The continuing decline of Speedway

[foamfence]

13 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

If there is no sort of feedback, just fans dripping away by the week, then how can the leak be stopped. You don't learn by keep making mistakes and not be advised what your mistakes are. It might be that the sport is just so fatigued now, stuck in some kind of timewarp and attracting the odd newcomer now and again but relies on the old guard. I mean, Belle Vue fans always moaned in recent years that it was the drab Kirky Lane keeping them away. Once they had their own place, they'd come flooding back. So... what happened?

There's loads of feedback most clubs hold evenings when fans can go along and meet the management and riders. The big problems are that most people don't actually know what they want and those that do are often suggesting things that are not financially viable or unpopular with others. Glasgow proved what money can do and that was with promoters who had no history or experience in the sport.

[Aces51]

1 hour ago, moxey63 said:

If there is no sort of feedback, just fans dripping away by the week, then how can the leak be stopped. You don't learn by keep making mistakes and not be advised what your mistakes are. It might be that the sport is just so fatigued now, stuck in some kind of timewarp and attracting the odd newcomer now and again but relies on the old guard. I mean, Belle Vue fans always moaned in recent years that it was the drab Kirky Lane keeping them away. Once they had their own place, they'd come flooding back. So... what happened?

What happened was that crowds increased significantly in 2016 and 2017. Last year the management said that the average was 1500, which is not enough but compares well against what I would estimate at about 1000 at the dog track. It looks as if the figures are going to be down this year but I think you can put that down to the change of race night. Monday is about the worst night of the week to get people to come out.

The main problem is that despite radio and print media advertising most people in the Manchester conurbation are still unaware of its existence. The social media presence has been improved and I'm sure that the are many other things that the promotion can try but the reality is that the type of advertising that would significantly improve the visibility of the club costs far more than is affordable.

Edited June 24, 2018 by Aces51

[Daniel Smith]

3 hours ago, moxey63 said:

If there is no sort of feedback, just fans dripping away by the week, then how can the leak be stopped. You don't learn by keep making mistakes and not be advised what your mistakes are. It might be that the sport is just so fatigued now, stuck in some kind of timewarp and attracting the odd newcomer now and again but relies on the old guard. I mean, Belle Vue fans always moaned in recent years that it was the drab Kirky Lane keeping them away. Once they had their own place, they'd come flooding back. So... what happened?

Feedback

Us disgruntled Stars fans are facing stadium expulsion if we don't tow the party line.

Anything slightly negative (social media especially) you get blocked automatically.

Promoters of British Speedway are only interested in their butt holes being tickled.  

[LagutaRacingFan]

The crowds at Peterborough have been very good this year, the club will surely make a profit this year.

[waytogo28]

9 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

Feedback

Us disgruntled Stars fans are facing stadium expulsion if we don't tow the party line.

Anything slightly negative (social media especially) you get blocked automatically.

Promoters of British Speedway are only interested in their butt holes being tickled.  

Feedback they have had at King's  Lynn  Speedway - by the ton. It is turned into mulch ( can you have digital mulch? ) and used to cover the mushrooms/supporters. Not one simple request/idea has been bothered with. For example, the rider interviews are always muffled and mostly inaudible unless you congregate in the audio sweet spot and it is impossible to gather 864 fans in that tiny area. It takes very little, possibly no expense, to rectify that but no one seems bothered and it has been left as it is for at least three years. Why?

[Daniel Smith]

1 hour ago, waytogo28 said:

Feedback they have had at King's  Lynn  Speedway - by the ton. It is turned into mulch ( can you have digital mulch? ) and used to cover the mushrooms/supporters. Not one simple request/idea has been bothered with. For example, the rider interviews are always muffled and mostly inaudible unless you congregate in the audio sweet spot and it is impossible to gather 864 fans in that tiny area. It takes very little, possibly no expense, to rectify that but no one seems bothered and it has been left as it is for at least three years. Why?

No Jonathan Chapman is the answer. 

[waytogo28]

Thank You DS. I suspect you are right as the decline seems to have dated from around that time. Also perhaps the reason we can't hear the riders muffled comments, is the reason the promotion can't hear us?

[Daniel Smith]

6 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

Thank You DS. I suspect you are right as the decline seems to have dated from around that time. Also perhaps the reason we can't hear the riders muffled comments, is the reason the promotion can't hear us?

Jonathan wasn't to everyone's cup of tea, but he did always put himself on the front line and stood up to every bullet fired on this forum. Always posted press releases, team changes etc very pronto.

He did all the same when on social media too, Twitter and Facebook. Always answered questions, even the questionable moments regarding postponement with opposition fans.

Lots of people didn't like him but was very approachable and got things done.

While stadium improvements are continuing and the new scoreboard is an excellent edition the sound system has seriously been neglected. 

[tellboy]

5 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

Jonathan wasn't to everyone's cup of tea, but he did always put himself on the front line and stood up to every bullet fired on this forum. Always posted press releases, team changes etc very pronto.

He did all the same when on social media too, Twitter and Facebook. Always answered questions, even the questionable moments regarding postponement with opposition fans.

Lots of people didn't like him but was very approachable and got things done.

While stadium improvements are continuing and the new scoreboard is an excellent edition the sound system has seriously been neglected. 

You are right Jonathon wasn't everyones cup of tea.

But he didn't always put himself on the front line,and did dodge bullets when he needed to.

He wasn't always approachable although he liked to be seen if you know what i mean.

[topaz325]

All very well having free entry for the first meeting of the season but if the product is not right why would they come back as that is why they stopped going in the first place.

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by topaz325

[mikebv]

On Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 12:02 PM, BWitcher said:

I never ever ever thought I would say this but I'm on the verge of giving up on league speedway altogether.

The sheer stupidness of those promoting the sport is staggering.

After 20+ years of speedway on TV they STILL haven't managed to grasp the basic concept that it's vital to make it look like a place to be. £10 entrance should be a mandatory requirement. Before long TV matches would become looked forward too, not dreaded by those attending. Why? Not just the reduced entrance, but a bigger crowd means a better atmosphere which in turn means an average race seems like a good one, a good one a great one and so on. 

Then of course those watching will get a much better impression.

But no, show it in front of sparse crowds which drills the message home to the sheep... nothing to see here.

You go to a restaurant and are first in?..

You get put by the window...

You have the first table booking of the night?..

You get put by the window...

A fruit and veg man makes his living from what's on display at the front of his shop, hence all the best fruit and veg is there for those walking past to look at. What you then buy in store may not be quite of the same quality but you already have a mindset of good quality so invariably don't even notice...

As you say, people are sheep and will often follow what they are told is the latest fad or see what is successful and attacts a crowd, and then latch on to it..

With Speedway being one of this countries best kept secrets, it is simply screaming out for someone with real marketing skills to grab it by the balls and move it forwards. And with the right contract from the BSPA, given the huge potential audience to aim for who don't go, they could end up very wealthy..

British Speedway doesn't seem to even consider the TV meeting being beamed into tens of thousands of homes as a chance to showcase the sport. (And when you look at the BARB figures Speedway certainly more than holds its own, often outperforming more well known sports)..

They seem content to portray the image of a crowd level of 'one man and his dog' and it appears even more embarrassing when Nigel mentions the 'good crowd in tonight Kelvin' as the camera moves around a crowd 'one deep' at best with many, many gaps in between..

For me, if you are not willing to drop the price and promote the event to try and grow your business long term then the least you could do is cordon off parts of the stadium to 'squeeze' the crowd together and put huge advertising banners blocking the empty terracing left behind in places. (Like UEFA do with the front rows of the Champions League)..

Possibly it could actually be easier to get companies to pay to have their names emblazoned across tens of thousands of TV's in Britain in large letters, than attracting income generated by getting a crowd in?

Sadly, virtually every time you watch a British Speedway League match on TV your heart sinks just that little bit more. .

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by mikebv

[moxey63]

Speedway is like that nomad rider at the end of his career, flitting around the country in search of rides. Almost two decades at the top with Sky, all the lavish money, but now has to ride for nothing.

I looked down the team order for one of speedway's prime draws, Poole, for tonight's match at Belle Vue. I don't think I'd leave my keyboard for that, never mind the house, or pay the gate money. That is just one problem, a side who'd once bring the likes of Rickardsson and Adams in the same side is reduced to seven-second strings. The needless stop-start at the beginning of tonight's TV offering makes me want to reach for the remote. Don't feel tempted to visit the track, and TV is driving me away.     

 

Speedway in this country has a simple vision to answer the falling attendances - to raise admission prices and weaken the teams.

Edited June 25, 2018 by moxey63

[cityrebel]

When the price of speedway went up to over a pound a race, The writing was on the wall.

[moxey63]

In the modern day when we're told speedway riders are more professional than at any time, why is it that the sport seems more amateurish with each decade that passes? This isn't a dig at the sport, I think it's more a reflection on the people who have arrived to run teams, most of them long-time fans, and have no blinking idea what they are doing. To them, it's better than setting up the spare PC in a back bedroom and playing a speedway promoter game on an old Spectrum.

In the old days, the sport was run by distinguished-looking men in nice suits who were located in salubrious offices in London. Perhaps we should have seen the writing on the wall when an arm of the sport began being run above a corner shop and promoters were happy to wear red jackets and Wulf coats.

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by moxey63

[tigerowl]

It's just too expensive to attract and keep new fans and particularly families.

My speedway experience is to pay £16, enter a stadium which is dilapidated and, (unless I want to watch from behind the glass, which I don't), is in a worse condition now than it was in 1974 when I started going. There are no seats, just dusty steps. 

The pre-meeting entertainment is to listen to Now That's What I Call Music number 124 and watch a pathetic introduction of the riders by a half-hearted announcer.

There is then about 13 minutes of action over the next hour and a half to two hours with a raffle akin to the ones people used to have for a tray of meat in the Working Men's Clubs of years gone by. There is no second half, nothing to entertain the kids or anyone else - nothing.

The riders all seem to manage to ride around in vans as big as a starter home and even the reserves at 'Championship' level appear to be full-time.

So, the equipment costs a fortune and riders want paying a fair return for the expenditure and the risks they take. I have no problem with that, but the situation cannot continue. The sport has to find a way of reducing costs of equipment and riders have to realise that it is not sustainable to be full time when they are riding in front of crowds of 500-1500 people.

Promoters have to promote. All they do is to open the gates, expect people to come and pay their money and come back again the next week when many of them do absolutely nothing to encourage a return.

Times are hard for a lot of people and there is better entertainment to be had elsewhere. I've been to the ice-hockey a couple of times recently and it's not my cup of tea to be honest. But there were thousands there, many in replica kits, games and entertainment for the kids, a brilliant arena and cheaper than the speedway. I prefer the speedway because I've been brought up with it but in terms of value for money there was no comparison.

Speedway, on its's day, can be the best sport in the world but it needs someone in charge who has a vision and some radical ideas. The promoters have to promote and the riders have to be more realistic and realise that they can't all be full time.

 

[Hodgy]

Managed to coincide recent work travels with Redcar’s last two home meetings v Berwick and Peterborough. This involved four taxi rides 1.8 miles from my city centre hotel. Not one driver knew where the track was or that Speedway existed so local.

Hope the fours works out well. Will be a very tight squeeze.

 

[mikebv]

4 hours ago, tigerowl said:

It's just too expensive to attract and keep new fans and particularly families.

My speedway experience is to pay £16, enter a stadium which is dilapidated and, (unless I want to watch from behind the glass, which I don't), is in a worse condition now than it was in 1974 when I started going. There are no seats, just dusty steps. 

The pre-meeting entertainment is to listen to Now That's What I Call Music number 124 and watch a pathetic introduction of the riders by a half-hearted announcer.

There is then about 13 minutes of action over the next hour and a half to two hours with a raffle akin to the ones people used to have for a tray of meat in the Working Men's Clubs of years gone by. There is no second half, nothing to entertain the kids or anyone else - nothing.

The riders all seem to manage to ride around in vans as big as a starter home and even the reserves at 'Championship' level appear to be full-time.

So, the equipment costs a fortune and riders want paying a fair return for the expenditure and the risks they take. I have no problem with that, but the situation cannot continue. The sport has to find a way of reducing costs of equipment and riders have to realise that it is not sustainable to be full time when they are riding in front of crowds of 500-1500 people.

Promoters have to promote. All they do is to open the gates, expect people to come and pay their money and come back again the next week when many of them do absolutely nothing to encourage a return.

Times are hard for a lot of people and there is better entertainment to be had elsewhere. I've been to the ice-hockey a couple of times recently and it's not my cup of tea to be honest. But there were thousands there, many in replica kits, games and entertainment for the kids, a brilliant arena and cheaper than the speedway. I prefer the speedway because I've been brought up with it but in terms of value for money there was no comparison.

Speedway, on its's day, can be the best sport in the world but it needs someone in charge who has a vision and some radical ideas. The promoters have to promote and the riders have to be more realistic and realise that they can't all be full time.

 

A very fair and accurate assessment..

I can go to Cardiff with my lad and pay £38 for the both of us to sit and watch the GP with all the best riders in the World..

I can go to the NSS and pay £33 for the both of us to sit and watch a Premiership match made up of NL and Championship riders in the main..

Now, I predict that the level of racing we see at the NSS far out weighs what will be served up at Cardiff yet we will come away from the GP 'buzzing' about what a superb sport Speedway is..

Not possibly because of the racing but more down to the event and the way it is promoted and presented..

Speedway is a great sport when done well.

It needs (and quickly) to start to do it well domestically in Britain..

I will attend Garden Fetes and Car Boots this summer better promoted locally than the Aces at the NSS...

That cannot be right surely?...

And if those who run the Sport cannot promote it to the level it warrants then they can never complain if their crowds don't meet their expectations...

"Bring a Friend" truly isn't a cutting edge marketing plan, believe me....

[Hot Shoe]

The governing bodies and those who run and promote speedway have been the architects of their own downfall for years. They have treated the fans with contempt but because those fans love the sport so much they return week in week out however poorly they are treated. The problem is that those people won't be around forever and newer fans demand more and unfortunately those who run and promote the sport in this country can't or won't move with the times. After the fiasco last years 4TT at Peterborough and the so called 'farewell' at Swindon and the no show new stadium that was promised i won't go to either of these tracks now like may fans who are voting with their feet. Sadly speedway is finished as a professional sport in this country. I just wish that someone capable (BSPA/SCB and Promoters look away now)  could arrange one last meeting so we could give it one last decent send off.

[waytogo28]

I can only pray that someone at BSPA does take a look at this thread, even if no other one's appeal to them. There is much on this thread that offers quality feedback to all UK promoters. Most of it is well thought out and offered up as something which could help improve the sport in the UK. 

[R87]

Sadly speedway in the UK will not move forward while self interest remains rife.  It has so much potential to offer, yet the promoters seem unwilling/unable to realise it.  As Bwitcher pointed out, watching a meeting on TV where the crowd consists of one man and his dog (and the dog looks like he's there under protest) does not give a good impression to the casual viewer.  Equally,  Speedways great ability to launch a shower of bullets into its own foot in front of the paying public doesn't help.  The infamous Belle vue Poole meeting a few years ago being a great example.