Eastbourne 2020

[Sir Sidney]

3 minutes ago, Wee Eck said:

The Eagles worked as an NDL team so should have stayed in that league. 

Although of course BSPL has changed the NDL model dramatically by imposing a new operating model this year  - so really not sustainable for a stand alone team 

[Tosh1218]

Sad as it speedway will keep on losing teams unless they start promoting the sport , too many people thought due to the pandemic and nearly 18 months without speedway the fans would come flooding  , How wrong they were 

[Sings4Speedway]

10 minutes ago, Richard Weston said:

Did you see the attendances in the last season of NDL?

Does that matter if its proportionate? If rent and all other running costs are fixed and just wages are variable then they can be adjusted and team built accordingly. I reckon a break even point for NDL could be around 400 through the gate, if that isn't achievable then the sport in the area isn't sustainable at any level.

[Sir Sidney]

9 minutes ago, Richard Weston said:

Did you see the attendances in the last season of NDL?

I came to quite a few of the meetings so yes. I think the NDL at that point was a great product.

I think this year, with the imposed new model, there are simply insufficient numbers of teams to create enough meetings for a stand alone team. That is why I think it is unsustainable, rather than the quality of the racing and the number of supporters who would attend. 

[woofers]

2 hours ago, hammer1969 said:

Every club I've supported has gone starting with West Ham, followed by Rye House and now Eastie not to mention all the others I've visited regularly over the years, Hackney, Wimbledon, Romford, Lakeside to name just a few.

So it’s your fault then ! (only joking).

[tyretrax]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

Orion? Now that is harsh!

No it's not.

[Steve Shovlar]

Best bet for any prospective Eastbourne promoter is to drop to NDL. A crowd of 4-500 would sustain a team at this level and is surely achievable. 

Sad to see our rivals go to the wall. There was a very good crowd when Poole were there at the start of the season, and that was with covid restrictions in place.

Promoting means more than just opening the gates and hoping people turn up.

 

[Ghosty]

1 hour 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. 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 

No lessons learned from the demise of Rye House then?

[Mike0310]

It’s very sad obviously but there will be other riders out of a job soon when they are replaced in there respective teams by Eastbourne riders just watch the next few days will be interesting because I bet Richard Lawsons phone for 1 will be red hot.

[Technik]

I would guess that only the teams that are looking to make the play offs or have long term injuries will attempt to sign any of the Eastbourne riders & as for the NDL team they will have until next march to clean their bikes

[Sir Sidney]

1 minute ago, Richard Weston said:

End of 2018 when the club won league and cup, the attendances were surprisingly low for such a powerful and entertaining team.

You will know better than me then - so NDL unsustainable on two levels

[cityrebel]

20 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Does that matter if its proportionate? If rent and all other running costs are fixed and just wages are variable then they can be adjusted and team built accordingly. I reckon a break even point for NDL could be around 400 through the gate, if that isn't achievable then the sport in the area isn't sustainable at any level.

The crowds dropped off in their last season of NDL in 2018. When a track moves up, it's very hard to go back. A lot of people are not interested in a lesser product. These are very uncertain times for the sport.

Edited August 26, 2021 by cityrebel
Spelling mistake

[Sings4Speedway]

3 minutes ago, Technik said:

I would guess that only the teams that are looking to make the play offs or have long term injuries will attempt to sign any of the Eastbourne riders & as for the NDL team they will have until next march to clean their bikes

NDL team have mostly chucked it in already and were far from happy campers all season, only Ablitt is likely to move on and that depends on his fitness plus he will probably benefit from staying on a 3.00 average for next year.

[Sir Sidney]

3 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

The crowds dropped off in their last season of NDL in 2018. When a track moves up, it's very hard to go back. A lot of people are not interested in a lesser product. These are very uncertain times for the sport.

Given that it appears that not enough people were interested in the higher level product then that's a dilemma 

[Sings4Speedway]

4 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

The crowds dropped off in their last season of NDL in 2018. When a track moves up, it's very hard to go back. A lot of people are not interested in a lesser prodoct. These are very uncertain times for the sport.

But its proven that a not enough people are interested in a 'better' product. Back in 2018 the NDL was at its peak but Eastbourne had a spectacularly good side that was battering teams at home and for the causal fan sadly the dominance didn't offer a great amount of entertainment.  

[cityrebel]

4 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

But its proven that a not enough people are interested in a 'better' product. Back in 2018 the NDL was at its peak but Eastbourne had a spectacularly good side that was battering teams at home and for the causal fan sadly the dominance didn't offer a great amount of entertainment.  

The sport needs a lower level championship and a higher level NDL. So that tracks with a hardcore of 500 fans, can offer a competitive and reasonably priced product.

[old bob at herne bay]

Aha the word “entertainment” appears in a posting. No matter what league  riders are racing , people go to be “entertained” Sadly in short supply at so many meetings nowadays….. mostly replaced by “delay”  

 

[old bob at herne bay]

6 minutes ago, Richard Weston said:

Interesting how this thread has bounced a long at quite a lick this morning. 

Is it older folk who have time to themselves of younger people 'working' from home?

No prizes for guessing in which group I sit ;-)
 

 

[IainB]

48 minutes ago, tyretrax said:

No it's not.

I'd love to see my club promoted in the same way as Barry Bishop's Flying Circus... come to think of it I'd like to see my club promoted in the same way even as an actual circus, posters in local chippies, boards attached to lampposts etc.

[old bob at herne bay]

34 minutes ago, Richard Weston said:

I think most of them are in the same group- and in a nutshell that is speedway's problem. An audience that is literally withering away.

Too few of us 'skivers' allegedly working from home.

 

and for many of the older group of supporters , Covid was the final straw, and put them off returning to support speedway. Seems pretty obvious to me that was always going to be the case, and I would be very surprised if any tracks are seeing average attendances back to the "pre Covid"  levels of 2019.