What Went Wrong?

[martinmauger]

Re: the Individ World Championship, one time each season every rider (presumably of at least league standard) theoretically stood a chance of becoming World Champ from 1st of January that year. This isn't the case anymore, mostly selected riders are invited to enter or seeded in the competition, though riders need to be of a very high standard to progress. Only the best will qualify and compete at the top level, true, but in my opinion too many riders 'remain' in the GP, top 8 I think it is, should really only be the top 4 or 5, let everyone else qualify on merit, + 1 wildcard for each GP venue to ensure home interest....

Edited April 8, 2017 by Martin Mauger

[ch958]

To be fair, 'old folk' (like me) were not keen on dirt deflectors, laid down engines, the GP world championship system, but they happened and still speedway struggles. What changes has speedway tried to implement, but reverted back to the 'old ways'? (Scratching my head!)

 

my thoughts exactly - its the changes that actually lost fans most of the time. Cost of admission, rocket bikes, ugly bikes, etc etc etc

First things first slow the bloody bikes down and get some dirt

[foamfence]

 

my thoughts exactly - its the changes that actually lost fans most of the time. Cost of admission, rocket bikes, ugly bikes, etc etc etc

First things first slow the bloody bikes down and get some dirt

F2 might be the way to go.

[moxey63]

F2 might be the way to go.

 

 

There are many ways to go... but I'd say getting the product right and credible, cutting costs, and trying to tempt old fans away from their home PCs, tablets and mobiles, where they demand live streams and then complain that the sport deserves bigger media coverage and support.

 

If old fans can't be attracted to leave their comfortable armchairs and pay at the turnstiles, we really are losing the battle.

Edited April 8, 2017 by moxey63

[sharpandroid]

I'm relatively new to watching speedway, i'm 53 years old.

Between the ages of about 10 and 50 speedway didn't exist it was something that used to be on the telly.

 

Part of the problem

 

Promoters don't promote, I have never seen or heard any advert for league speedway in a public place EVER.

Teams are not teams, riders appear all over the leagues for any team that will pay them to "guest", can you imagine that in football.

So Klindt guests for Liecester last week and Rides for Poole this week at Liecester, I don't want to pay to see that, it's an absolute joke and insult to my intelligence.

 

And all this talk about how riders were better back then, bullshat, just like they don't make cars like they used to, Agostini is the greatest, Eric Clapton is God.

[martinmauger]

I'm relatively new to watching speedway, i'm 53 years old.

Between the ages of about 10 and 50 speedway didn't exist it was something that used to be on the telly.

 

Part of the problem

 

Promoters don't promote, I have never seen or heard any advert for league speedway in a public place EVER.

Teams are not teams, riders appear all over the leagues for any team that will pay them to "guest", can you imagine that in football.

So Klindt guests for Liecester last week and Rides for Poole this week at Liecester, I don't want to pay to see that, it's an absolute joke and insult to my intelligence.

 

And all this talk about how riders were better back then, bullshat, just like they don't make cars like they used to, Agostini is the greatest, Eric Clapton is God.

Too right, the ony rtime we heard of a big promotion is whan a team was on TV and comms report "they've really pushed this meeting - reducing admission to £10, etc". Reporting admission is reduced to a tenner will prob make viewers think "it can't be very good if they have to reduce the admission to get people to watch". I'm sure promotors do run their clubs, else there would be literally no speedway at all, but 'promote' ? I'm not too sure they do anymore....

[Trees]

And all that SKY money... modern promoters haven't really learned.

You could say who can blame them after the non-investment/cashing in by selling stadiums in the past?

[40-38]

The sport in its presentation is far too old fashioned now, it isn't the 1970s anymore, people want more, expect more. Waiting around for all the faffing of the riders in below par stadia when all you get is stop start music, interviews you can't hear, Smashey and Nicey type presentation, "new badges in the club shop folks, let's go racing, give us an L.. give us an I..." and it's so naff I wouldn't dare take any of my contemporaries and I'm only 32!

 

I also agree with not feeling an affinity to the team though, you never know who you'll see one week to the next some times and it's the reason I fell out of love with football, it doesn't feel like it belongs to me, an ordinary bloke in Leicester, anymore. In fact that's one of the reasons I didn't go tonight to watch with two riders elsewhere and we got a predictable thumping so I saved my money instead.

[Trees]

The sport in its presentation is far too old fashioned now, it isn't the 1970s anymore, people want more, expect more. Waiting around for all the faffing of the riders in below par stadia when all you get is stop start music, interviews you can't hear, Smashey and Nicey type presentation, "new badges in the club shop folks, let's go racing, give us an L.. give us an I..." and it's so naff I wouldn't dare take any of my contemporaries and I'm only 32!

 

I also agree with not feeling an affinity to the team though, you never know who you'll see one week to the next some times and it's the reason I fell out of love with football, it doesn't feel like it belongs to me, an ordinary bloke in Leicester, anymore. In fact that's one of the reasons I didn't go tonight to watch with two riders elsewhere and we got a predictable thumping so I saved my money instead.

What do you expect then, what wouldn't make your contempories cringe? Again when I went to Poland for a league meeting in 2015 there was nothing but heat results and music, no rider interviews or anything, it was the fans who simply amused themselves by chanting, shouting and flag waving, led by guys on mics in the crowd ..... bit like british football I guess ... Edited April 8, 2017 by Trees

[Theboss]

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

[Bald Bloke]

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

To true.Riders need to make money to live.Won't change any time soon.Second string and reserves need to double up.

[40-38]

What do you expect then, what wouldn't make your contempories cringe? Again when I went to Poland for a league meeting in 2015 there was nothing but heat results and music, no rider interviews or anything, it was the fans who simply amused themselves by chanting, shouting and flag waving, led by guys on mics in the crowd ..... bit like british football I guess ...

Well some more seamless presentation would be a start, rider interviews you can hear at the appropriate times, like before the meeting so it isn't drowned out by the tractors, stop randomly cutting songs into each other, play music that makes more of an atmosphere for an exciting motorsport (which I appreciate is subjective but they play the same dozen records every week), stop the in-jokes and the cliches. You don't go to watch other sports and feel like you've stepped back in time like you do with speedway, perhaps it's the demographics, I really don't know but you have to make the most of every minute you get the punters through the gates or you'll lose them to something that does that better.

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

Doubling up is certainly not popular but i can not ever see it being reversed. Problem is British riders are now used to earning a living by racing in two British leagues, plus the foreign stuff. Take 1 league away and the other will have to pay.... Extra

I think the problem stems more from the clashes than the actual doubling up. It's not ideal but I get the necessary evil of it in some respects, but trying to say to a new fan that you won't see nearly a third of your team tonight because they're riding for a different team just doesn't make sense to the unconverted. It doesn't compare to other team sports so I'm not going to go into it but at least if you turn up to football or basketball or rugby you know barring injury you'll see the team you signed! It baffled somebody I work with that Leicester, in the "top league" would be missing two riders tonight because they were riding for a different team in a "lower league".

Edited April 8, 2017 by 40-38

[mikebv]

What went wrong?

 

Imagine going to a bank manager with British Speedways business plan?

 

1. We will pay our best employees far in excess of what we can afford.

 

2. We will allow all our employees the right to work elsewhere on the days we are open leaving us short staffed. To back this up we will sign an agreement to allow other overseas companies to have the first option on our best employees..

 

3. When our employees are elsewhere (either in this country or abroad) we will have an arrangement to use employees from our competitors, even though we realise that this will lead to an obvious 'conflict of interest' and be deemed 'a bit Mickey Mouse'...

 

4. We will only open on those days our employees kindly inform us they are available rather than open on the busiest days which will give us our highest income.

 

5. We will attempt to build our business on the 'emotional loyalty' of our customers, but will do our utmost to ensure that our employees will have very little local affinity (if indeed any at all) with their customers to enjender it..

 

6. Our prices will not reflect the quality we have on offer but will simply be set high to offset the heavy cost base we have decided to run with.

 

7. Our major target customer profile are families, however we will use out dated media to try and attract them and utilise a business premises infrastructure that looks and feels like the 20th Century never happened, never mind the 21st Century started...

 

8. We will seek major investment from TV to promote our business but will only use this cash to pay our best employees. (The ones that miss the most days from work as they are invariably elsewhere). What we won't do is use this investment to reduce prices or improve the premises, or indeed, the overall customer experience.

 

9. Year on year we plan to reduce the quality of what we produce but supplement the inevitable drop in customers by putting in inflation busting price increases to the customers that stay with us..

 

10. We will utilise a 'flexible' operating model, one which is subject to change on any whim, meaning ultimately our customers will, over time, have very little faith in the way the business is ran and ultimately stop coming...

 

Bank Managers, fill your boots, you know it makes sense..☺

 

Although I do have to say I think any reasonable Bank Manager may spot 'one or two flaws' in the 'cunning plan'...😆

Edited April 9, 2017 by mikebv

[Theboss]

What went wrong?

 

Imagine going to a bank manager with British Speedways business plan?

 

1. We will pay our best employees far in excess of what we can afford.

 

2. We will allow all our employees the right to work elsewhere on the days we are open leaving us short staffed. To back this up we will sign an agreement to allow other overseas companies to have the first option on our best employees..

 

3. When our employees are elsewhere (either in this country or abroad) we will have an arrangement to use employees from our competitors, even though we realise that this will lead to an obvious 'conflict of interest' and be deemed 'a bit Mickey Mouse'...

 

4. We will only open on those days our employees kindly inform us they are available rather than open on the busiest days which will give us our highest income.

 

5. We will attempt to build our business on the 'emotional loyalty' of our customers, but will do our utmost to ensure that our employees will have very little local affinity (if indeed any at all) with their customers to enjender it..

 

6. Our prices will not reflect the quality we have on offer but will simply be set high to offset the heavy cost base we have decided to run with.

 

7. Our major target customer profile are families, however we will use out dated media to try and attract them and utilise a business premises infrastructure that looks and feels like the 20th Century never happened, never mind the 21st Century started...

 

8. We will seek major investment from TV to promote our business but will only use this cash to pay our best employees. (The ones that miss the most days from work as they are invariably elsewhere). What we won't do is use this investment to reduce prices or improve the premises, or indeed, the overall customer experience.

 

9. Year on year we plan to reduce the quality of what we produce but supplement the inevitable drop in customers by putting in inflation busting price increases to the customers that stay with us..

 

10. We will utilise a 'flexible' operating model, one which is subject to change on any whim, meaning ultimately our customers will, over time, have very little faith in the way the business is ran and ultimately stop coming...

 

Bank Managers, fill your boots, you know it makes sense..☺

 

Although I do have to say I think any reasonable Bank Manager may spot 'one or two flaws' in the 'cunning plan'...😆

With a plan like that they don't need a bank, it could go straight to an IPO.... Well enough people are already buying into it 😝

[ruffdiamond]

What went wrong?

Imagine going to a bank manager with British Speedways business plan?

1. We will pay our best employees far in excess of what we can afford.

2. We will allow all our employees the right to work elsewhere on the days we are open leaving us short staffed. To back this up we will sign an agreement to allow other overseas companies to have the first option on our best employees..

3. When our employees are elsewhere (either in this country or abroad) we will have an arrangement to use employees from our competitors, even though we realise that this will lead to an obvious 'conflict of interest' and be deemed 'a bit Mickey Mouse'...

4. We will only open on those days our employees kindly inform us they are available rather than open on the busiest days which will give us our highest income.

5. We will attempt to build our business on the 'emotional loyalty' of our customers, but will do our utmost to ensure that our employees will have very little local affinity (if indeed any at all) with their customers to enjender it..

6. Our prices will not reflect the quality we have on offer but will simply be set high to offset the heavy cost base we have decided to run with.

7. Our major target customer profile are families, however we will use out dated media to try and attract them and utilise a business premises infrastructure that looks and feels like the 20th Century never happened, never mind the 21st Century started...

8. We will seek major investment from TV to promote our business but will only use this cash to pay our best employees. (The ones that miss the most days from work as they are invariably elsewhere). What we won't do is use this investment to reduce prices or improve the premises, or indeed, the overall customer experience.

9. Year on year we plan to reduce the quality of what we produce but supplement the inevitable drop in customers by putting in inflation busting price increases to the customers that stay with us..

10. We will utilise a 'flexible' operating model, one which is subject to change on any whim, meaning ultimately our customers will, over time, have very little faith in the way the business is ran and ultimately stop coming...

Bank Managers, fill your boots, you know it makes sense..☺

Although I do have to say I think any reasonable Bank Manager may spot 'one or two flaws' in the 'cunning plan'...

So, you're the one in charge

[Deano]

The sport has just never managed to re-invent itself.

 

A bit like dog racing, it's stuck firmly to its working class roots, which most people don't aspire to or wish to link themselves to anymore.

 

On top of that, there's no money to be made, so investment is literally none existent.

Edited April 9, 2017 by Deano

[Shale Searcher]

Doubling up/down has to go..

I have followed Speedway since 1970ish, you supported your team, your riders, your juniors.. You adopted them, even the lesser ability riders, they were your family, you'd bleed your teams colours, if your rider got hurt, you hurt, when they were winning, you were winning, when they cried, you cried, and after the meeting, you could share a few moments with your hero's, share a joke, share an insult.. If you saw one of your riders on the road, the hairs stood up on your shoulder, if you were going to the Speedway, you followed your hero's in their cortina with bike trailer, or them in their Citreon Safari, 2 bikes even 3 origarmi'd into the back!!

Riders rode in the sun, cloud, rain, they got dirty, wet, but were gladitorial on track..

 

Now, its not the same, your team races on a night other countries don't, else your best guys won't be there, the meat of your team changes week in week out, picked from who's available, not your riders.. Rain in the air? Forget it, riders don't do wet meetings now, Your riders, are not your team, just a hashed 6 or 7 that are available on that particular day, meanwhile your riders are off riding for someone else, somewhere else! The only time they race now is out the pits, into their fully loaded Scooby van, and off to their next pay check, no loyalty, no affinity, just like playground footie, perm your team, any seven from who's not riding yet tonight. In the bar after? no thanks...

Why have team suits, riders have several, no loyalty.

 

To be A professional, bona fide team sport, then it needs to be "one rider, one team" until this happens, we will be the Micky Mouse of sport, not to be taken seriously, by fan or by finance..

Edited April 9, 2017 by Shale Searcher

[ch958]

you are correct about rider loyalty but what about clubs lobbing riders out left right and centre instead of sticking with 7 for the season with the odd change for injury. Remember Leicester making one single change during one season in the 60s

This win at all costs has been counterproductive

[moxey63]

I always state that I followed speedway, not because of the fancy-Dan bikes they have now, the gleaming clean Kevlars that get as dirty as your Whit-week clothes, it was because it was different. It was not your normal motor sport back then in the 70s. There was the team thing, the bit on the side of individual racing, but the team was my pull. Proper motorbike nuts kept away from following speedway. You never saw a motorbike near the stadium, and I always used to get annoyed when someone said they didn't watch speedway because they don't like motorbikes. But the sport has now gone more individual than team, and it is team speedway that keeps the sport going. To reinvent itself, then stamp down on the multi-league riders, the boys who can't really ride to their full effort every race because they simply are doing too much and for too many other teams. They must forget where they are sometimes. Saw an interview with Matej Zagar after the Peter Craven meeting last week, when he acknowledged he didn't have much time for the interview, he had to be somewhere else the next day. When riders show commitment to fans, perhaps some fans may think about showing ti back and actually returning to the terraces. Waste of time trying to drum up a feeling for a bunch of fellows that are as committed as zero-hour staff.

Edited April 9, 2017 by moxey63

[The White Knight]

I always state that I followed speedway, not because of the fancy-Dan bikes they have now, the gleaming clean Kevlars that get as dirty as your Whit-week clothes, it was because it was different. It was not your normal motor sport back then in the 70s. There was the team thing, the bit on the side of individual racing, but the team was my pull. Proper motorbike nuts kept away from following speedway. You never saw a motorbike near the stadium, and I always used to get annoyed when someone said they didn't watch speedway because they don't like motorbikes. But the sport has now gone more individual than team, and it is team speedway that keeps the sport going. To reinvent itself, then stamp down on the multi-league riders, the boys who can't really ride to their full effort every race because they simply are doing too much and for too many other teams. They must forget where they are sometimes. Saw an interview with Matej Zagar after the Peter Craven meeting last week, when he acknowledged he didn't have much time for the interview, he had to be somewhere else the next day. When riders show commitment of fans, perhaps some fans may think about showing ti back and actually returning to the terraces. Waste of time trying to drum up a feeling for a bunch of fellows that are as committed as zero-hour staff.

Good Post - Great Sentence moxey63. :approve: