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Overall TV is important. 

For one simple reason clubs just make more money out of sponsorship. 

Only reason why it’s helpful and a huge source of free advertisement. 

 

Its results in lower crowds as seen at many stadiums last season on the BT meetings. But the value of it cannot be underestimated. 

 

If it’s true that Championship fixtures are included then across the board BT will be worth over a million £££ to the UK speedway industry! 

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7 hours ago, BWitcher said:

Yes I know, but the claim was that TV was causing the crowds to fall.. 

That is the case, but like i said ALL, clubs must dangle a carrot to get people in. Even without that the Sky/BT money should cover any losses.

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9 hours ago, BWitcher said:

Yes I know, but the claim was that TV was causing the crowds to fall.. 

Not the ONLY cause, granted, but definitely A cause - and I have proof from friends and acquaintances who no longer attend, at all or as much, because it's on tv so much

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43 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

I attended most meetings at Rye House last season. Biggest crowd of the year was the TV meeting! 

And how much was the entry charge ?

I cannot remember which tv meeting it was but one club did not reduce the entry charge and the stadium appeared to be almost empty.

If it was £10 like many tv matches that would be a reason for the size, and if £10 normally the crowds might return until they get bored with all the guests and delays.

Edited by A ORLOV
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42 minutes ago, A ORLOV said:

And how much was the entry charge ?

I cannot remember which tv meeting it was but one club did not reduce the entry charge and the stadium appeared to be almost empty.

If it was £10 like many tv matches that would be a reason for the size, and if £10 normally the crowds might return until they get bored with all the guests and delays.

The admission was certainly reduced although I think it was more than £10. With the new fixed race nights for the two top leagues we should have far fewer guests except for injuries which cannot be avoided. Personally I go to watch close racing and enjoy the evening rather than to worry about a guest rider.

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Speedway would be far better on the TV as a highlights package. 

Stick on a "match of the week" with full 15 heats, all done in about 30mins then review the other match taken place that week.

Just have the Play-Offs and Final live as these become the least affected feom live TV.

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21 hours ago, East End Fan said:

As a general principle, why on earth should any TV company get any watchable material for nothing ?

As a general principle because they are still having to pay for the production so it does not cost them nothing.  They are still having to spend something to get something watchable.  But the sport gets the exposure for itself and its sponsors making such an arrangement valuable to them.  As a general principle.

The most popular sports attract so many viewers they are more valuable to the broadcaster, so the sport can demand fees be paid in addition to the production costs.

The least popular sports do not get enough viewers to justify the costs, so the sport has to pay the broadcast to be televised or produce their own coverage which they can give to a broadcaster for free.

And those in between are popular enough that broadcasters want to show them, but not popular enough they are willing to pay extra.

I have no interest in motorsports and never knew about speedway until looking at what was on TV one night and came across it.  If you do not come from a family who already follow the sport or live in a town with a team that gets covered by the local paper and radio stations and talked about by school friends or colleagues then how would you discover it?

Sports need exposure.  Hence also the question even amongst the more popular sports over whether to receive more in rights from Sky and BT, or to accept less money in return for greater exposure from the BBC and ITV.

Cricket is the  second biggest sport in the country, has just earned £1.1bn (over five years) for its television coverage from 2020, yet for over a decade has seen constant criticism about declining interest because being on Sky has limited its exposure.  And that still with extensive radio and press coverage and highlights on Channel 5.

Do you really think British speedway would grow if it had no TV coverage at all?  Or that it is powerful currently to dictate its own terms?

Unfortunately I cannot use BT broadband, nor justify the full cost of BT Sport only for speedway, so I have pretty much stopped following British speedway.  Instead I watched the Elitserien as I had Premier Sports anyway, on a deal, and was able to watch the SGP and SWC through the world feed.

I accept it was not the BSPA choosing to leave Sky, but I have no local team so I am just not exposed to British speedway any more.  They will have at least been discovered by some new viewers on BT to replace those they lost like me.  That is more than they would have done had they shunned TV altogether.

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13 hours ago, PHILIPRISING said:

DO you seriously think that the reason attendances have dropped is solely because of television coverage?

No I do not think it is solely because of TV coverage.

But I do think it is a big reason.

And for me, personally, definitely THE biggest reason for the overall number of meetings I attend being significantly reduced.

On a side note .. I gave up Sky Sports when GPs left them and went without the Eite League coverage for the time they retained the UK rights. I never felt it worth continuing the subs for that alone. Until it went to BTSport when I got GB Speedway 'free' with my Virgin deal and then I watched every Monday meeting.

Speedway fan for 40 years, attended probably 2000 plus meetings in that time ... But having it regularly on TV and I really do stay home more often. And every time I do the promoters lose the best part of £20.

They are right to be more worried about this aspect than people here give them credit for.

 

Edited by Grand Central
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Having attended several meetings at BV when the meeting was on TV, it was not an enjoyable experience, as there were far too many holdups whilst the TV did interviews and adds. You always felt the TV were in control of the meeting and not BV.

If the weather looks inclement a lot of fans will stay in and watch the TV meeting.

For BV this winter has seen them get a real stuffing from the BSPA as they did not get a vote. We lost our Friday night speedway, and will now loose quite a few fans, as Mondays are followed by a school day, and some parents will not take their children if so. Also we lost any chance of re-signing Kenneth Bjerre, with the alternate night being Wednesday

If the TV is live on a Monday it will mean that BV run home matches on the same night.

So all in all BV have nothing to gain from live TV of speedway, unless there is a considerable compensation package.

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5 hours ago, Midland Red said:

Not the ONLY cause, granted, but definitely A cause - and I have proof from friends and acquaintances who no longer attend, at all or as much, because it's on tv so much

Not proof at all, highly likely they wouldn't be going as much anyway. Simple iceberg theory.

 

 

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3 hours ago, woodenspoon said:

Having attended several meetings at BV when the meeting was on TV, it was not an enjoyable experience, as there were far too many holdups whilst the TV did interviews and adds. You always felt the TV were in control of the meeting and not BV.

If the weather looks inclement a lot of fans will stay in and watch the TV meeting.

For BV this winter has seen them get a real stuffing from the BSPA as they did not get a vote. We lost our Friday night speedway, and will now loose quite a few fans, as Mondays are followed by a school day, and some parents will not take their children if so. Also we lost any chance of re-signing Kenneth Bjerre, with the alternate night being Wednesday

If the TV is live on a Monday it will mean that BV run home matches on the same night.

So all in all BV have nothing to gain from live TV of speedway, unless there is a considerable compensation package.

NO team is likely to run every week, too few fixtures, so clashes can and should be avoided.

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42 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

You obviously know more about my friends and acquaintances than I do :o

No, I just know about general human nature. TV may have given them an excuse to stop going, but the reasons they stopped going lie elsewhere. Those reasons would have stopped them going altogether at some point.. tv is simply keeping their interest alive.

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On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way.

There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

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32 minutes ago, Grachan said:

On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way.

There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

FA Cup crowds have been way down for a long time, regardless of TV.

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12 hours ago, BWitcher said:

No, I just know about general human nature. TV may have given them an excuse to stop going, but the reasons they stopped going lie elsewhere. Those reasons would have stopped them going altogether at some point.. tv is simply keeping their interest alive.

Gosh - such a highly qualified person on the BSF - who would have thought it! :wink:

You may know about your own human nature - and that of your nearest and dearest - but the wider world, oh no you don't!

Seriously - you actually prove my point by saying "tv may have given them an excuse to stop going"

They definitely wouldn't have opted out of so many meetings had speedway not been televised - which is the whole point I make

 

 

 

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