Rye House 2018

[MattK]

1 minute ago, waytogo28 said:

We simply don't know. My original point is that for many ears the Sky TV cash went on the No'.1s and they failed to hold the crowds, never mind bringing in new ones. When the crowds at Swindon dipped the season after LA's retirement, did they not climb back up to a respectable level? Of course, it really is speculation that attracting big names back to British speedway would bring bigger crowds but it also represents a huge gamble that no-one in UK speedway is prepared to take. Or even has the cash to try.

No. There was a sharp and noticeable decline in the season after Leigh's retirement and the crowds have then continued to dropped steadily over time in line with the rest of the league.

I am not claiming that big names are the panacea to British speedway's ills, but your claim that "big-name stars have proved not to attract UK fans" is completely without foundation.

[GWC]

Also since the crash of 2008 it has been noticeable that austerity has been one of the causes of decline.

 

[orion]

Only speedway  fans can think that star names won't makes the crowds bigger .it like saying that more people wont come to see mcg at darts ronnie O'Sullivan at snooker Messi at football etc .its no wonder speedway is in a mess if people have a mind set like that .it's simple fact as the standard has dropped so have the crowds it's not rocket science. 

[Ray Stadia]

Rye House being in the top flight of speedway was, surely, always an eyebrow raiser. The history of the club has been nursery, originally and league 2, no more. Therefore, the expense of top league speedway for the club needed more bums on seats. I am sure Len wouldn't have dreamt of suggesting RH runs in the top league, but perhaps I am wrong. 

[ouch]

We could have cut down on the amount of guestfest fixtures just by adopting a more efficient fixture planning method but as usual we have taken the approach of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

If they want me to do it for them I will.

 

[stevebrum]

2 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

Please do not proceed with No.1 because big-name stars have proved not to attract UK fans. Big name stars are unknown to the general public here and are therefore not a draw to any possible new fans. No.2 A Big Thumbs Up to.

There is no evidence to suggest that at all, in fact the opposite. The more bigger names drop out of racing in the UK the more the crowds have dropped. A coincidence or not?

People say we can’t afford the big names anymore. We can’t afford to cut them any further back as it is!

The problem for me is the wee taking of its loyal supporters.

Quality of the top flight has dropped alarmingly in the 4-5 years but sadly not the cost. The middle tier charges in some places a pound or 2 less than the top flight. That cannot be right. It’s the middle tier that’s causing a lot of the issues for the top flight. More and more top flight riders are doubling down and demanding a fair wage packet for it I’ll guess.

dumb the product if you wish (I’d prefer not as its zapping my enthusiasm for top flight speedway) but at least get the price top right. 

£10 for NL, £12 for 2nd tier and £14 or £15 for top flight. That’s the way forward next season.

Not one big league tho please, the final death toll for our league racing.

[foamfence]

46 minutes ago, orion said:

Only speedway  fans can think that star names won't makes the crowds bigger .it like saying that more people wont come to see mcg at darts ronnie O'Sullivan at snooker Messi at football etc .its no wonder speedway is in a mess if people have a mind set like that .it's simple fact as the standard has dropped so have the crowds it's not rocket science. 

While it's very likely that crowd numbers would rise, it's debatable whether it would be in sufficient numbers to cover the cost involved. 

[foamfence]

3 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

There is no evidence to suggest that at all, in fact the opposite. The more bigger names drop out of racing in the UK the more the crowds have dropped. A coincidence or not?

People say we can’t afford the big names anymore. We can’t afford to cut them any further back as it is!

The problem for me is the wee taking of its loyal supporters.

Quality of the top flight has dropped alarmingly in the 4-5 years but sadly not the cost. The middle tier charges in some places a pound or 2 less than the top flight. That cannot be right. It’s the middle tier that’s causing a lot of the issues for the top flight. More and more top flight riders are doubling down and demanding a fair wage packet for it I’ll guess.

dumb the product if you wish (I’d prefer not as its zapping my enthusiasm for top flight speedway) but at least get the price top right. 

£10 for NL, £12 for 2nd tier and £14 or £15 for top flight. That’s the way forward next season.

Not one big league tho please, the final death toll for our league racing.

The 'final death toll' would probably be more likely if we brought in more big names and then went bankrupt because of their demands.

[orion]

Just now, foamfence said:

While it's very likely that crowd numbers would rise, it's debatable whether it would be in sufficient numbers to cover the cost involved. 

Of course that is why we don't have them anymore  ...but that is not the question ..Someone on here is saying that big names won't  bring in  bigger crowds ...when you hear  comments like that I don't know if I should laugh or cry .

[stevebrum]

16 minutes ago, foamfence said:

The 'final death toll' would probably be more likely if we brought in more big names and then went bankrupt because of their demands.

Either way is debatable. You only have to look at the excitement and crowds when Emil signed for Coventry albeit for a short spell. Crowds went up big time when he was in town.

No doubt Vaculik would have created a similar buzz. Crowds will be up that’s for sure. It’s the cost of speedway that seems to be the issue.

[Chadster]

I suppose big names would bring in bigger crowds but would the increase be enough to cover the costs? You'd really have to be an insider to answer that question. Another point is, who would these big names be. I can't imagine Hancock and Pedersen at this stage of their careers wanting to get into the routine of Poland, Britain, Sweden and back to Britain on successive days so we're looking at Woffinden and the Poles, I imagine. Woffinden has already struggled with such a level of commitment. I suggest the only way he'd be back in the UK is if we followed the Polish and Swedish models of 7 home meetings a season. How many of us would be happy with that?

[GWC]

16 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

There is no evidence to suggest that at all, in fact the opposite. The more bigger names drop out of racing in the UK the more the crowds have dropped. A coincidence or not?

People say we can’t afford the big names anymore. We can’t afford to cut them any further back as it is!

The problem for me is the wee taking of its loyal supporters.

Quality of the top flight has dropped alarmingly in the 4-5 years but sadly not the cost. The middle tier charges in some places a pound or 2 less than the top flight. That cannot be right. It’s the middle tier that’s causing a lot of the issues for the top flight. More and more top flight riders are doubling down and demanding a fair wage packet for it I’ll guess.

dumb the product if you wish (I’d prefer not as its zapping my enthusiasm for top flight speedway) but at least get the price top right. 

£10 for NL, £12 for 2nd tier and £14 or £15 for top flight. That’s the way forward next season.

Not one big league tho please, the final death toll for our league racing.

If you supported Rye House as I have since 1974 then losing your best riders was a common occurrence. Crowds held up because there was always a new rider coming through, part of supporting a lower tier club was that you expected the better to move on up in the sport.

Somehow this hasn’t applied to the majority of mid tier clubs and we are in the mess we have now.

People are getting wise to the fact that the top tier of the sport is actually the mid tier with riders in different order.

To introduce some credibility into the sport this rider sharing cannot continue and Premier clubs won’t be signing overseas riders any time soon so the alternative is obvious.

[hammer1969]

2 minutes ago, Chadster said:

I suppose big names would bring in bigger crowds but would the increase be enough to cover the costs? You'd really have to be an insider to answer that question. Another point is, who would these big names be. I can't imagine Hancock and Pedersen at this stage of their careers wanting to get into the routine of Poland, Britain, Sweden and back to Britain on successive days so we're looking at Woffinden and the Poles, I imagine. Woffinden has already struggled with such a level of commitment. I suggest the only way he'd be back in the UK is if we followed the Polish and Swedish models of 7 home meetings a season. How many of us would be happy with that?

I like to see the big names riding but what I want more than anything is a team consisting of the same riders competing weekly and good close racing.  I also love watching the youngsters racing (junior championships etc) they seem to really want to be there. At the moment my dream is at Cardiff a big name exceeds the 2 minutes/tapes etc, Dan Bewley gets a ride, flies from the gate and wins the race, I reckon the fans will go wild - I can but dream - anyone like to give the odds on it happening (please don't ruin my day by rubishing my dream)

 

 

 

 

[cityrebel]

18 minutes ago, stevebrum said:

Either way is debatable. You only have to look at the excitement and crowds when Emil signed for Coventry albeit for a short spell. Crowds went up big time when he was in town.

No doubt Vaculik would have created a similar buzz. Crowds will be up that’s for sure. It’s the cost of speedway that seems to be the issue.

I think the sport has deteriorated rapidly since Emil rode for Coventry. Without lucrative sponsorship and a big TV deal, I don't see how the top league can afford the better riders.

[rocket007]

I don't go to Speedway to see so-called big names, I go because it's Rye House v Whoever. I go to see the 7 Rye riders against 7 riders from the opposition. How many times have a Team turned up only for their star man to have been injured last night in Sweden/Denmark/Poland etc. I won't go if it is pre-publicised that the away side are running R/R + 2 guests. I also think that if a rider is going to be out injured for more than 28 days, then they should be forced to sign someone else instead of running R/R all season. It is nice to have riders such as Bomber, Scotty & KK at Rye, but I would be just as happy to have say, Wells, Shanes & Garrity riding, as it would still be 7 Rye riders. I think most people go to Speedway to watch a match, not individual riders.  On  a previous post about fans stop going after LA left Swindon, why didn't they all return when Doyle(so called star name) was there. It isn't about Star names anymore, it's about 7 Riders in a Team, on a night that suits and continuity of a fixture list. 

[Daniel Smith]

As a walk away fan, who is the team isn't an issue. All standards of Speedway can be brilliant. 

The issues are the selfishness of promoters, inability to acknowledge and treat the fans correctly and value for money. 

For new fans, they also couldn't care less about the rider's, what they do care about is value for money to continue to come back. 15 minutes of racing over 2 hours, rubbish music, nonsensical waffle from the centre green and appalling stadium standards is all a massive turn off.

[GWC]

37 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

I think the sport has deteriorated rapidly since Emil rode for Coventry. Without lucrative sponsorship and a big TV deal, I don't see how the top league can afford the better riders.

I bet Coventry still lost money on the deal knowing what that little guy wants to ride.

[Steve Shovlar]

The reason crowds are dropping isas people are dying and not replaced a yonger generation of fans.A look at the crowd would sugest they are watching crown green bowls. 

[GWC]

2 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said:

The reason crowds are dropping isas people are dying and not replaced a yonger generation of fans.A look at the crowd would sugest they are watching crown green bowls. 

Agreed Steve it’s like a lot of sports now kept going by the grey pound.

[waytogo28]

1 hour ago, hammer1969 said:

I like to see the big names riding but what I want more than anything is a team consisting of the same riders competing weekly and good close racing.  I also love watching the youngsters racing (junior championships etc) they seem to really want to be there. At the moment my dream is at Cardiff a big name exceeds the 2 minutes/tapes etc, Dan Bewley gets a ride, flies from the gate and wins the race, I reckon the fans will go wild - I can but dream - anyone like to give the odds on it happening (please don't ruin my day by rubishing my dream)

 

 

 

 

It's a great dream and not highly improbable. Anyone who makes the start may well hold on for the win. Dan certainly could. You will see that happen and I hope it's this year!