Speedway Promotion or Lack of it.

[orion]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

You know, we wonder why speedway is struggling (in the UK, anyway), and then, we see posts like this...

There are quite a few on the BSF wobbling on about how sad it is to see the sport in such dire straits, but are themselves part of the reason. When people say that they have no desire to go ever again (even if it was free, in some cases), whether it is to do with the quality of entertainment, or simply because of rules that no longer apply, then you are contributing to the decline.

I'm not saying those people are wrong, but I find it a little disturbing that they still consider themselves speedway "supporters", when the reality is that WHATEVER changes and improvements are made, they are not prepared to watch because of simple stubbornness.

For me, speedway is not what it used to be. Football, cricket, and F1 are not what they used to be. Tizer, cough candy, and the dear old Curly-Wurly are not what they used to be. You know what? I still prefer to partake than going without...

Steve

Good post Steve .. Thou I draw the line at the new Milky way 

[Mr. Clemens]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 7:24 PM, kelvinlapworth said:

Oddly enough a few years ago I was chatting to a few Polish lads and asking them of cause if they were into speedway or Zuzul as they call it. They were also shrugging their shoulders but one of them had heard of Tomasz Gollob. So even in countries where it is one of the biggest followed sports there are some that have hardly heard of it. 

 

My wife is heavily involved in the Polish Community, here in the UK. I get to meet a large number of Poles on a regular basis. With every person I have met, I have brought speedway into the conversation. They all shrug their shoulders, laugh and say they are not interested in speedway. I asked a Polish friend, I worked with, if he was into speedway? He also said he wasn't interested and didn't know anyone who was. I told him that every Polish person I had talked with said they weren't interested in speedway and asked him why that was? He said that speedway wasn't has popular in Poland as people might think it is. He said there were places in Poland where it was very popular but on the whole , like most other countries, football is the most popular sport in Poland. One thing is true though, in all the 40 years I have been involved in the Polish community, I have only met one person who was a speedway fan.

 

[racers and royals]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Clemens said:

 

My wife is heavily involved in the Polish Community, here in the UK. I get to meet a large number of Poles on a regular basis. With every person I have met, I have brought speedway into the conversation. They all shrug their shoulders, laugh and say they are not interested in speedway. I asked a Polish friend, I worked with, if he was into speedway? He also said he wasn't interested and didn't know anyone who was. I told him that every Polish person I had talked with said they weren't interested in speedway and asked him why that was? He said that speedway wasn't has popular in Poland as people might think it is. He said there were places in Poland where it was very popular but on the whole , like most other countries, football is the most popular sport in Poland. One thing is true though, in all the 40 years I have been involved in the Polish community, I have only met one person who was a speedway fan.

 

Approximately 125000 Poles regularly go to the 22 league clubs in Poland- so every week over 60K go to Speedway

[iris123]

5 minutes ago, racers and royals said:

Approximately 125000 Poles regularly go to the 22 league clubs in Poland- so every week over 60K go to Speedway

Not a lot in a country of over 38 million

[Mr. Clemens]

6 minutes ago, racers and royals said:

Approximately 125000 Poles regularly go to the 22 league clubs in Poland- so every week over 60K go to Speedway

 

 

Never met one in this country

 

 

[Guest]

There are some interesting comments as to how many people in Poland relative to its population attend or know about speedway - or even care. This may be off key in regard to the general debate but I wonder what the ratio of those attending speedway in regard to population it is in the USA? Or in another large population country Russia?

[chunky]

2 hours ago, steve roberts said:

Having been a staunch fan for over thirty years if a track was to open local to me (York) would I attend? I would probably pop along and have a look see but whether I would be re-converted I can't honestly say.

Were I still in the UK, I'm sure I would still attend. Maybe not as much as I used to, but then again, how many tracks I used to visit are still there? Of course, Wimbledon was my first love, but all the London tracks, Arena, Reading, Milton Keynes, Crayford etc, were all within easy reach. Even Oxford and Canterbury weren't bad.

I never had a problem traveling further afield, but most of the time, I didn't have to! Those were just infrequent treats.

Steve

[Eduds1]

I first went to speedway in 1963 aged 7 and have been a follower ever since.

For the last 4 decades I tended to go to Wolves 3-4 times a year plus Cardiff, the less I went the less I wanted to go.

I have an adult disabled Granddaughter  who asked if i could take her to an away match, as she is a huge Scott Nicholls fan I decided to take her to Leicester, since then we Haven't missed a Wolves or Leicester home match and have traveled to Belle Vue, Stoke, Sheffield,Peterborough, King's Lynn, Somerset and Swindon.

The ( long winded ) point I am trying to make is I was one of the people on here who wouldn't go because it isn't as good as it used to be, but now I have my enthusiasm back most of the racing is as good if not better than during the 60's and 70's the only downsides are the lack of atmosphere, a disjointed fixture list and seeing the same visiting teams 3 or 4 times a season.

Perhaps if others got off there backsides and actually went to a meeting they might get the bug back and go regularly.  

Edited August 9, 2019 by Eduds1

[chunky]

25 minutes ago, Eduds1 said:

I first went to speedway in 1963 aged 7 and have been a follower ever since.

For the last 4 decades I tended to go to Wolves 3-4 times a year plus Cardiff, the less I went the less I wanted to go.

I have an adult disabled Granddaughter  who asked if i could take her to an away match, as she is a huge Scott Nicholls fan I decided to take her to Leicester, since then we Haven't missed a Wolves or Leicester home match and have traveled to Belle Vue, Stoke, Sheffield,Peterborough, King's Lynn, Somerset and Swindon.

The ( long winded ) point I am trying to make is I was one of the people on here who wouldn't go because it isn't as good as it used to be, but now I have my enthusiasm back most of the racing is as good if not better than during the 60's and 70's the only downsides are the lack of atmosphere, a disjointed fixture list and seeing the same visiting teams 3 or 4 times a season.

Perhaps if others got off there backsides and actually went to a meeting they might get the bug back and go regularly.  

Thank you for confirming what a number of us have been saying - that the quality of the racing is not the problem! It just doesn't feel the same with only a handful watching...

Steve

[Eduds1]

After thinking ( which hurt ) about the quality of the modern day racing in this country, it does appear to be a lot closer than the so called golden years. Unless Mauger, Olsen, Briggs etc were in a race together then the riders were well spread out.

A lot of the overtaking in this era was due to Olsen Collins etc missing the start and having to come from the back.

The riders in this country apart from Jason Doyle are much of a muchness and so the racing is a lot closer. The above riders were far superior to the others hence there high averages. 

As an example of the close racing nowadays I was at Swindon Last night to watch the Wolves and as a far as I can remember every race had close racing and a few of the races were in the balance until the line, not entirely due to the track as the same happened at Wolves v Belle Vue last Monday.

[FAST GATER]

7 hours ago, Eduds1 said:

I first went to speedway in 1963 aged 7 and have been a follower ever since.

For the last 4 decades I tended to go to Wolves 3-4 times a year plus Cardiff, the less I went the less I wanted to go.

I have an adult disabled Granddaughter  who asked if i could take her to an away match, as she is a huge Scott Nicholls fan I decided to take her to Leicester, since then we Haven't missed a Wolves or Leicester home match and have traveled to Belle Vue, Stoke, Sheffield,Peterborough, King's Lynn, Somerset and Swindon.

The ( long winded ) point I am trying to make is I was one of the people on here who wouldn't go because it isn't as good as it used to be, but now I have my enthusiasm back most of the racing is as good if not better than during the 60's and 70's the only downsides are the lack of atmosphere, a disjointed fixture list and seeing the same visiting teams 3 or 4 times a season.

Perhaps if others got off there backsides and actually went to a meeting they might get the bug back and go regularly.  

I did touch on this in my earlier post people don't even leave home to shop so when you consider the excellent presentation ( IMO) of s/way available on TV/Net it is quite easy see why many no longer go and there is little new interest .There is also the fact that there are fewer tracks and more travel is involved if you wish to watch the sport live,I  have found that any Poles I have asked are not followers of the sport but older family /friends  were or are still going to watch it live .

Edited August 10, 2019 by FAST GATER

[iris123]

Worked with a lot of Poles, but only one was/is a speedway fan. A colleague who comes from a place just outside Gorzow and watches on livestream. I have avtually me more Germans at work who used to go. Partly because they either come from Schleswig- Holstein and that is where Egon Müller comes from and the hype around him back in the day was very big. One woman even went with a lot from her area in a bus to Norden. The others are from East Germany, Rostock area and the Teterow Bergring back in those days was one of the few weekends where youngsters really had freedom to party

As is usual for me, I thought about travelling up to Vojens today. But I go to work every day on the motorway and it is generally horrendous, plus I have made a few trips up that have been affected by rain and the weather today isn't perfect, so my tendency over the past few years is to not go, if things aren't 100%. And as I will be in London next weekend when the next local meeting is on, which I would weather permitting, more than likely have attended, then I might not get to a meeting unless I can manage to get to Kent on the Monday...

[waytogo28]

On 8/7/2019 at 4:29 PM, Fortythirtyeight said:

Chicken and egg time.

If a club has no money , and just about every club is losing money every week, then how do you spend money you haven't got on trying to get enough new people to come through the turnstiles to even cover the cost of your advertising?

Glasgow openly admit to spending £100,000 on advertising last year and it made no difference whatsoever to the average size of their crowd.

Its alright saying speculate to accumulate but it didn't work in Glasgow .

 

And instead of laying golden eggs, the chicken's stopped laying eggs at all. From a few thousand paying supporters to a few hundred in 20 years or so, smacks of rank incompetence. 

[JamesHarris]

11 hours ago, gustix said:

There are some interesting comments as to how many people in Poland relative to its population attend or know about speedway - or even care. This may be off key in regard to the general debate but I wonder what the ratio of those attending speedway in regard to population it is in the USA? Or in another large population country Russia?

Now that's a very interesting question. As a whole the percentage of attendance in the USA would tiny. In the state of California it would be small but if you narrow it down to the counties in California that host speedway it would be interesting to see. 

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, waytogo28 said:

And instead of laying golden eggs, the chicken's stopped laying eggs at all. From a few thousand paying supporters to a few hundred in 20 years or so, smacks of rank incompetence. 

...or maybe changing tastes by the general public?

[Ovalman]

11 hours ago, Eduds1 said:

I first went to speedway in 1963 aged 7 and have been a follower ever since.

For the last 4 decades I tended to go to Wolves 3-4 times a year plus Cardiff, the less I went the less I wanted to go.

I have an adult disabled Granddaughter  who asked if i could take her to an away match, as she is a huge Scott Nicholls fan I decided to take her to Leicester, since then we Haven't missed a Wolves or Leicester home match and have traveled to Belle Vue, Stoke, Sheffield,Peterborough, King's Lynn, Somerset and Swindon.

The ( long winded ) point I am trying to make is I was one of the people on here who wouldn't go because it isn't as good as it used to be, but now I have my enthusiasm back most of the racing is as good if not better than during the 60's and 70's the only downsides are the lack of atmosphere, a disjointed fixture list and seeing the same visiting teams 3 or 4 times a season.

Perhaps if others got off there backsides and actually went to a meeting they might get the bug back and go regularly.  

My first meeting was also 1963, aged 7, New Cross v Ackney. Had a 30 year break, started going again up at Worky 2004, but still as keen as I was in the 60s. Go to most Swindon meetings, very good racing now theyve shortened the track. Excellent sport speedway.

Edited August 10, 2019 by auntie doris

[moxey63]

If speedway had a sudden upturn in support, all new fans, how confident would it be of keeping them? It needs a big shake up, then new fans won't be put off by thinking there are, for example, two or three of Chris Harris, Scott Nicholls, Craig Cook. In fact, two or three of most riders.

One rider, one team. Make it a serious sport before we pretend it has a chance, of not just attracting new fans but keeping them.

Edited August 10, 2019 by moxey63

[barrybishop]

4 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

If speedway had a sudden upturn in support, all new fans, how confident would it be of keeping them? It needs a big shake up, then new fans won't be put off by thinking there are, for example, two or three of Chris Harris, Scott Nicholls, Craig Cook. In fact, two or three of most riders.

One rider, one team. Make it a serious sport before we pretend it has a chance, of not just attracting new fans but keeping them.

I am not so sure this is right..... when Martin and I took over the Isle of Wight our business plan started with 50 (yes that is right 50) paying customers because this was the estimate of paying fans when they closed.

We built our speedway show from there and we knew from the offset we had to attract new fans, families and youngsters, so we built our show around that. Every week we include the family as much as we can, we never charge for kids 16 and unders, our food is the cheapest in the sport but probably one of the best for quality (read the reviews), our meetings are well presented, engaging, family orientated, and........ in the National League.... What I hear you scream no superstars..... again not right... of course we have superstars... our riders are superstars to the fans, children and families, they really are.... we have autograph sessions, our riders engage with fans, and we add to that by having My First Skid speedway school which gives families and kids that chance to be a superstar... never tell me there is not a market for speedway because our school sells out.. I have a queue of Mascots wanting to be in the show (we already have 12 out each week), the students aim for a mascot spot, then a Wizards team spot and then a Warriors spot. we give students objectives... fans continuity and a view of progress....and we have proven that this works with riders like Wirtzfeld, Sealey and now Williams...

But how has this affected our crowds, considering we have no "superstars" and run "just" National League...... well, since we started like for like, week on week.. our crowds have only dropped off 1 time - yes thats is once..... and by 5 people...

We dont have huge crowds... 300 plus in the off season 500 plus, in the holiday season... but they keep going up... and by the way so does our sponsorship not just in value but in number by those who want to associate themselves with the fun filled family show that Isle of Wight Speedway has become.

Reading the above is interesting to me and probably the most important statement I read is... "the racing isnt different, but it is a different feeling is such a small crowd....." and this my friends is the crux of it. We entertain from the moment you arrive to when you leave and we see groups of fans who have made strong friendships discuss the speedway, are part of their club, back their club, its riders (their superstars)... and it about those who attend feeling valued, received value for money and most importantly entertained.

Thanks for the continued knowledge transfer to me... its appreciated.

See you trackside.

[wtf]

26 minutes ago, barrybishop said:

I am not so sure this is right..... when Martin and I took over the Isle of Wight our business plan started with 50 (yes that is right 50) paying customers because this was the estimate of paying fans when they closed.

We built our speedway show from there and we knew from the offset we had to attract new fans, families and youngsters, so we built our show around that. Every week we include the family as much as we can, we never charge for kids 16 and unders, our food is the cheapest in the sport but probably one of the best for quality (read the reviews), our meetings are well presented, engaging, family orientated, and........ in the National League.... What I hear you scream no superstars..... again not right... of course we have superstars... our riders are superstars to the fans, children and families, they really are.... we have autograph sessions, our riders engage with fans, and we add to that by having My First Skid speedway school which gives families and kids that chance to be a superstar... never tell me there is not a market for speedway because our school sells out.. I have a queue of Mascots wanting to be in the show (we already have 12 out each week), the students aim for a mascot spot, then a Wizards team spot and then a Warriors spot. we give students objectives... fans continuity and a view of progress....and we have proven that this works with riders like Wirtzfeld, Sealey and now Williams...

But how has this affected our crowds, considering we have no "superstars" and run "just" National League...... well, since we started like for like, week on week.. our crowds have only dropped off 1 time - yes thats is once..... and by 5 people...

We dont have huge crowds... 300 plus in the off season 500 plus, in the holiday season... but they keep going up... and by the way so does our sponsorship not just in value but in number by those who want to associate themselves with the fun filled family show that Isle of Wight Speedway has become.

Reading the above is interesting to me and probably the most important statement I read is... "the racing isnt different, but it is a different feeling is such a small crowd....." and this my friends is the crux of it. We entertain from the moment you arrive to when you leave and we see groups of fans who have made strong friendships discuss the speedway, are part of their club, back their club, its riders (their superstars)... and it about those who attend feeling valued, received value for money and most importantly entertained.

Thanks for the continued knowledge transfer to me... its appreciated.

See you trackside.

Barry Bishop, one of very few people who "get it" this is the entertainment business, that's what you have to sell, know your customer and deliver what you say your going to deliver. I wish you well sir. Love my all too infrequent visits to the Isle of Wight.

[cityrebel]

18 hours ago, steve roberts said:

Having been a staunch fan for over thirty years if a track was to open local to me (York) would I attend? I would probably pop along and have a look see but whether I would be re-converted I can't honestly say.

I attended my first meeting as a wee lad at Wimbledon in September 1968, and I'm still going strong. I've lost about 20 local tracks in that time, and with the loss of Lakeside and Rye Last year, I'm hanging on by my fingertips. I still go to most of the meetings at Eastbourne and Kent, plus a few on the Island. Add the occasional trip and that's about it. The clock is ticking for me, a couple more closures and the game will be up.

Edited August 10, 2019 by cityrebel
Mistake in post