Birmingham Brummies 2020

[Jaizer]

Does anyone think Eurosport coverage doing sport any favours? Came across as amateurish and no offence to the lassie didn't seem to know her stuff. Found livestream at Glasgow a better product. 

[Mike0310]

I must admit I’m not to keen on her,but maybe next season she might be better.

[Fromafar]

42 minutes ago, Marshall07 said:

If your business was making more profit in 2021 than it did in 2019 would it not be a sign that maybe things aren't too bad? What isn't rosy that could be fixed in the very short term?

That was the case for some Promotions not all though.

[lbw]

4 hours ago, GiveusaB said:

Not sure what the costs will be...but IF they run, I think £20 plus a free programme would be a reasonable shout to me.

I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion/s.

I'd also like to see some changes to the rules, especially the movement at the start ? (I know it's not going to happen/change...)

But allowing movement at the start adds to the excitement IMO....giving the 'lesser' rider a chance to anticipate a rolling start makes for a better race, especially when the more skilled/quicker rider has to chase....also, it would even out the gate advantage...especially when gate 1, or 4 has a clear head start......

Racing is far too processional and this only adds to the monotony of a lot of speedway meetings.

I asked a friend of mine if he ever watches speedway on Sky/BT and he said no, simply becoz 9 times out of 10, 'first one to the corner' usually wins....

'WE' (speedway fans) know that this isnt true, but it's easy to see why 'NON' speedway fans would assume/think this IMO.

That's why we need a competition, separate from league racing, that involves handicapped racing but is still televised. Like cricket as various formats of the game.

The Olympique at Wolves is the only kind of competition that as handicapped racing. What is needed is a team competition for a cup.

[lbw]

51 minutes ago, Jaizer said:

Does anyone think Eurosport coverage doing sport any favours? Came across as amateurish and no offence to the lassie didn't seem to know her stuff. Found livestream at Glasgow a better product. 

The camera work at times was very shoddy and please split Tatum & Pearson up! They're like 2  squabbling school kids! 

Graphics were back to front for one meeting, aven't they got the technology to correct during the meeting?

Graphics are very old school with a 2D picture and small writing! Where's a big impact face/body scan image with big impact letter fonts!

Even the cricket as a quacking duck with it's bat walking across the screen when someone is out for a duck!!

Yep, crap!

[SlicktrackSandy]

38 minutes ago, Jaizer said:

Does anyone think Eurosport coverage doing sport any favours? Came across as amateurish and no offence to the lassie didn't seem to know her stuff. Found livestream at Glasgow a better product. 

Would go along with that from the question of doing the sport any favours aspect.  Wonder how many new casual viewers tune in to watch a regular league match or is it a case of catering for the already converted ?  Has it actually raised the public awareness of league speedway in any meaningful way ? Better to have something than nothing at all I guess, but certainly the Glasgow, Redcar and Edinburgh livestreams route looked pretty good to me.  Those  livestreams generally provide more interesting content overall and in a sense more intimate i.e. viewing casual pit shots of activity, relaxed interviews, less manic commentary and other inside info. of interest to the followers of that club.   Eurosport rider/manager interviews tend to follow the same familiar format of predictable questions i.e. "How important is it to get off to a good start", "What did the Team Manager say to you all in the huddle" etc.   Not forgetting to allow scope for the "Yes, definitely" reply to most questions.  Livestreams certainly get the thumbs up from me and hopefully in the future more clubs will be able to afford to do this, as it is a valuable option for those not able to attend in person for all sorts of reasons.

 

[Steve Shovlar]

Clubs will do better with streaming their own meetings. The only way to do this and make a profit is for it to be in house with volunteers. Expenses then would be very, very small. £12.95 for a stream.  Buy 4 streams get 10% discount. £46.62.  Plus access to watch online indefinitely.

[arnieg]

3 hours ago, W9 Lion said:

Demographic information on viewers/crowd is only good if the figures are helpful. Based on my first hand experience as Advertising Sales Director of the then broadcast partner (which is over 15 years ago) speedway fans are to old, to male, to poor and come from the wrong socio-econimic profile to be attractive to most advertisers.

By comparison and based on 2019 broadcast information the average netball viewer is 30 years younger, and earns twice as much as a speedway viewer.  Where Demographic information would be helpful is in developing the product to attract a younger more affluent audience which will be more attractive to commercial partners within the stadium.

Here's some data from approx 15 years ago:

 

What do we know about the fans?

A consumer research project was commissioned the BSPA and clubs were asked to distribute questionnaires. Again, many clubs were not particularly co-operative so the results will have to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, they do give a rough guidance:

70% of people who attend speedway meetings are male and 30% female. 20% bring their children

81% attend 10 or more meetings per season confirming that the sport is down to its hard core fans.

Speedway fans are not particularly high earners with 31% earning below £20k and 39% earning between £21k – 40k. Their relatively low socio-demographics are also confirmed by the fact that 63% read The Star, The Sun or The Mirror.

Also 31% have no qualifications and another 45% are educated to GCSE/O Level. Only 9% hold a university degree.

17% are 19-24 years old, 21% 25-34 years old and 23% 35-49 years old.

All in all, this does represent a segment of society which is not particularly interesting to sponsors.

Around 20% of people attend meetings with their kids, 63% with family adults and 72% attend with 1-3 other people.

What is interesting is the response the respondents gave when asked why attended speedway meetings:

• Support the home team 30%
• The atmosphere 23%
• A good night out 20%
• Quality of the teams 10%
• Family night out 6%
• Other 11%

Where speedway differs significantly from other sports is the relatively little importance support for the home team actually plays, whereas the actual evening out, the smell, the noise etc is much more important. Having discussed this with die-hards, casual and lapsed speedway goers and never-beens it is quite interesting that, despite the inadequate facilities, catering and all the other issues watching live speedway can engender an excitement that developed and marketed the right way could be one of the key strands in the turnaround of the sport.

What is also interesting is that the die-hards have a strong support for the sport as such and not necessarily for a particular club.

I doubt it has changed much, particularly the age profile, which is probably even more skewed older now.

[Sings4Speedway]

52 minutes ago, PirateShip said:

The Olympique at Wolves is the only kind of competition that as handicapped racing. What is needed is a team competition for a cup.

Don't let the IOW hear you say that!!

[MartinBSN]

1 hour ago, Fromafar said:

That was the case for some Promotions not all though.

It was the case for the majority of promotions. Yes Newcastle and Birmingham struggled, and I won't give my opinion on that. Eastbourne also had their issues that seem to be linked to paying too much out.

Other than that I think every club has expressed how well their 2021 season went, especially once restrictions eased

[The Dog]

8 hours ago, Deano said:

Plus promoters spend that much on riders and rent there’s then no cash for advertising and presentation. The final two are what generally contribute getting people through the turnstiles.

I'm not so sure about the advertising and presentation being a massive turn-off, more likely antiquated stadia (bar a few tracks), poor facilities and viewing when compared to other sports events or nights out. Maybe the thought of either getting dusty or wet just doesn't appeal to the masses anymore. 

[Bluenose]

None have a team at the mo.

All have a go.

1  DOUGLAS  8.31

2  PACO     5.52

3  THOMAS   5.72 

4  SHANES   5.01

5  AUTY     7.34

6  ROYNON   5.21   

7  RUML     4.00
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BartoszZmarzlikFan]

Rumour has it Birmingham are running and they've signed John Cena as the No.1 but the only problem is you won't be able to see him.

Just a bit of banter. 

[lbw]

1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Don't let the IOW hear you say that!!

Whoops, sorry IOW! Yes a big oversight by me, they've been very successful over on the Island with their varied programme of events.

[Deano]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

I'm not so sure about the advertising and presentation being a massive turn-off, more likely antiquated stadia (bar a few tracks), poor facilities and viewing when compared to other sports events or nights out. Maybe the thought of either getting dusty or wet just doesn't appeal to the masses anymore. 

You could be right, it is difficult to pin down . My other guess would be we’ve bred a generation that sits in front of the Xbox or YouTube. Very few kids want to walk out the front door these days. Streaming for me is important to capture that generation as you won’t get them through the turnstiles very easily.

[SSL84]

Think it needs speedwayfan to post on here with any updates? Just to keep the fans informed hopefully good news

[mikebv]

4 hours ago, Marshall07 said:

Again I'd disagree. Why would any promoter not care about the people coming through the gates?

With gate admissions up at most tracks this year any business would be tempted to try leave things as much as possible as something is clearly working.

I think any crowd increases would be led by the 2nd Division clubs who basically had 1st Division riders which must have encouraged a few extra to go...

Unfortunatley having no clear demarcation between the leagues is one of its major issues that hold it back, and Div 2 teams are not likely to accept their "real place" in the peckng order any time soon I would suggest..

Hence RS's have been disbanded already in Div 2...

The RS plan was a laudible one, but clearly should have been aimed at 2nd Div teams so any 3rd Div riders could progress into those places..

And going back to those "increased crowds"...

The sport lost Eastbourne, and almost Newcastle, whilst Birmingham took a sabbatical mid season and there isnt any guarantee they will be back this season..

Add to that the start of "Go Fund Me" pages and I would suggest the sport still faces serious challenges, which, as has been shown for a long, long, time, the approach they use in running it, wont ever solve.. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by mikebv

[SteveLyric2]

2 hours ago, PirateShip said:

Whoops, sorry IOW! Yes a big oversight by me, they've been very successful over on the Island with their varied programme of events.

How do we know that its been 'very successful' on IOW, other than by their own generated publicity?  No criticism - Just asking!!

[lbw]

6 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

How do we know that its been 'very successful' on IOW, other than by their own generated publicity?  No criticism - Just asking!!

Rider interviews, plenty on speedway portal youtube channel. 

[Argos]

Take it from me it a huge success I visited it this year and there more fans there than what was at Birmingham on the following Wednesday, and the handicapping made excellent racing