Midland Red Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 16 minutes ago, Midland Red said: Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out? What were you expecting? Top league UK doesn’t run on Saturdays. Had you forgotten? Five PL meetings on Bank Holiday Monday. Not bad in a 7 team league Also one NDL meeting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted May 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 No, of course I hadn't forgotten Just feel the best of British Speedway should be raced on spectator-friendly nights, ie Friday and Saturday Monday nights continue to appear so very spectator-unfriendly Good to see the programme for Bank Holiday Monday, but that's standard fare Obviously those that know best consider it better for clubs to be forced to move away from their normal nights No wonder attendances continue to fall 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waytogo28 Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 11 hours ago, Midland Red said: Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out? Sadly never, under the present regime, who seem to have the blessing of other BSPA members. The blindness of promoters is, of course, their business choice but any of them who expect a serious turn around in attendance figures is deluded. Being on social media will not bring millions, thousands or even hundreds to their turnstiles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 55 minutes ago, waytogo28 said: Sadly never, under the present regime, who seem to have the blessing of other BSPA members. The blindness of promoters is, of course, their business choice but any of them who expect a serious turn around in attendance figures is deluded. Being on social media will not bring millions, thousands or even hundreds to their turnstiles. Maybe their is a long term plan and its to increase its social media profile to a high enough number to possibly then start to stream matches to an army of 'armchair followers'... 50,000 'followers' might be enough to get 10% or so watching on a PPV stream on any given night... The nights they often run on are simply not 'customer friendly' for something that is seen as 'entertainment' and 'family focused' (and they must know this as its so obvious), therefore there has to be another reason surely why they keep running such a poor non customer focused fixture list.. Could it be with a view to future growth being delivered from TV subscriptions? Or.... Maybe I am giving them too much credit, and they haven't got any plan at all... And simply the fixture list is put together at the behest of the riders to suit their earning potential and individual aspirations, and no thoughts are put forward at all at any stage of the planning as to whether the fans can turn up or not.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepturningleft Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 Apart from those clubs which have always raced on midweek nights and where that situation is entrenched, Monday evenings do not produce any kind of sense of occasion. In the old days, Saturday night was speedway night for me at Halifax and occasionally Belle Vue. Saturday afternoon out with the lads downtown. Teatime, the excitement builds. Dr Who on TV and then off to the Shay. Heady days. Monday night is a complete dud. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adonis Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 12 hours ago, Midland Red said: No, of course I hadn't forgotten Just feel the best of British Speedway should be raced on spectator-friendly nights, ie Friday and Saturday Monday nights continue to appear so very spectator-unfriendly Good to see the programme for Bank Holiday Monday, but that's standard fare Obviously those that know best consider it better for clubs to be forced to move away from their normal nights No wonder attendances continue to fall I thinknthose who know best , do realise that the weekend is the best time , but we have played into the hands of Poland as has the rest fo world speedway including the GP's with people meeting the demands of Poland instead of qualifying . It's all too late , Poland will be the death of speedway IMHO , 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E I Addio Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 2 hours ago, mikebv said: Or.... Maybe I am giving them too much credit, and they haven't got any plan at all... Yes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugwash Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 16 hours ago, Midland Red said: Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out? Too much entertainment competition for speedway on saturdays and bank holidays. TV, pizza houses, cinemas etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waytogo28 Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 4 hours ago, mikebv said: Maybe I am giving them too much credit, and they haven't got any plan at all... And simply the fixture list is put together at the behest of the riders to suit their earning potential and individual aspirations, and no thoughts are put forward at all at any stage of the planning as to whether the fans can turn up or not. This is much more likely ie they haven't got any plan at all. If only your first thought of what might be behind un - spectator friendly nights were true. Out of this world thinking for promoters. At the behest of riders almost certainly correct. I believe that a reasonable level ( ie more like the Swedish broadcast level than BT ) could make money for BV. I would pay for an NSS match stream. Other racing is on average, not worth streaming, judging by the first two BT matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 24 minutes ago, waytogo28 said: This is much more likely ie they haven't got any plan at all. If only your first thought of what might be behind un - spectator friendly nights were true. Out of this world thinking for promoters. At the behest of riders almost certainly correct. I believe that a reasonable level ( ie more like the Swedish broadcast level than BT ) could make money for BV. I would pay for an NSS match stream. Other racing is on average, not worth streaming, judging by the first two BT matches. The Aces 'in house' coverage is very good and at something like a fiver a pop, maybe 5000 or so around the country would pay to watch it 'live'? If so that would be £25k which would cover costs quite easily I would think, and make some good money for the company filming it and the club themselves.. I wouldn't imagine something like this would have too much impact to the actual attendance either, as the Sport is pretty much down to 'die hards' anyway, and they will always attend... A positive would be that most times now when a meeting is possibly going to be called off due to poor weather, or even more often, the teams listed are nothing more than some contrived 'selects', even some of the most committed fans will give them a swerve and the clubs then receive absolutely no revenue from these people when meetings go ahead on these type of nights.. Streaming live from the venue would at least provide some money from those who will still be open to getting their 'speedway fix' but just not prepared to justify paying out circa £20 on that particular evening for it.. And another positive would be the actual 'advert' of what's on offer may then get some of the less regulars to attend in person more often..? Or, heaven forbid, attract some new fans altogether... It would also then be a simple process to make the high quality HD coverage freely available to the local BBC and ITV TV companies to potentially show the following evening on their local news bulletins.. Gaining more awareness of the team, and sport in the locale.. I presume that the current broadcast rights would need to be changed though to do this..? Edited May 26, 2019 by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) I downplayed the “Saturday night and no top league” comment but what about “Bank Holiday Sunday” and no Championship meetings? No Sheffield, no Newcastle? At least the top league shows how to create interest by running two home and away derbies tomorrow night. Edited May 26, 2019 by Wee Eck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 41 minutes ago, Wee Eck said: I downplayed the “Saturday night and no top league” comment but what about “Bank Holiday Sunday” and no Championship meetings? No Sheffield, no Newcastle? At least the top league shows how to create interest by running two home and away derbies tomorrow night. Very difficult logistically though for so many 'shared' riders to be in two different places at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 “Shared” by Poland I assume you mean? And we all know Poland doesn’t share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff100 Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 10 minutes ago, Wee Eck said: “Shared” by Poland I assume you mean? And we all know Poland doesn’t share They do all have the same surname " plumber" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screm Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 20 hours ago, Midland Red said: Saturday night, Bank Holiday weekend, and what have we got? Two second division matches, and a third tier 3TT Just when is British Speedway going to sort itself out? Just like just about every other Saturday night. With Saturday nights being taken up by more and more international meetings its something that will continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 22 hours ago, Midland Red said: No, of course I hadn't forgotten Just feel the best of British Speedway should be raced on spectator-friendly nights, ie Friday and Saturday Monday nights continue to appear so very spectator-unfriendly Good to see the programme for Bank Holiday Monday, but that's standard fare Obviously those that know best consider it better for clubs to be forced to move away from their normal nights No wonder attendances continue to fall Yes I remember attending Oxford on the Friday, Swindon or Coventry on Saturday and Mondays a visit to Reading (Bank Holidays Home & Away)...great days! Edited May 26, 2019 by steve roberts 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhoundp Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 I'm not to familiar with PL rules & regs, but I understand race nights are Monday, and Wednesday, It does seem to be a bit of a coincidence that Wolves & Poole just happened to race on one or the other of those race nights. Teams should be allowed to race on whatever night there fans support best, yes I can understand Televised meetings need to be on a fixed night, but the TV fee should make up for lost revenue through the gate. This fixed race night business is fine in theory but in practice can lead to a loss of some of the few supporters speedway has left, the other issue is does the fixed chosen race night encourage additional/new support through the gate ?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 On 5/25/2019 at 9:13 PM, Midland Red said: No, of course I hadn't forgotten Just feel the best of British Speedway should be raced on spectator-friendly nights, ie Friday and Saturday Monday nights continue to appear so very spectator-unfriendly Good to see the programme for Bank Holiday Monday, but that's standard fare Obviously those that know best consider it better for clubs to be forced to move away from their normal nights No wonder attendances continue to fall Its not quite as clear cut as that. According to Belle Vue CEO Adrian Smith, in the school holidays the Aces get bigger gates on a Monday than on a Friday. Its noticeable that even though they can now ride on Fridays, Somerset have stuck to Wednesday. I think the problem is more that teams cannot now ride on certain nights whereas before they could simply take their pick (up to a point). Sheffield and Redcar, for instance, have changed and that can do damage to attendances because people have planned their weeks in advance. Changing means there could be a clash with something else. The problem was created by the unlimited use of riders doubling up and the need for a ridiculous number of guests and rider replacement facilities. Do away with or restrict that and there is a better chance of getting the right night for paying customers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 Not quite sure what standard of rider people think would be on display if more clubs rode on Saturdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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