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Pay Rates Mystery


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What is the truth about "poor old riders" - are they driving home with nowt in their pockets after a hard night's racing?

If only we knew? No-one is prepared to break the Code of Silence over even basic pay rates are they? But they can't be too bad and doubling up riders must be well off. With what I have heard as £100 a point ( no idea if start money is now paid ) at Championship level and £200 per point ( minimum ) at Premier league level.. It looks as if no doubling up rider is earning less than £250,000 gross income per season from riding speedway - plus whatever income he can glean from sponsors ( which in some cases can be very considerable ). Yes, of course Development League riders who do not get paid could do with anything in the way of sponsorship. Let's hear about pay rates from someone in the know?

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What is the truth about "poor old riders" - are they driving home with nowt in their pockets after a hard night's racing?

If only we knew? No-one is prepared to break the Code of Silence over even basic pay rates are they? But they can't be too bad and doubling up riders must be well off. With what I have heard as £100 a point ( no idea if start money is now paid ) at Championship level and £200 per point ( minimum ) at Premier league level.. It looks as if no doubling up rider is earning less than £250,000 gross income per season from riding speedway - plus whatever income he can glean from sponsors ( which in some cases can be very considerable ). Yes, of course Development League riders who do not get paid could do with anything in the way of sponsorship. Let's hear about pay rates from someone in the know?

 

as Ive said before its not a secret its more a case of a private matter , if a rider wants to say then fine but I feel its not right for other people to divulge riders earnings , I wouldnt like people talking about what I earn .
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as Ive said before its not a secret its more a case of a private matter , if a rider wants to say then fine but I feel its not right for other people to divulge riders earnings , I wouldnt like people talking about what I earn .

I understand where you are coming from but I don't think it would hurt for fans to know say an average figure for each league. Let's face it most jobs general pay rates are known. Certainly when I worked in the NHS anyone could find out basic salary rates. There is however no need for specifics.

 

I don't know and don't care how much Bomber or Cookie earn but there are those who might throw a few quid in sponsorship towards "lesser" riders if they think they are underpaid.

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Whatever trade people work In, no one likes to divulge what they earn. I guess it's human nature!

I earn £8-08 an hour...the reality of working within the tourist and leisure industry in York!

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What is the truth about "poor old riders" - are they driving home with nowt in their pockets after a hard night's racing?

If only we knew? No-one is prepared to break the Code of Silence over even basic pay rates are they? But they can't be too bad and doubling up riders must be well off. With what I have heard as £100 a point ( no idea if start money is now paid ) at Championship level and £200 per point ( minimum ) at Premier league level.. It looks as if no doubling up rider is earning less than £250,000 gross income per season from riding speedway - plus whatever income he can glean from sponsors ( which in some cases can be very considerable ). Yes, of course Development League riders who do not get paid could do with anything in the way of sponsorship. Let's hear about pay rates from someone in the know?

 

You are absolutely miles off.

Most championship riders will be on basically half that unless they're a top rider in the league.

250k income per year? Is it April 1st already?

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What is the truth about "poor old riders" - are they driving home with nowt in their pockets after a hard night's racing?

If only we knew? No-one is prepared to break the Code of Silence over even basic pay rates are they? But they can't be too bad and doubling up riders must be well off. With what I have heard as £100 a point ( no idea if start money is now paid ) at Championship level and £200 per point ( minimum ) at Premier league level.. It looks as if no doubling up rider is earning less than £250,000 gross income per season from riding speedway - plus whatever income he can glean from sponsors ( which in some cases can be very considerable ). Yes, of course Development League riders who do not get paid could do with anything in the way of sponsorship. Let's hear about pay rates from someone in the know?

 

You have more chance of finding out if you neighbours in the Masonic Lodge than riders pay rates.!!!!!

You are absolutely miles off.

Most championship riders will be on basically half that unless they're a top rider in the league.

250k income per year? Is it April 1st already?

Most No1's will think they are a top rider and can't see all the rest of the team riding for less than1/2 there team mates.In 2007 I spoke to a rider who was earning £80 appoint as an Elite League reserve. Edited by Fromafar
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You are absolutely miles off.

Most championship riders will be on basically half that unless they're a top rider in the league.

250k income per year? Is it April 1st already?

I remember watching the 1989 Commonwealth Final on Channel Four (?) and the amounts quoted were ridiculous...I recall either Martin Dugard or Troy Butler saying if they were earning a fraction of what was quoted it would have been nearer the truth.

 

I would like to know where the researchers got their facts from?

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I understand where you are coming from but I don't think it would hurt for fans to know say an average figure for each league. Let's face it most jobs general pay rates are known. Certainly when I worked in the NHS anyone could find out basic salary rates. There is however no need for specifics.

 

I don't know and don't care how much Bomber or Cookie earn but there are those who might throw a few quid in sponsorship towards "lesser" riders if they think they are underpaid.

if people really want to know then ask the riders themselves , lesser riders could always do with sponsorship but equally some could do with advice cause they dont always know how to use it
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Whatever they get paid isn't enough for putting your future health and life on the line everytime they take to the track

 

i think we've always accepted that but if there isn't the footfall to pay them thats just how it is.

People who parachute or climb mountains risk their future health too but no one's paying them

If they didn't have to spend so much on kit they might make a bob or two

when Tim Swales ran Middlesbrough he used to say riders could earn an average weekly wage in one night

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Whatever they get paid isn't enough for putting your future health and life on the line everytime they take to the track

more people suffer serious injuries tripping over their slippers than riders do riding speedway per year , while speedway is a bit dangerous its no more dangerous than a lot of jobs , the risks can be the same , in 21 years I never went to the tapes thinking Im putting my life on the line or this is dangerous ,I cant say the same while driving down the m1 in the heavy rain , nobody is forced to race, you have an accident at work or on the road and you will wait 15mins + for medics , have an accident at speedway and the medical crew are there in 30 secs, there is no better place to have a accident in a strange sort of way Edited by THE DEAN MACHINE
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I remember watching the 1989 Commonwealth Final on Channel Four (?) and the amounts quoted were ridiculous...I recall either Martin Dugard or Troy Butler saying if they were earning a fraction of what was quoted it would have been nearer the truth.

 

Of course, there were always riders who pled poverty, and in the next breath were telling you about how they went off jet skiing during the week!

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Of course, there were always riders who pled poverty, and in the next breath were telling you about how they went off jet skiing during the week!

...happened at Cowley when a certain rider was without a motor and a collection was held only to learn that he owned a jet ski!

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From afar wrote " Most No1's will think they are a top rider and can't see all the rest of the team riding for less than1/2 there team mates.In 2007 I spoke to a rider who was earning £80 appoint as an Elite League reserve."

 

Therefore the £100 per point in the Elite league ten years ago ( at reserve ) is quite likely to at least be £200 per point in the main body of the team - as a minimum.

 

​I am not putting down any rider - they are heroic - to race at close quarters into the first and second bend at the speeds they do. It can be a dangerous motorsport.Some have paid a terrible price for their efforts.

 

And yes it is a private matter and I don't want to know what Bomber or X might earn, I just wanted to demystify the I can't make it pay" - as some riders claim - aspect of modern speedway. I still believe that a doubling up rider averaging above 6 points per meeting is going to earn at least £250,000 from their racing ( gross ). Plus any sponsorship. That is 10x the average wage, so it's a good life if you have the ability and bottle. It cannot be that they can hardly make it pay.

 

​To get what they deserve we just need average crowds to be around 3,500 and that is what is impossible it seems.

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