mike1944 Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 (edited) Looking at the few meetings that have been on FreeSports TV this year I could not help but notice the enthusiasm that the Polish supporters have compared to British fans. How refreshing it is to see supporters actually enjoying themselves, cheering their team on and dressed in their colours. That just shows how dire British speedway is just now, it needs a big kick-up the backside and sooner rather than later. It would be interesting to see what admission price these supporters pay to watch their team allowing for cost of living, etc. Edited April 27, 2018 by mike1944 add 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racers and royals Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 (edited) 28 minutes ago, mike1944 said: Looking at the few meetings that have been on FreeSports TV this year I could not help but notice the enthusiasm that the Polish supporters have compared to British fans. How refreshing it is to see supporters actually enjoying themselves, cheering their team on and dressed in their colours. That just shows how dire British speedway is just now, it needs a big kick-up the backside and sooner rather than later. It would be interesting to see what admission price these supporters pay to watch their team allowing for cost of living, etc. As Leszno are at home tonight- here is their 2018 pricing structure(about 5 ZL to the £) https://unia.leszno.pl/ksul2017/2018/04/18/36616/ Edited April 27, 2018 by racers and royals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 52 minutes ago, mike1944 said: Looking at the few meetings that have been on FreeSports TV this year I could not help but notice the enthusiasm that the Polish supporters have compared to British fans. How refreshing it is to see supporters actually enjoying themselves, cheering their team on and dressed in their colours. That just shows how dire British speedway is just now, it needs a big kick-up the backside and sooner rather than later. It would be interesting to see what admission price these supporters pay to watch their team allowing for cost of living, etc. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Poland http://www.foreignersinpoland.com/average-salary-in-poland/ €830 after tax average.....compared to Germany which is around €3000 if you can believe the stats.So no surprise prices for speedway are cheaper........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk127 Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 On the international thread it talks about the forthcoming test matches between Poland and Russia, Australia and Sweden and entry costs around £6.30 based on current exchange rates. Not bad for an International meeting. Not sure what it costs for league meetings but perhaps they have the price point right and interestingly TV does not seem to affect the crowd level. Add to the fact that you have the top riders, perhaps they also have the right sponsors etc. It all takes effort and hard work to get to this level and perhaps the BSPA simply don’t have the right people, resources or appetite to go out on a limb and be bold doing something different. Who knows but we are lucky to be able to watch first class entertainment from Poland and often live, long may it continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawel115 Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 (edited) Look at the sponsors in Polish speedway big well know names some of then state owned such as the main sponsor of Extraliga PGE or when i watch British speedway(and enjoy it) i can't see any big name sponsors.Here is a wiki page on PGE in english https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polska_Grupa_Energetyczna another big sponsor for mostly Tarnow is Grupa Azoty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupa_Azoty Edited April 27, 2018 by pawel115 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 The main difference is the age of the fans. God knows what state British speedway will be in when a lot of us oldies die off. I give it a decade, if we are lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 It’s like 2 different sports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poolebolton Posted April 27, 2018 Report Share Posted April 27, 2018 amazing how many of these companies are British though. Fogo power is UK owned Cash Broker is a UK owned company And a lot have ties with the UK but then don't want anything to do with the UK. Im just amazed no one wants to sponsor the league you think a betting company would pay £50K to sponsor the league and if you split that around teams and said spend it on making the product better could have a large knock-on effect. But that is far too simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted April 28, 2018 Report Share Posted April 28, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, Hawk127 said: we are lucky to be able to watch first class entertainment from Poland and often live, long may it continue. I'm new to watching Polish Speedway and I must say I was expecting better racing than what I've seen so far. I was expecting it to be more up to GP standard with the quality of riders on view but it's closer to gate and go British Speedway 10 hours ago, cityrebel said: The main difference is the age of the fans. God knows what state British speedway will be in when a lot of us oldies die off. I give it a decade, if we are lucky. I've said many times that British Speedway should market itself as an extreme sport and not continue with the family sport promotion. The old codgers (myself included) will continue to turn up come what may. Look at the divide between the ages of those in the pits to those on the terraces!! 10 hours ago, poolebolton said: Im just amazed no one wants to sponsor the league you think a betting company would pay £50K to sponsor the league I watched a virtual race on Coral.co.uk the other day and it was far more entertaining than anything I've seen so far this season at Leicester! And the race was only 2 laps... perhaps that's the way to go Edited April 28, 2018 by iainb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFCB Wildcat Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 27/04/2018 at 4:55 PM, iris123 said: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Poland http://www.foreignersinpoland.com/average-salary-in-poland/ €830 after tax average.....compared to Germany which is around €3000 if you can believe the stats.So no surprise prices for speedway are cheaper........ Interesting links. So speedway is pretty much the same price in relation to earnings in Poland as UK. Mind you looking at the comparisons, so is pretty much everything else so guess it must be our superior speedway that makes the UK so attractive to the Polish :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humphrey Appleby Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 28/04/2018 at 12:33 AM, poolebolton said: Im just amazed no one wants to sponsor the league you think a betting company would pay £50K to sponsor the league and if you split that around teams and said spend it on making the product better could have a large knock-on effect. Why do they need to sponsor British speedway, and why would they want to? Sponsorship is not a charitable donation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 11:33 PM, poolebolton said: Im just amazed no one wants to sponsor the league you think a betting company would pay £50K to sponsor the league and if you split that around teams and said spend it on making the product better could have a large knock-on effect. My view is the opposite. I am amazed any company sponsors British speedway. There cannot be any measurable return on investment, so you are relying completely on the benevolence of business owning fans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDY69 Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 3:56 PM, mike1944 said: Looking at the few meetings that have been on FreeSports TV this year I could not help but notice the enthusiasm that the Polish supporters have compared to British fans. How refreshing it is to see supporters actually enjoying themselves, cheering their team on and dressed in their colours. That just shows how dire British speedway is just now, it needs a big kick-up the backside and sooner rather than later. It would be interesting to see what admission price these supporters pay to watch their team allowing for cost of living, etc. It seems to me that British fans of many sports like nothing better than to moan about how bad things are or have a pessimistic outlook. Davis Cup tennis fans are an exception to that. As for Poland, I'm sure it's nothing to do with the level of alcohol consumed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttons Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 4/27/2018 at 3:56 PM, mike1944 said: Looking at the few meetings that have been on FreeSports TV this year I could not help but notice the enthusiasm that the Polish supporters have compared to British fans. How refreshing it is to see supporters actually enjoying themselves, cheering their team on and dressed in their colours. That just shows how dire British speedway is just now, it needs a big kick-up the backside and sooner rather than later. It would be interesting to see what admission price these supporters pay to watch their team allowing for cost of living, etc. Unfortunately the British fans are too busy filling in their programmes to cheer the team on, that seem to the most important thing I see it so many times at tracks I go to, and I go to many, the only exception to the rule would be Poole, their grandstand crowd always on their feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattK Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 6 minutes ago, Buttons said: Unfortunately the British fans are too busy filling in their programmes to cheer the team on, that seem to the most important thing I see it so many times at tracks I go to, and I go to many, the only exception to the rule would be Poole, their grandstand crowd always on their feet. There does seem to be a genuine lack of atmosphere at British league meetings and I've notice the programme filling at the end of the race when people should really be applauding (or berating) the winner of the heat. You don't seem to get the same lull at Cardiff. I wonder if this is due to the results being displayed on the screens, meaning fans can cheers the riders after the heat and then fill their programmes in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aces51 Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) I don't think it's anything to do with programme filling but to do with the general lack of atmosphere caused in part by the much smaller crowds than we see in Poland. If a race is particularly exciting fans here are on their feet cheering and fill in their programmes later. A good example was last Monday at the NSS when Bewley cane from the back to beat KK. The fans were on their feet as Bewley came out of bend 4 on the last lap and carried on cheering and clapping as he did his lap of honour. Edited April 30, 2018 by Aces51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) British Speedway is the Darts equivalent of the 'BDO', whilst Polish Speedway is akin to the 'PDC'... Exactly the same sport, but a world of difference in how each are led from the top, organised, marketed and followed.. Edited April 30, 2018 by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 4 hours ago, SPEEDY69 said: Davis Cup tennis fans are an exception to that. Ah, but tennis is a sport for people that don't really like sport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topaz325 Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 Premier league and League 2 football Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk127 Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 Catching up on the Polish matches recorded and the crowd/atmosphere is awesome (round 2 ZG versus G) and while the racing appears generally better than the UK it is the whole package so the odd average race does not stick out like sore thumb. Shows how it should be done from a presentation spectacle and the enthusiastic crowd is as good as any football derby in this country. Long may they show Polish speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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