Rising Crowds This Season?

[steve roberts]

The fact that we're going to have a Labour government in June is creating consumer confidence.

That 'Flying Pig" is having a whale of a time at the moment!

[Guest]

One views all the comments in regard to signs of improved attendances for speedway meetings, and such a trend it to be welcomed.

However, it does tend to arise comparison thoughts among "...us oldies..." We see figures like 2,000 attending a meeting as being very good. But harking back to 1953 - New Cross closed because of (a) they were refused permission to sign Olle Nygren and this caused attendances to decline to "...around 8,000..."! How times have changed.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Guest

[Piotr Pyszny]

In history only football and to a lesser extent rugby have ever published crowd figures - I've never seen detailed attendances from cricket, ice hockey etc - surely you aren't suggesting are not all conning HMRC?

 

Rugby (by which I assume you mean rugby union) has never been particularly open when it comes to divulging attendance figures. The professional and semi-professional teams (ie not the numerous amateur clubs) playing rugby league, on the other hand, have published attendance figures through the sport's history.

[moxey63]

After months of having no speedway, no live streams etc, there is a thirst for speedway early on. The real test comes when fans are able to access stuff live on the internet again. If you can sit indoors and watch in the comfort of your own four walls, in your boxers, why bother to shell out cash and time down at your local track? There's stuff from all over the globe now, live racing, and this must impact on the need to actually attend in person. Also notice that a few fans are putting races on the likes of Facebook just moments after they've finished, which may damage the sport in the long run.

[moxey63]

.. and, just for those people who feel internet speedway or satellite speedway doesn't actually impact on speedway at the track... just remember how popular internet shopping is now and how some stores are actually closing. Some are quite happy to shop from home and can't be bothered actually leaving their armchairs.

Edited April 24, 2017 by moxey63

[Halifaxtiger]

After months of having no speedway, no live streams etc, there is a thirst for speedway early on. The real test comes when fans are able to access stuff live on the internet again. If you can sit indoors and watch in the comfort of your own four walls, in your boxers, why bother to shell out cash and time down at your local track? There's stuff from all over the globe now, live racing, and this must impact on the need to actually attend in person. Also notice that a few fans are putting races on the likes of Facebook just moments after they've finished, which may damage the sport in the long run.

 

I think television viewing does affect attendances at tracks but only marginally.

 

I could ask why hundreds of thousands of football supporters attend every week when there are 3 or 4 live matches and almost blanket coverage of highlights.

[Gunner85]

The crowd at Scunthorpe looked a bit slim.

 

The racing was excellent... Rob deserves better crowds

 

Hopefully when the new rearranged team is announced then it will encourage more people to come.

[Fromafar]

The crowd at Scunthorpe looked a bit slim.

The racing was excellent... Rob deserves better crowds

Hopefully when the new rearranged team is announced then it will encourage more people to come.

Think it has to be the economic situation at Scunny because the racing and entertainment is very good most meeting comparing with other tracks I visit.Perhaps the location doesn't help.

[keef robin]

So assuming that the total average for one match of all the premiership clubs is less than 20,000 and certainly ditto for the championship there may be less than 50,000 UK fans in total and that's being generous I suspect. Add in another 10,000 TV fans who never go to a match If that is the case you cannot run the sport in the way it is now ( with the outgoings it has now ) And you cannot afford many more leakages of fans. Hopefully my guesstimates are wrong but I feel that if they are, then not by much.

Read that less than 30000 attend league speedway each week, so must be very few Championship and National League clubs getting more than 1000 at the 30ish tracks in the UK. Perhaps crowds have bottomed out, and can't fall any further, a bit like 50 years ago. If every track has racing as good as at Somerset wouldn't be worries about crowd levels.

Edited April 25, 2017 by beefy keefy

[Piotr Pyszny]

Read that less than 30000 attend league speedway each week, so must be very few Championship and National League clubs getting more than 1000 at the 30ish tracks in the UK. Perhaps crowds have bottomed out, and can't fall any further, a bit like 50 years ago. If every track has racing as good as at Somerset wouldn't be worries about crowd levels.

 

Sounds about right. Like so many people, I stopped watching speedway (for various reasons), in my case about a decade ago. Since then, I met a woman I eventually married. She's as middle class as they come: grew up in a posh Surrey town and is a solicitor. I mention speedway now and again. Last week, she was on leave and, out of the blue, I took her to meetings at Redcar and Berwick. The size of the crowds shocked me. About 450 at Redcar and circa 350 at Berwick. The Redcar promoter's wife told me they'd had a "good" crowd the previous week for a match with Peterborough, adding it was 581. How do these clubs survive on such tiny attendances? I saw very little, at either meeting, to convince me speedway isn't dying on its arse. Incidentally, my wife described her two speedway experiences as "exciting" and a "fun evening". A convert in the making? She did think it was expensive, however, for the entertainment on offer. We'll certainly go again this season, probably to a few of the other northern tracks.

[moxey63]

 

I think television viewing does affect attendances at tracks but only marginally.

 

I could ask why hundreds of thousands of football supporters attend every week when there are 3 or 4 live matches and almost blanket coverage of highlights.

 

Good point. Football is widely supported, there are more people to fill the stadiums and the odd 100 that stay away aren't really noticed. A crowd of 54,600 is pretty much the same as 54,350. It's 250 down though. A crowd at speedway, say 900, but take just 50 people off, it is more harmful. In saying that, some soccer places don't sell out, and I know of many who watch at home rather than spend half a week's wages for the one afternoon or evening. Speedway is wall-to-wall from May to October, but I can't be bothered even finding it online. The ease of access makes it less appealing. Only my opinion. But do others feel the same?

 

Live speedway coverage isn't the only problem. It is one of many that sees attendances gradually declining. But did copied videos in the 80s that your mate did for you, or dodgy dvds in the 2000s, stop people paying the full whack of going to the cinema? If it's the choice of getting your fix for next to nothing online, or shelling out next week's food bill for a couple of hours track-side in person, sometimes the choice is easy.

 

Take a handful of speedway supporters away from their local track each week, and it adds up. The fact that speedway is so easily to find online, it eases the cravings to actually want to travel, pay to get in, and spend the time away from your family. No matter how marginal, if it's only a handful of people that stay away because of live speedway, it adds up. It's possibly one reason why admission prices rise, forcing others to stay away because of costs.

[keef robin]

Workington was up slightly but, I fear, not by enough.

Workington was up slightly but, I fear, not by enough.

They used to average around 1200 in 2004/5 when I watched them, but I've heard the crowds have dropped to as low as 750/800. In the same time Swindon's have probably gone from averaging around 2000 to around 1400. Always guarantee big crowd when Poole visit. With no new stadium in sight cant see crowds increasing. Unfortunately well- supported Coventry are no more.Good to see bigger crowds in Manchester.

It seemed a few years ago line-ups weakened every year and prices increased every year.

Clubs should look at IOW, actively promoting the sport has led to good crowd increases in an area of a small population.

When I have spoken to people about speedway most are put off by the admission cost.

Edited April 25, 2017 by beefy keefy

[RPNY]

Thank you for the input guys. I know we dont ever get official numbers but its usually pretty easy to see what clubs are getting good numbers through the door.

Hope it continues. Never easy for me to compliment the BSPA but seems Buster did a good job this winter.

[The White Knight]

Thank you for the input guys. I know we dont ever get official numbers but its usually pretty easy to see what clubs are getting good numbers through the door.

Hope it continues. Never easy for me to compliment the BSPA but seems Buster did a good job this winter.

Mmmmm - He said they could get rid of Double Points - they didn't.

 

Not such a good job after all.

[mikebv]

Often wondered why more isn't done to attract away fans...

 

Fuel costs are ridiculous which I am sure will keep many from travelling, therefore why not have an away fans admission to help offset some of these costs?...

 

Premier League football's maximum for away fans is £30 so maybe Speedway could do say a tenner for away fans?

 

Let's be honest, hardly any teams' fans travel in large numbers away unless it's a 'local derby' on a Bank Holiday or a play off/final (so these matches could be exempt from the offer)....

 

Sell the tickets direct from the away teams' stadium as home fans are very unlikely to travel to purchase them, (unless of course some think driving four hours and spending £50 in fuel to save £7 is a good idea)..

 

50 visiting fans paying a tenner each is significantly better than the odd 'car load' paying £17 and also will considerably add to the overall atmosphere. Something often lacking at a Speedway match...

 

I wonder if Somerset could have filled a coach for BH Monday at BV if they had been able to sell tickets at £10 to their fans?

Edited April 26, 2017 by mikebv

[The White Knight]

Often wondered why more isn't done to attract away fans...

 

Fuel costs are ridiculous which I am sure will keep many from travelling, therefore why not have an away fans admission to help offset some of these costs?...

 

Premier League football's maximum for away fans is £30 so maybe Speedway could do say a tenner for away fans?

 

Let's be honest, hardly any teams' fans travel in large numbers away unless it's a 'local derby' on a Bank Holiday or a play off/final (so these matches could be exempt from the offer)....

 

Sell the tickets direct from the away teams' stadium as home fans are very unlikely to travel to purchase them, (unless of course some think driving four hours and spending £50 in fuel to save £7 is a good idea)..

 

50 visiting fans paying a tenner each is significantly better than the odd 'car load' paying £17 and also will considerably add to the overall atmosphere. Something often lacking at a Speedway match...

 

I wonder if Somerset could have filled a coach for BH Monday at BV if they had been able to sell tickets at £10 to their fans?

I think there is a fair bit of merit in that suggestion.

 

I can't see any down side.

[Halifaxtiger]

They used to average around 1200 in 2004/5 when I watched them, but I've heard the crowds have dropped to as low as 750/800. In the same time Swindon's have probably gone from averaging around 2000 to around 1400. Always guarantee big crowd when Poole visit. With no new stadium in sight cant see crowds increasing. Unfortunately well- supported Coventry are no more.Good to see bigger crowds in Manchester.

It seemed a few years ago line-ups weakened every year and prices increased every year.

Clubs should look at IOW, actively promoting the sport has led to good crowd increases in an area of a small population.

When I have spoken to people about speedway most are put off by the admission cost.

 

I fear Workington don't even get that.

 

Isle of Wight's attention to customer service is amazing.

 

One person - just one - complained about the signage at the food outlet last week. This week, the signs have been moved

[phillwhitewasmad]

The fact that we're going to have a Labour government in June is creating consumer confidence.

Was enjoying this thread until this delusional post

[RPNY]

LOL some people on here really do make me laugh

Really the hope decent crowds can keep up.

[waytogo28]

If this is correct and I assume it is - that

 

"BAGS meesting keep many dog tracks open. They really don't make anything from the people in the stadium, who usually get in free. The filmed racing is sold around the world for very good money, particularly the Far East, and can be a track's biggest source of income. BAGS income a Brough Park is I believe the biggest and is in excess of £500.000."

Why Oh Why do the BSPA not try their best to emulate a profit making role for filmed speedway racing to be sold around the world on a profitable basis ( yes I am aware that it is for gambling and that can be open to corruption ) but if it can make greyhound racing popular and profitable around the world it could do the same regardless of how many fans are on the terraces? I have pushed the idea for two or three years of screening live Pay Per View UK speedway matches. It would have been a better investment bet than the Gerhard engine strategy.