Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

So where did it all go wrong?


TonyMac

Recommended Posts

The club I follow used to do little social media competitions as a way of advertising..so you share the post and so on...Anyway...I know of someone that won one of these.....it was a photo signed by the team.  This person or any of their family had never been to speedway before so it worked that a new audience had been reached.  Obviously having never been and being the winner they thought they would be admitted free of charge.  This wasn't the case...so the club was expecting this person to travel from Colchester..okay not too far...and pay to get in to get prize...they obviously didn't bother.  Shame in a way that they were not let in for nothing..they may have come back with their children....one of which does a blog and has over 200 thousand followers...and the blog is for motorbike bike racing.   Sometimes I think clubs are very short sighted. Letting 3 people in for free...could have worked out more lucrative in the long term.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

don't know if anyone has said this but its been bad luck to hitch our wagon to greyhound racing which has gone down the pan and taken us with it.

I think from now on - low facility rural circuits that have to be driven to only, no more inner city dog tracks where the viewing was often rubbish anyway but the facilities were good

when i look at the current clubs in dog stadiums i don't feel confident for their future. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry if someone has mentioned this before but I haven't read the whole thread.

I think that a sign that things are radically wrong with the sport is when James Sarjeant (and I mean this with no disrespect to him whatsoever), has a poor season to say the least in 2017 and sees his average drop drastically.

His reward for this is team places in two leagues in 2018.

Joe Jacobs has a great 2016 and increases his average beyond all expectations. His punishment for this is to be frozen out of the start of the 2017 season and have to wait for someone to get injured and face the possibility of having to do the same in 2018.

Surely this can't be right.

Edited by tigerowl
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same happened to Ray Morton way back in 1997 with formation of the Elite & Premier League.  The limit for PL riders was 7.00, Ripper's ave was 7.01 so he was excluded from that league, as were (if memory serves) Andy Smith, Sean Wilson and defo Garry Stead, all 4 made deputations to the BSPA.  Doubly Ironic as if Ripper had beaten one less rider, 2nd instead of a win, he'd have been eligble for a PL place.  The rider he beat: Garry Stead, then riding for Bradford though he signed for Hull of course in 1999. 

As did Ray Morton.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A little lad goes to visit Santa, sits on his knee and gets asked what his Christmas wish would be...

"I would like a real life fire breathing Dragon that I could watch fly around my garden" was the lads answer...

Santa, obviously a bit taken aback replied....

"Well, young fellow, even Santa will sometimes struggle to make everyones desires come true, have you another wish?"

The young lad thought for a moment before answering,...

"Yes, I would like to see Speedway in Britain ran professionally like other Sports,  well marketed, and with a fit for purpose operating model and business plan that delivers no Mickey Mouse meetings, but instead a high quality night of entertainment both on, and off the track, each week".. 

Santa, ponders this for a quite a while before replying. .

"What colour would you like that Dragon kid?":D

Merry Christmas Everyone....

Edited by mikebv
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Where did it go wrong? Probably in the golden 70s and 80s when crowds were notably better, we were on terrestrial TV with national sponsors and the promoters actually made money. That was the point to invest, take full ownership of and modernise the facilities and the experience.

 

Instead British speedway sat back, promoters pocketed the cash and watched whilst the rest of the world went by. Our stadiums were sheds, that was okay then, because it was the norm for all sports. 

 

Today’s facilities for not just football, but rugby league, rugby union, cricket and horse racing - even the cinema - are a world away from what they were in the 70s and 80s. Ours, with a couple of exceptions, are the same standard. 

 

Now, largely as tenants and without a pot to pee in, British Speedway can’t do much about that. As a consequence, the product itself - certainly in the top league - has also suffered badly. 

 

What promoters need to do collectively, is really think what the product is they are actually selling to the public and give them value for money.

 

I posted on here a few years ago that the sport needed to cut its cloth and have appropriate outgoings for the riders and associated costs to give them more financial freedom to make the overall entertainment package better. 

 

This included ditching GP riders, a regional league structure culminating in the Northern Champions facing the Southern Champions in a play-off final. The promoters needs to forget about the GP and it’s riders and treat that as the separate product it is.

 

At the moment the sport is paying out top dollar for GP riders. For what purpose? Have the stadiums been rammed when Tai Woffinden or Jason Doyle visited? The use of top international riders is actually hindering British Speedway to provide a credible spectacle. 

 

We all get our knickers in a twist over guests and doubling up. These silly rules are only the result of clubs trying to be competitive because of the unnecessary high calibre of riders that do not bring in the crowds to league speedway. 

 

What good is it having a GP rider on show if it means teams requiring guests and double up riders, excessive costs, money pouring into the pockets of riders and tuners, whilst the fans watch uncompetitive racing, riders with other priorities, competition with no credibility and have to pee against a wall in the dark. It makes as much business sense as having lobster on the menu in Macdonald’s.

 

It’s about value for money. League speedway needs to think about itself as Macdonald’s serving cheap, cheerful, reliable and consistent offerings.

 

I went to two meetings last year, the Cardiff GP and an Elite League match between Somerset and Belle Vue. Cardiff was a premium product, great stadium, top riders, every rider gave it everything and the racing was good. It cost a fair whack, but I got value for money. I’ll be back.

 

At Somerset, the Aces had 5 riders, including a guest and doubling up riders and also rider replacement, racing was reasonable and my mum fell over on the back straight grass terracing in the pitch black. It was about a fifth of the cost, but I didn’t feel I got value at all. You are being pitched something that is elite, but is patently not.

 

Time to strip it back, remove the excessive costs flooding out to top riders and deliver a cheap and cheerful offering with affordable riders who are fully committed to British Speedway.

 

Borrowing from another thread, I also wonder if speedway should explore going the extra mile and collaborate to deliver a multi-sport offering. Could we partner with other sports like stock car racing, sidecars, shorttrack, even greyhound racing and deliver a better all-round evening or afternoon’s entertainment for a broader range of punters? I’m sure there will be reasons why these are logistically difficult, but surely not impossible.

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This video gives some idea of the effort put into making the AMA Supercross a well publicised and superb spectacle.

The social media coverage is excellent, the events are well publicised locally and held in Football stadiums with top notch facilities.

The racing is great (a must watch on the PC every Sunday morning for me). The stars of the sport become rich and famous as sportsmen.

It is supported by factory efforts from the main manufacturers backed up by some huge sponsorship deals and teams. Vast sums of money are invested in these events.

They run around 18 meetings a year between January and May throughout the US.

They do absolutely everything that I have seen suggested needs doing for Speedway.

The live crowds are dropping, currently they are still big enough to be sustainable but it's becoming a real concern.

I think the majority of live sports are losing spectators in an age when you can watch just about anything on your phone, PC or TV at little or no cost.

Don't know the answers but Speedway has been around a lot longer than Supercross and it seems to have found a level now.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good point Vince.

There are a few elements at play here. Firstly AMA is more akin to the GPs, who do an excellent job of promoting speedway and maximising its potential. However, you have to ask how much effort it would take for British speedway to put together a catchy promo video like the one above in order to promote the upcoming league. This shouldn't be beyond the capability of SGB to produce.

Similarly, when you get to a league meeting, the presentation is slow and old-fashioned. I struggle to comprehend how all the promoters in British speedway go to Cardiff and then systematically fail to recreate any of the flair and excitement of the GP when back at their home track.

Secondly, supercross has crossover appeal which speedway doesn't. By that I mean that I can walk into any bike dealership and buy a road legal version of the bikes I can watch the top riders racing on.  Speedway simply doesn't have this. There is F2 Speedway but they seem to have it back to front if you ask me. They are putting a motocross engine in a speedway frame. Why not put a speedway engine in a motorcross frame and therefore leverage the crossover appeal. I see that flattrack is gaining mainstream popularity in the US with the backing on major manufacturers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎03‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 10:01 PM, falcace said:

 

 

 

Borrowing from another thread, I also wonder if speedway should explore going the extra mile and collaborate to deliver a multi-sport offering. Could we partner with other sports like stock car racing, sidecars, shorttrack, even greyhound racing and deliver a better all-round evening or afternoon’s entertainment for a broader range of punters? I’m sure there will be reasons why these are logistically difficult, but surely not impossible.

 

A good post and I do agree the stadium/facilities does play a large part in things bowadays.Years ago a speedway stadium was on a par with other sports including Football.Now it is a very bad comparison to make.People just don't want to spend money to stand out in the weather on a grassy knoll

 

As for the quoted bit,i would agree unless the speedway comes out poorly in comparison to the other sprts.This was the case often when I have attended combined meetings.The worst case was speedway and MotoX jumps at an indoor arena in Kiel.The speedway,which was on the concrete floor was terrible and the jumps great.But even on other surfaces including speedway tracks the speedway has tended to be a poor second to sidecars

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sidecars :o a perfectly good motorcycle ruined :D

I don't think mixing other sports with Speedway would be such a good thing as mostly Speedway fans aren't very interested in motorcycles. I would guess far more follow the other local teams in Football, Rugby, Ice Hockey etc than watch other motorcycle racing. We have done short track demo's at Speedway meetings at Rye House which have been received well but there have only been a couple of races and being demo's there has been a lot of passing and contact :lol:

The one thing which I think would fit in really well at Speedway would be to run a cycle speedway meeting on the infield with the races between the main meetings races. Another local team to support which would cost very little to run (if the infield is available).

Another option would be to get some young kids on motorcycles doing Trials demonstrations or perhaps the local kids grass trackers getting a couple of outings a year.

None of it is going to attract much in the way of new spectators though, even the cycle speedway fans tend to go to Speedway anyway.

Stock cars and Greyhounds would not be an option because of the fence for stocks and the shale getting on the greyhound track.

Edited by Vince
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MattK said:

Good point Vince.

There are a few elements at play here. Firstly AMA is more akin to the GPs, who do an excellent job of promoting speedway and maximising its potential. However, you have to ask how much effort it would take for British speedway to put together a catchy promo video like the one above in order to promote the upcoming league. This shouldn't be beyond the capability of SGB to produce.

Similarly, when you get to a league meeting, the presentation is slow and old-fashioned. I struggle to comprehend how all the promoters in British speedway go to Cardiff and then systematically fail to recreate any of the flair and excitement of the GP when back at their home track.

Secondly, supercross has crossover appeal which speedway doesn't. By that I mean that I can walk into any bike dealership and buy a road legal version of the bikes I can watch the top riders racing on.  Speedway simply doesn't have this. There is F2 Speedway but they seem to have it back to front if you ask me. They are putting a motocross engine in a speedway frame. Why not put a speedway engine in a motorcross frame and therefore leverage the crossover appeal. I see that flattrack is gaining mainstream popularity in the US with the backing on major manufacturers.

YOU could count the number of promoters who go to Cardiff on one hand. Says it all ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Vince said:

Sidecars :o a perfectly good motorcycle ruined :D

 

Yes I have seen them a few times,including on ice at Berlin and in an indoor horse arena with a really deep and short track  which made the speedway quite poor,but the sidecars super.To an extent I think because it wasn't a 'real' competition for the sidecars they just went out and put on a show,which was ok as long as it wasn't obvious.Which it was when go-karts also featured on the speedway programme at Moorwinkelsdamm.The driver in front slowing down to let the chasers catch up was just too much for me

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy