old bob at herne bay Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 Oxford promoter… what’s their target crowd for breakeven ? 1000, 2000 . Guess they will bring Hans Nielsen out of retirement to captain the side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sings4Speedway Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, arnieg said: Now that we've reached the endgame it would be helpful to understand what went wrong. Looking from the outside, at the start of the season, if asked to rank tracks most at risk of closure I think Eastbourne would have been quite low in my list (and most people's standings too) I think its vital that what went wrong is analysed, publicised and learnt from. Eastbourne have been a lynchpin of British Speedway for just shy of 90 years. Any and every promotion at any club who is budgeting to unattainable figures is doing nothing but harm to the greater sport and the fans of the club they are custodians of. We feared that Brum and Newcastle wouldn't be the first but perhaps for once Eastbourne can be the last. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sings4Speedway Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, Sir Sidney said: Well, he will know where to find his first clown i thought clowns had to be funny and interesting..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 1 minute ago, Richard Weston said: What went wrong? People didn't go in sufficient numbers. The audience for speedway on a regular basis in East Sussex has withered away to a few hundred. That and over optimistic attendance breakeven numbers … due diligence on previous years attendances ?? Last time I went to Arlington several years ago would be amazed if they had 1000 there ( would have been a Lakeside away meeting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Central Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 1 hour ago, hammer1969 said: It was coming to the end of it's life and didn't meet the safety requirements for racing next year. Thank you for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bob at herne bay Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said: I think its vital that what went wrong is analysed, publicised and learnt from. Eastbourne have been a lynchpin of British Speedway for just shy of 90 years. Any and every promotion at any club who is budgeting to unattainable figures is doing nothing but harm to the greater sport and the fans of the club they are custodians of. We feared that Brum and Newcastle wouldn't be the first but perhaps for once Eastbourne can be the last. Dream on … speedway finances being made public ….don’t make me laugh. No one will ever be told the truth…. Just that not enough fans turned up … it’s the fans fault . They have closed Eastbourne Speedway goodbye Mr Jordan Mr Fineing and goodnight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flagrag Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 (edited) The biggest failure the Eastbourne promotion made was offering too high money to some riders just to get them to ride for Eastbourne with some being paid Premiership heatleader money as one rider described it to me it was “Telephone number worthy what they offered some people to ride for them. They also offered to high guarantee to some lesser riders again to get them in their team. The promotors gambled on crowds returning and that Lee Kilby would be able to attract some lucrative corporate sponsors but they never materialised so right from the first meeting Eastbourne was not viable Edited August 26, 2021 by flagrag 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 1 minute ago, flagrag said: The biggest failure the Eastbourne promotion made was offering too high money to some riders just to get them to ride for Eastbourne with some being paid Premiership heatleader money as one rider described it to me it was “Telephone number worthy what they offered some people to ride for them. The promotors gambled on crowds returning and that Lee Kilby would be able to attract some lucrative corporate sponsors but they never materialised so right from the first meeting Eastbourne was not viable Where were the checks and balances though... why was it left until the events at Leicester transpired for any alarm bells to start ringing at the BSPL offices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woofers Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 Sad news, first Charlie Watts, now this. Gutted doesn’t even come close. I guess I’ll get my fix at Kent now, could be their gain out of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 Think it was probably wrong to build a Team budgeting for 1000 spectators at Championship level these days,how many other Teams actually achieve this figure.Poor Management.Obviously when the Club was run by the Dugards over the years any losses could be covered by their business,and probably was.Now the the New Promotion had to stand on its own two feet it was different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 7 minutes ago, Fromafar said: Think it was probably wrong to build a Team budgeting for 1000 spectators at Championship level these days,how many other Teams actually achieve this figure.Poor Management.Obviously when the Club was run by the Dugards over the years any losses could be covered by their business,and probably was.Now the the New Promotion had to stand on its own two feet it was different. Nail on The head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orion Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 (edited) People to quick to blame speedway in general but the bottom line this was just a poorly ran business, speedway club or no speedway club Edited August 26, 2021 by orion 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screm Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 Gutted for the supporters of Eastbourne speedway who have lost their speedway through no fault of their own. The riders will find other teams, some already have. Very poor management from the Eastbourne promotion to allow things to get to this stage, surely they could've done something before now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDY69 Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 5 minutes ago, orion said: People to quick to blame speedway in general but the bottom line this was just poorly ran business speedway club or no speedway club Agreed. How many people were taking a salary out of the speedway income? This must be why their costs were so high they needed 1000 people to break even - I can't imagine it was rent for the stadium and if they did pay over the odds for riders' wages then it's clearly poor management. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruckerroo Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 1 hour ago, shippy22 said: It does seem strange that a couple of poor crowds has resulted in such a financial mess. Eastbourne had 7 English riders, several of them were local, so the travel expenses must have been around the lowest in the league. The stadium is owned by a family with a lot of speedway history, so would not imagine that the rent would be more than other tracks. Were the promoters being too optimistic budgeting for a crowd of at least 1000?. They must have been well behind even before the covid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSpeed Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 5 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said: Agreed. How many people were taking a salary out of the speedway income? This must be why their costs were so high they needed 1000 people to break even - I can't imagine it was rent for the stadium and if they did pay over the odds for riders' wages then it's clearly poor management. The accounts for 2019 show that they paid out £235,725 in "staff costs" that year on a turnover of £237,721. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimsboy Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 53 minutes ago, Richard Weston said: What went wrong? People didn't go in sufficient numbers. The audience for speedway on a regular basis in East Sussex has withered away to a few hundred. Jordon and Fineing Over dreamt the dream. Surely you have woken up now @Richard Weston or still tired from your trips to Abbots wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Eck Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 1 hour ago, old bob at herne bay said: Very sad for the Eastbourne fans. The more I read the more baffled I am about this sorry mess. Tom Brennan quoted in Star today saying riders owed money for SEVERAL meetings. Alleged rent arrears to stadium owners. Then EB statement promising everyone refunds on tickets , merchandise for future events, donation to air fence fund etc etc So they must have some money in the bank ?? So with a ludicrous 1000 breakeven crowd target one wonders whether they ever got 1000 and every meeting in 2021 ran at a loss? Desperately sad that the late Charlie Dugard’s Speedway site didn’t quite make its 90th Anniversary It will be a brave man/woman to take on EB speedway again, stocks to continue this season then I wonder about the planning status of the Arlington site ? Like Rye House Swindon Coventry Oxford does anyone seriously really believe these tracks will ever be revived ?? Charlie Dugard closed Eastbourne down in the mid 1960s so any anniversary is only related to when the sport started, rather than continuous operation. The 90th milestone will be reached, even if there is no racing. More than ten years ago, the late Bob Dugard said the Eagles were losing £50,000 a year and things have got worse since then. The Eagles worked as an NDL team so should have stayed in that league. Who knows why they went to the Championship but if they needed 1000 a meeting to break even, bearing in mind there are some teams in that league that don’t tempt the occasional supporter out for the night, then they were doomed from the start, regardless of covid restrictions. It’s really sad to see a club close but hopefully a new management with a realistic business plan can come in next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 3 hours ago, Marshall07 said: To replace multiple riders you must come back under the 38 point limit I believe Pretty sure you are correct, if one rider to be replaced you can replace him on a lesser average but more than one requires a reset back to the original start of season figure.. Not too sure if you have changed RS level riders eg from a 3* to a 2* if you can then use that extra point to reset the team.. And you never know quite know what will be "in the interest of Speedway" do you? A more ironic phrase than any I possibly have ever heard, as when it is used, the decision invariably is anything but in the interest of Speedway from a credibility stand point.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted August 26, 2021 Report Share Posted August 26, 2021 Awful news. Keep the faith, while a track is still there anything is possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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