No TV deal?

[SteveLyric2]

More sponsors paying more to be on TV?!

 

[moxey63]

Speedway is its own worst enemy. Season upon season we have promoters annual "We may not run next year," followed by "We're ok to run," once March arrives. It is so unprofessional.

When tracks like Coventry and Cradley, and Oxford, can fall by the wayside... all major clubs 30 years ago, there does become a time when even the most ardent of fan walks from their last meeting thinking whether it's the last they'll see, through choice or the impending bulldozers rolling in. 

Peter Oakes was correct recently, pointing out that only one club had gone out of business through financial hardship - Hull. So, reading that fact, it does make you feel that speedway's future may not be in the hands of the new brigade of fans, but on how much the land is worth that the track sits on.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by moxey63

[Agrotron]

So close to walking away from Speedway its just a joke they wouldn't know a good thing if it hit them in the face.

[Tsunami]

57 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

WE do know that

I was involved with a business partner and a newly formed media group, just ahead of TR in about 2000. I was inundated with questions and for explanations by the BSPA Office, which of course I found later were stalling tactics whilst TR concluded a deal with SKY.  It could have been so different.

True story.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Tsunami

[Starman2006]

1 hour ago, Richard Weston said:

But they keep on losing, week in week out - where is the line when Sky payments are more than those who don't go

Thats why if you knock it down to a tenner for the Sky/ BT meeting people will go, people will not pay £17 a throw when its on TV. End of the day the club will still get the payments.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Starman2006

[Starman2006]

56 minutes ago, Agrotron said:

So close to walking away from Speedway its just a joke they wouldn't know a good thing if it hit them in the face.

Please elaborate..

[steve roberts]

2 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Speedway is its own worst enemy. Season upon season we have promoters annual "We may not run next year," followed by "We're ok to run," once March arrives. It is so unprofessional.

When tracks like Coventry and Cradley, and Oxford, can fall by the wayside... all major clubs 30 years ago, there does become a time when even the most ardent of fan walks from their last meeting thinking whether it's the last they'll see, through choice or the impending bulldozers rolling in. 

Peter Oakes was correct recently, pointing out that only one club had gone out of business through financial hardship - Hull. So, reading that fact, it does make you feel that speedway's future may not be in the hands of the new brigade of fans, but on how much the land is worth that the track sits on.

 

 

 

 

...plus the likes of Reading and Wimbledon and highly likely Swindon it just doesn't bode well.

[Midland Red]

12 hours ago, PHILIPRISING said:

CAN think of countless reasons why crowds have gone down, notably lack of regular fixtures, never quite sure who will be riding for your team on any given day, lack of promotion, but don't see TV as one of them.

You're a sensible person, Philip, but . . . . you cannot see that the opportunity to view a league match at home, or down the pub or wherever, instead of attending at track in person, is one that many folk have taken, and will continue to take

Part of the attraction is the visual aspect of tv replays, and information from the pits - neither of which can be enjoyed in the stadium

Of course there's the cost element too,  and if it's a family rather than an individual which decides to view from the armchair, there's a significant saving to be had

Please explain why you don't see it - you suggest that some promoters do!  I do too - in advancing years and reduced income, I have limited my attendance as the tv alternative has become available

[waytogo28]

16 hours ago, moxey63 said:

Another winter of fresh promises, another time of us edging nearer toward yet another new dawn of speedway's life-saving fresh start that we were promised only months ago. How many look forward to a new season?

Not much is stirring in my enthusiasm for the new season. I might go sometimes if the weather looks set fair for sure AND if the opposition has an attractive lineup. But compared to 10 years ago when I just couldn't wait for Tapes Up, I can hardly be bothered now. And it's not because I am growing older it's because speedway is in such a mess. Last season when Scott Nicholls was allowed to ride for BOTH sides in a major event final, brought home to me that it had become totally Mickey Mouse. And this year he is not allowed to ride in the league at all! Bring it on on TV , I love it all and will be taking out a subscription to watch Polish League matches. And go very occasionally to local matches, where the atmosphere is weak, woeful and empty.

[Halifaxtiger]

23 hours ago, Grachan said:

 

I agree, it's nonsense, although I think all they are seeing is low attendance on covered meetings sometimes. However, it has been shown several times, that if a meeting is promoted properly then you will get a good crowd at a televised meeting.

I am pretty sure the Aces biggest crowd of the league season last year  was against Wolverhampton, and that was televised. 

When Berwick had a couple of TV meetings a few seasons ago they attracted big attendances.

Do it cheap and promote it well and it can be the case that live coverage won't make any difference - indeed, it can actually make a meeting more viable.

 

20 hours ago, PHILIPRISING said:

IT'S not about when TV are there. Workington claim that they lost 300 fans last year because of speedway on TV. Work that one out.

I find that difficult to believe or quantify. Its hard to accept that a Comets fan would walk away from watching their team simply because they can watch Rye House or Somerset on the TV and do so about 8 times a year.

It must be a matter of GP speedway and running directly against it. I stand to be corrected but having attended almost half of Workington's home meetings last season I didn't see any noticeable difference when  there was a clash with a GP broadcast.

18 hours ago, Richard Weston said:

Workington are a Saturday night track. Looks like 300 stayed at home and watched GP instead of going to a live meeting.

I think many promoters are wary about running against a GP.

You might be right - although as I say I didn't notice that at Workington, and it will be interesting to see if their gates increase this year when most of their mid summer meetings are on a Friday.

13 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

More sponsors paying more to be on TV?!

 

Definitely. I was told that when Leicester got that deal with a solicitors a few years ago they did so simply because of the television coverage. No TV, no sponsorship.

The only thing is that will apply only to Premiership clubs - no Championship team will be getting anything extra (or losing something) because of BT broadcasting.

9 hours ago, Midland Red said:

You're a sensible person, Philip, but . . . . you cannot see that the opportunity to view a league match at home, or down the pub or wherever, instead of attending at track in person, is one that many folk have taken, and will continue to take

Part of the attraction is the visual aspect of tv replays, and information from the pits - neither of which can be enjoyed in the stadium

Of course there's the cost element too,  and if it's a family rather than an individual which decides to view from the armchair, there's a significant saving to be had

Please explain why you don't see it - you suggest that some promoters do!  I do too - in advancing years and reduced income, I have limited my attendance as the tv alternative has become available

I think speedway may have lost fans because of SKY/BT coverage but they will be minimal and the factors Phil has stated are far more relevant. Rarely does a fan say that they have finished going to meetings because they can watch the (pretty minimal) coverage of league speedway that is available - its usually far more about poor value.

Quite simply, most recognise that being there is and always will be better.

[Grand Central]

To be honest Halifax Tiger you are a very special case, yourself.

Living in Elland and attending 50% of Workington fixtures as well as several visits to Isle of Wight must make you the most fervant and most travelled Speedway Supporter here.
Which is brilliant and makes many of your posts informative to many.

From my own perspective, as a northern exile in the South East,  I can say with certainty that in 2017 (and previous years) I watched every League meeting on TV and didn't attend any meeting Live on those nights. And over the course of the last few seasons my general attendance has gone down as a direct result of having Speedway (incl GPs) on the TV.

Whilst I do not consider myself representative of all supporters I believe I may be a LITTLE more so than yourself who must be the UK's No1 attendee.
The various bizarre and irrational reasons that other fairweather fans use to make a choice NOT to attend must be quite impossible to imagine for the ultra-commited.
But we do. And I do think TV is a real factor that is quite a bit bigger than some here seem to be aware of.

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Grand Central

[moxey63]

Speedway is a weird attraction. Admit it, the majority probably fell over it courtesy of a friend or family member. Possibly more were attracted back in the seventies when it was on Saturday afternoons half a dozen times a year, with the nationwide audience World of Sport aired.

Today, all the various TV channels, it's possibly harder to attract an audience from anything that SKY afforded speedway, then BT. So isn't live speedway on TV really mainly taking away the fans that would have contemplated venturing out to watch it live and pay at the gate? Surely forward-thinking promoters have carried out a survey of some sort to see the plus and minus points live speedway has on attendances at live meetings. Even the turnstiles' person asking when people go through the gate with a chance to go into a prize draw would form some kind of pattern. The plight of today's sport, can't see people whining about being held up for too long in the queue either. 

 

Just an idea...

 

 

[Trotter65]

If promoters actually promoted the sport properly in their local areas then the TV coverage could be a huge promotional tool going forward...for every person lost they should gain 2....if there is no promotion and no TV then nobody is going to even know about league speedway and it's future is far bleaker ..TV is a must..

[BWitcher]

Never ceases to amaze me. Speedway, the only sport in the world that thinks TV coverage is a bad thing and has managed to ensure in some ways it IS a bad thing. 

20 years of utter waste.

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by BWitcher

[MattK]

30 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

Today, all the various TV channels, it's possibly harder to attract an audience from anything that SKY afforded speedway, then BT. So isn't live speedway on TV really mainly taking away the fans that would have contemplated venturing out to watch it live and pay at the gate?

That is one way of looking at it. Another is that TV is still the best mechanism for getting your sport in front of millions of eyeballs. It is then in the gift of the promoters to put on a spectacle which makes armchair fans into pay on the gate fans.

Just look at UFC. They use TV coverage excellently, not just to showcase the live fights, but to do build-up (when was there ever a build-up programme to a speedway meeting), reality-style training series, "best of" programmes etc. The consequence, they sold out the O2 Arena in minutes when tickets went on sale earlier this month for a fight card which doesn't even contain a championship bout.

[pugwash]

UFC? Never heard of it.

I need to stay in more.

[BWitcher]

7 minutes ago, MattK said:

That is one way of looking at it. Another is that TV is still the best mechanism for getting your sport in front of millions of eyeballs. It is then in the gift of the promoters to put on a spectacle which makes armchair fans into pay on the gate fans.

Just look at UFC. They use TV coverage excellently, not just to showcase the live fights, but to do build-up (when was there ever a build-up programme to a speedway meeting), reality-style training series, "best of" programmes etc. The consequence, they sold out the O2 Arena in minutes when tickets went on sale earlier this month for a fight card which doesn't even contain a championship bout.

Exactly.

And UFC basically built on the format of WWF/WWE down the years. Another prime example of using TV to go from a small regional business to a billion dollar industry.

[A ORLOV]

16 minutes ago, MattK said:

That is one way of looking at it. Another is that TV is still the best mechanism for getting your sport in front of millions of eyeballs. It is then in the gift of the promoters to put on a spectacle which makes armchair fans into pay on the gate fans.

Just look at UFC. They use TV coverage excellently, not just to showcase the live fights, but to do build-up (when was there ever a build-up programme to a speedway meeting), reality-style training series, "best of" programmes etc. The consequence, they sold out the O2 Arena in minutes when tickets went on sale earlier this month for a fight card which doesn't even contain a championship bout.

Someone in speedway needs to put together a highlights prog that a tv company might show using clips from re-run etc from the clubs and even the GP series which would be cheap tv, possibly sell re-runs videos and get people interested to a point of attending meetings if they do not live too far from a track.  

[Starman2006]

55 minutes ago, Trotter65 said:

If promoters actually promoted the sport properly in their local areas then the TV coverage could be a huge promotional tool going forward...for every person lost they should gain 2....if there is no promotion and no TV then nobody is going to even know about league speedway and it's future is far bleaker ..TV is a must..

Its down to the individual promoters to promote there club, Matt ford does it at poole, why cant others. Reguarding the TV deal, Phil rising says there is one in place. please see my post above. Its not rocket science. you need to dangle a carrot..

Edited February 16, 2018 by Starman2006

[Grand Central]

I find it quite interesting how some are using examples from other areas of sport (?) and their TV marketing success.
And yet I don't have the faintest idea of what they are talking about.
Clearly the marketing has been good enough to engage many many people who like that kind of thing ... but it has passed me by, totally.

Perhaps that shows the mountain Speedway would have to climb to be effective at getting through to folk anything like me.

I was wondering does this UFC have a UK league of system of twenty odd venues running March to October that I can attend regularly on Monday nights?
And if so, how do they go about getting all the other venues running that night filled, with (say) 1500 spectators or so, whilst one of them is also being televised Live at the same time? Their experience at making that a success may be useful here.

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Grand Central