Midland Red Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 Just come across a ticket I purchased in 1970 for a grandstand seat at Exeter Speedway - cost = 7 shillings (35 pence to the younger members of the forum!) I know there are several ways of comparing prices from one age to another, but here's what one such site came up with: According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today's prices in 2019 are 1,434.09% higher than average prices throughout 1970. The pound experienced an average inflation rate of 5.73% per year during this period. In other words, £0.35 in 1970 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £5.37 in 2019, a difference of £5.02 over 49 years. So, speedway shouldn't be a £10 sport, as some suggest, but something closer to £6!!!! And if I remember rightly, it was a night of thrilling action at the banked County Ground circuit 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Midland Red said: Just come across a ticket I purchased in 1970 for a grandstand seat at Exeter Speedway - cost = 7 shillings (35 pence to the younger members of the forum!) I know there are several ways of comparing prices from one age to another, but here's what one such site came up with: According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today's prices in 2019 are 1,434.09% higher than average prices throughout 1970. The pound experienced an average inflation rate of 5.73% per year during this period. In other words, £0.35 in 1970 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £5.37 in 2019, a difference of £5.02 over 49 years. So, speedway shouldn't be a £10 sport, as some suggest, but something closer to £6!!!! And if I remember rightly, it was a night of thrilling action at the banked County Ground circuit What is interesting here is that I am at Berwick tonight and there is a payslip from 1968. Riders were paid 10s a point and 10s a start...... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris116 Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said: What is interesting here is that I am at Berwick tonight and there is a payslip from 1968. Riders were paid 10s a point and 10s a start...... Yes, and 95% of them did all the work on their own bike and had a second job. They didn't have to pay an engine tuner or a mechanic, they did their own tuning and a friend or relative was their mechanic who was happy with free admission, a drink and a fish and chip supper. Very different times. Back in the late 50's and early 60's there were also a number of Stock Car drivers whose full time job was racing, something that would be totally impossible nowadays. Again showing how times change. Edited July 20, 2019 by Chris116 Spelling! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS50 Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 4 hours ago, Midland Red said: Just come across a ticket I purchased in 1970 for a grandstand seat at Exeter Speedway - cost = 7 shillings (35 pence to the younger members of the forum!) I know there are several ways of comparing prices from one age to another, but here's what one such site came up with: According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today's prices in 2019 are 1,434.09% higher than average prices throughout 1970. The pound experienced an average inflation rate of 5.73% per year during this period. In other words, £0.35 in 1970 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £5.37 in 2019, a difference of £5.02 over 49 years. So, speedway shouldn't be a £10 sport, as some suggest, but something closer to £6!!!! And if I remember rightly, it was a night of thrilling action at the banked County Ground circuit Was the price you paid back in 1970 a child's admission price? Would obviously make some difference for the comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 1 hour ago, RS50 said: Was the price you paid back in 1970 a child's admission price? Would obviously make some difference for the comparison. No, adult, best seat in the grandstand - obviously was even cheaper standing around trackside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 3 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said: What is interesting here is that I am at Berwick tonight and there is a payslip from 1968. Riders were paid 10s a point and 10s a start...... So a 4 ride maximum would pay £8 meaning that 23 supporters at 7/- (or 35p) a time would pay the maximum man. In 2019 CL, the top guy gets no start money but, say £80 a point? 12 points = £960 which, at £15 a head is 64 supporters, or nearly three times the number needed in 1970. Makes you wonder if it’s riders rather than promoters who are making it so expensive? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 29 minutes ago, Wee Eck said: So a 4 ride maximum would pay £8 meaning that 23 supporters at 7/- (or 35p) a time would pay the maximum man. In 2019 CL, the top guy gets no start money but, say £80 a point? 12 points = £960 which, at £15 a head is 64 supporters, or nearly three times the number needed in 1970. Makes you wonder if it’s riders rather than promoters who are making it so expensive? I thought we all knew that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted July 20, 2019 Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 2 minutes ago, Midland Red said: I thought we all knew that So why then do supporters idolise riders and slag off promoters? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 10 hours ago, Wee Eck said: So why then do supporters idolise riders and slag off promoters? Good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 If I recall, as a matter of interest, when I first went to Cowley aged 12 in 1972 the admission charge was 30p (6 shillings) for those under a certain age. The programme was 8p. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 Some interesting comparisons to be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/gallery/2015/feb/17/football-ticket-prices-old-ticket-stubs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topsoil Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 This is pretty much the same over for every sport. I bet if you did the same thing for football especially the comparisons would be frightening. The wages / salaries for professional sports has escalated almost out of control over the past 20 / 30 years, mainly driven I would say by satellite TV contracts for football, rugby and cricket. Speedway has tried to follow suit, but doesn't have the TV contract in place to fund the costs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ovalman Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) When engine tuners are paid 350 quid a day no wonder it's so expensive. The spiralling costs for the riders make it difficult to compete. Perhaps introduce standard 2 valves, as they trialled at the IOW recently. The recent Kings Lynn matches at Swindon was 18 quid entry attracting a 1000 or so for both meetings. In 2017 over 3000 turned up for a fiver. Edited July 21, 2019 by auntie doris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLyric2 Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 19 hours ago, Midland Red said: Just come across a ticket I purchased in 1970 for a grandstand seat at Exeter Speedway - cost = 7 shillings (35 pence to the younger members of the forum!) I know there are several ways of comparing prices from one age to another, but here's what one such site came up with: According to the Office for National Statistics composite price index, today's prices in 2019 are 1,434.09% higher than average prices throughout 1970. The pound experienced an average inflation rate of 5.73% per year during this period. In other words, £0.35 in 1970 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £5.37 in 2019, a difference of £5.02 over 49 years. So, speedway shouldn't be a £10 sport, as some suggest, but something closer to £6!!!! And if I remember rightly, it was a night of thrilling action at the banked County Ground circuit Am I right in recalling that if you sat in the grandstand at Exeter - other than in the front row - you couldn't see the start line or home straight? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS50 Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 Comparison I heard a few years back. Top division footballers fifty years ago would earn 6 times the amount of the average working man in the crowd. Today they earn 200 times the average working man. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris116 Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 1 hour ago, Skidder1 said: Am I right in recalling that if you sat in the grandstand at Exeter - other than in the front row - you couldn't see the start line or home straight? Yes, and if you sat on the front row you still had to lean forward a bit which didn't go down well with those behind you. Only went once, paid to go in the stand but after one race went out and spent the evening on the terraces watching each race from a different point around the track. There was enough dirt to allow a leg trailer on a Rudge to go well! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 The lower the crowds are, the more expensive admission will be and the more it'll alienate hard up supporters. Much of the admission money, I may be wrong, will be paid by the promoter to the rider, who then pay a fair amount of what he has just earned to keep his engines in pristine shape. It is money going out of the sport and league speedway will not be able to withstand it for much longer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) 26 minutes ago, moxey63 said: The lower the crowds are, the more expensive admission will be and the more it'll alienate hard up supporters. Much of the admission money, I may be wrong, will be paid by the promoter to the rider, who then pay a fair amount of what he has just earned to keep his engines in pristine shape. It is money going out of the sport and league speedway will not be able to withstand it for much longer. A truly ludicrous race to the bottom isn't it? Promoters demanding riders have the best kit to win competitions that by the way they run them have absolutely zero worth.. Meaning. Riders spending fortunes on gaining the best kit they can find and paying for expensive tuning, just to remain at the same level as their rivals because they are all doing exactly the same thing.. Meaning. Promoters paying out unaffordable and unsustainable levels to riders to pay for the best kit and tuning they demand of them... Meaning. Fans having to pay admission costs far in excess of what the Sports standing actually is, and far in excess of what actual entertainment value is put on offer to them.. Meaning. A reduction year on year of fans due to the higher admission costs needed to fund the racing.. All to compete in, try to win, and watch competitions that Mickey Mouse would be embarrassed to have organised... If you tried to put together this as a business or operating model to launch a new venture you would be laughed at out loud by any potential investors wouldn't you? Yet this is the model British Speedway uses year in year out... Amazing really... Edited July 21, 2019 by mikebv 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted July 21, 2019 Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 6 hours ago, Skidder1 said: Am I right in recalling that if you sat in the grandstand at Exeter - other than in the front row - you couldn't see the start line or home straight? Remember it well on my first visit to the County Ground! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted July 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) 18 minutes ago, steve roberts said: Remember it well on my first visit to the County Ground! Yes, I recall that, too! Edited July 21, 2019 by Midland Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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