - they need to up sticks and move to a new city!!

[keef robin]

I get the fact that Wasps are a success now. However, the same club with the same marketing strategy (and huge budget) playing in a sport which has a huge TV (satellite and terrestrial) and national newspaper presence has failed at Loftus Road and Hendon in London and at Wycombe (they were London Wasps until they moved to the Midlands) so it is not always a case of targeting a market - often it is being in the right place. Would, I wonder, they have been as successful if Coventry City were still in the Premiership?

So maybe speedway clubs don't just need to market themselves better - they need to up sticks and move to a new city!!

Don't think that matters George, most big cities, with London the biggest without one,have speedway. Been tried in lots of others and failed.Poole best supported is not massive urban area. Think Coventry City get around 8000, 45000 at Wembley on Sunday for their trophy win. Was good move by Waspies, but London Welsh failed at Oxford.

[waytogo28]

King's Lynn

 

Kids are off school and opening night of the season so advertising should be maximised, so you would think anyway.

The only thing being advertised around the town is Stock Cars for Bank Holiday weekend

 

And there's the rub! Where is the Big Push from try BSPA? It has been stated here that the social media side of things has been re-vamped and is better ( i am not a user so I can't comment on that ) Let's hope that If that is the full extent of the Big Push we were promised that it is enough to bring in noticeably more new fans to taste the experience. I haven't noticed any other kind of publicity for the launch of league speedway in and around King's Lynn ( other than the normal reporting ). A lost opportunity if the social media push doesn't work. We'll know tomorrow.

[Stoke Potter]

Didn't Lakeside geta rumoured 7000 a few years ago when everyone was let in for nothing?

 

Don't think anyone cared about what quality of racing they were going to watch...

 

Think it 100% was the cost of admission (or lack of it) that got them to the track...

 

Or, at the very least, it played more than a 'little part in attracting the punters'

Surely the point you're missing is how many thought the product was of sufficient quality to go back again and pay?

[mikebv]

Surely the point you're missing is how many thought the product was of sufficient quality to go back again and pay?

No, the point is 7000 thought Free was good VFM, less than 1000 the week after felt the usual entrance fee was VFM...

 

As has been said before on this forum, the Craven Shield meeting after the Elite Final with Peterborough and Reading a few years ago (possibly the finest ever) was watched by around just 500..

 

Simply people were not prepared to pay the admission cost that Speedway felt was the 'right one' for that meeting, but they were prepared to pay the entrance fee for the Final and it delivered superb entertainment...

 

Therefore, clearly the entrance fee does have a huge impact on whether fans attend. The price of everything on sale is THE key determinant as to the success of its customer purchases and particularly whether that price point offers VFM...

 

Speedways consistent yearly dwindling crowd base would suggest the current admission costs don't meet VFM criteria, however get the price v VFM ratio correct and it's proved crowds will come. The skill is to get this balance right...

 

Like anything else, a Speedway meeting will have a 'VFM v Price asked' tipping point..

 

Speedway just needs to find its balance point..

Edited April 5, 2017 by mikebv

[Mr Snackette]

Didn't Lakeside geta rumoured 7000 a few years ago when everyone was let in for nothing?

 

Don't think anyone cared about what quality of racing they were going to watch...

 

Think it 100% was the cost of admission (or lack of it) that got them to the track...

 

Or, at the very least, it played more than a 'little part in attracting the punters'

 

You make my point very well.

 

Only 7,000 turned up at Lakeside when it was free. and as someone who was at the meeting, I thought it a lot less than that!

 

Yet over 54,000 people paying up to £55 a pop, rocked up at the Ricoh over Christmas.......as I said before it goes way beyond the price of admission!!

[The White Knight]

I get the fact that Wasps are a success now. However, the same club with the same marketing strategy (and huge budget) playing in a sport which has a huge TV (satellite and terrestrial) and national newspaper presence has failed at Loftus Road and Hendon in London and at Wycombe (they were London Wasps until they moved to the Midlands) so it is not always a case of targeting a market - often it is being in the right place. Would, I wonder, they have been as successful if Coventry City were still in the Premiership?

So maybe speedway clubs don't just need to market themselves better - they need to up sticks and move to a new city!!

Sunderland is available. :approve: