If you want to know what’s wrong with British speedway

[MattK]

10 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

plenty of old school things have made remarkable comebacks like real ale, cider & gin as you stated so watch out Sherry will be next....you heard it here first

What you will note is, although those things have regained popularity, it isn't branded or marketed in the same way as when it was popular previously. Gin has regained popularity by targeting young drinkers, selling itself as a premium drink and coupled with exotic mixers.

This is the problem with speedway. The world has moved on but the sport hasn't. Promoters idea of marketing hasn't changed since the 70s and still involves going into schools and down the local village fete. The other problem speedway faces is that is it a premium price for a spit and sawdust product. That is a hard sell in anyone's book.

I think too many promoters are sitting around thinking "speedway will be next" - however, they've been doing that for the last twenty years.

[DC2]

25 minutes ago, MattK said:

What you will note is, although those things have regained popularity, it isn't branded or marketed in the same way as when it was popular previously. Gin has regained popularity by targeting young drinkers, selling itself as a premium drink and coupled with exotic mixers.

 

Gin. The emperor’s new clothes of marketing.

Whether you infuse it with rhubarb, raspberry or botanicals, it still tastes of ..... wait for it ...... tonic water!

And then some insist on Fever Tree rather than Schweppes!!!  Why? Is it more tonicky?

What a load of cobblers.  

 

[Sings4Speedway]

46 minutes ago, MattK said:

What you will note is, although those things have regained popularity, it isn't branded or marketed in the same way as when it was popular previously. Gin has regained popularity by targeting young drinkers, selling itself as a premium drink and coupled with exotic mixers.

This is the problem with speedway. The world has moved on but the sport hasn't. Promoters idea of marketing hasn't changed since the 70s and still involves going into schools and down the local village fete. The other problem speedway faces is that is it a premium price for a spit and sawdust product. That is a hard sell in anyone's book.

I think too many promoters are sitting around thinking "speedway will be next" - however, they've been doing that for the last twenty years.

Maybe speedway needs to stop trying to update itself (mostly because its struggling and constantly 15 years behind any trend) and embrace the fact that its dated or "retro and chic". Tea shops are making a comeback, Gin is massively on the rise so rather than over complicate things why not let the sport run as it was in the 70's & 80's. Don't make the stadia updated let them be shabby chic and embrace it you might develop a new hipster trendy youthful following. Maybe Len Silvers braces aren't dated but ahead of the game?

[MattK]

42 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

Gin. The emperor’s new clothes of marketing.

Whether you infuse it with rhubarb, raspberry or botanicals, it still tastes of ..... wait for it ...... tonic water!

And then some insist on Fever Tree rather than Schweppes!!!  Why? Is it more tonicky?

What a load of cobblers.  

 

Of course it's cobblers, but that's marketing in a nutshell. Doesn't make it wrong though.

[DC2]

20 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Maybe speedway needs to stop trying to update itself (mostly because its struggling and constantly 15 years behind any trend) and embrace the fact that its dated or "retro and chic". Tea shops are making a comeback, Gin is massively on the rise so rather than over complicate things why not let the sport run as it was in the 70's & 80's. Don't make the stadia updated let them be shabby chic and embrace it you might develop a new hipster trendy youthful following. Maybe Len Silvers braces aren't dated but ahead of the game?

 

You could be on to something.

Look how glamorous Formula One is perceived to be by the nouveau riche. What a crap sport that is.

Plusnet has made a brand of being down to earth Yorkshire and value for money.

Maybe that’s what speedway needs. It’s certainly a family sport, a place where kids can run around rather than have to sit in seats in a stand and where they can get up close to the riders and get autographs.

[Sings4Speedway]

36 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

You could be on to something.

Look how glamorous Formula One is perceived to be by the nouveau riche. What a crap sport that is.

Plusnet has made a brand of being down to earth Yorkshire and value for money.

Maybe that’s what speedway needs. It’s certainly a family sport, a place where kids can run around rather than have to sit in seats in a stand and where they can get up close to the riders and get autographs.

Precisely. In comparison a Grasstrack will attract good crowds with decent weather and that is basically a field, some rope & posts plus a burger van and mobile bar if lucky. However you go and will often find a nice happy family vibe, kids running around and a variety of standards on track with limited complaints. It doesn't pretend to be anything its not and in fact when ever any club tries to upgrade a little it loses some of its charm. In a world where retro food and drink is on the up, peaky blinders and downton abbey are the top tv shows speedway stands a chance of going forward by taking a tiny step backwards

[DC2]

16 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Precisely. In comparison a Grasstrack will attract good crowds with decent weather and that is basically a field, some rope & posts plus a burger van and mobile bar if lucky. However you go and will often find a nice happy family vibe, kids running around and a variety of standards on track with limited complaints. It doesn't pretend to be anything its not and in fact when ever any club tries to upgrade a little it loses some of its charm. In a world where retro food and drink is on the up, peaky blinders and downton abbey are the top tv shows speedway stands a chance of going forward by taking a tiny step backwards

 

Decent weather. Good point. We need to make the season May to August/September. That would appeal more to families.

 

[SteveLyric2]

4 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

You could be on to something.

Look how glamorous Formula One is perceived to be by the nouveau riche. What a crap sport that is.

Plusnet has made a brand of being down to earth Yorkshire and value for money.

Maybe that’s what speedway needs. It’s certainly a family sport, a place where kids can run around rather than have to sit in seats in a stand and where they can get up close to the riders and get autographs.

Is it really a 'family sport'? In all honesty how many 'families' do actually attend these days - and how regularly?

If its the 'Peaky Blinders' audience that we're going for then the sport needs spicing up a whole lot more, with much more convoluted aggro between teams.......!!

Edited November 1, 2019 by Skidder1

[Spl77]

27 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

Is it really a 'family sport'? In all honesty how many 'families' do actually attend these days - and how regularly?

If its the 'Peaky Blinders' audience that we're going for then the sport needs spicing up a whole lot more, with much more convoluted aggro between teams.......!!

Aggro between the teams and riders is certainly missing these days. However very hard to produce that kind of thing as at some point during the season all the riders will appear on the same side at least once. 

[DC2]

4 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

Is it really a 'family sport'? In all honesty how many 'families' do actually attend these days - and how regularly?

If its the 'Peaky Blinders' audience that we're going for then the sport needs spicing up a whole lot more, with much more convoluted aggro between teams.......!!

 

I don’t know. But I do know that when I first went again in about 2005 my daughter came to three meetings and enjoyed running up and down the banks at Blunsdon

[Baldyman]

Wouldn't say its so much of a family sport, it's more like a pensioners special. 

[mikebv]

3 hours ago, Baldyman said:

Wouldn't say its so much of a family sport, it's more like a pensioners special. 

To be fair, the same can be said in many ways for Football, Cricket, Tennis, F1, Moto GP, Superbikes etc etc etc.

The admission costs particularly have ensured a much older demographic are their main followers..

20/20 Cricket in particular though do a great job in attracting families though cheap tickets. And they do this to create the atmosphere that any sporting  occasion needs to be memorable and addictive..

The truth is many teenage kids don't want to go anywhere near where their parents frequent as it's all 'a bit sad'..

Mobile phones, Play station, X box, catch up TV, and Social Media give them all the entertainment they need without ever leaving their rooms...

Getting the many, many thousands of 40/50/60 somethings who have left the sport over the past ten years or so to return would be far easier than getting a younger demographic through the door...

But if those who run the sport don't see any issues to resolve, and can't see why so many have left, then that simply won't happen. ..

Edited November 2, 2019 by mikebv

[Spl77]

4 hours ago, mikebv said:

To be fair, the same can be said in many ways for Football, Cricket, Tennis, F1, Moto GP, Superbikes etc etc etc.

The admission costs particularly have ensured a much older demographic are their main followers..

20/20 Cricket in particular though do a great job in attracting families though cheap tickets. And they do this to create the atmosphere that any sporting  occasion needs to be memorable and addictive..

The truth is many teenage kids don't want to go anywhere near where their parents frequent as it's all 'a bit sad'..

Mobile phones, Play station, X box, catch up TV, and Social Media give them all the entertainment they need without ever leaving their rooms...

Getting the many, many thousands of 40/50/60 somethings who have left the sport over the past ten years or so to return would be far easier than getting a younger demographic through the door...

But if those who run the sport don't see any issues to resolve, and can't see why so many have left, then that simply won't happen. ..

 Very true

[MattK]

13 hours ago, Skidder1 said:

Is it really a 'family sport'? In all honesty how many 'families' do actually attend these days - and how regularly?

If its the 'Peaky Blinders' audience that we're going for then the sport needs spicing up a whole lot more, with much more convoluted aggro between teams.......!!

You've identified one of the fundamental problems with British speedway - it doesn't understand who its target market is.

Speedway tries to target children by doing into schools, having face painting and bouncing castles, but when you actually go to a meeting the average age is over 55 and the presentation is like something from the 70s. Kids don't want to listen to AC/DC and fill out paper programmes with a pen, they want Stormzy, Fortnite and an app to keep score with.

The solution is in fact quite simply. If the majority of your customers are over 55, then market speedway at... wait for it... yep... over 55s! Its not rocket science people. You can also align the sport with sponsors who want to target that demographic adding some much needed credibility.

The other benefit of course is that over 55s are likely to have far more disposable income than youngsters.

[mikebv]

2 hours ago, MattK said:

You've identified one of the fundamental problems with British speedway - it doesn't understand who its target market is.

Speedway tries to target children by doing into schools, having face painting and bouncing castles, but when you actually go to a meeting the average age is over 55 and the presentation is like something from the 70s. Kids don't want to listen to AC/DC and fill out paper programmes with a pen, they want Stormzy, Fortnite and an app to keep score with.

The solution is in fact quite simply. If the majority of your customers are over 55, then market speedway at... wait for it... yep... over 55s! Its not rocket science people. You can also align the sport with sponsors who want to target that demographic adding some much needed credibility.

The other benefit of course is that over 55s are likely to have far more disposable income than youngsters.

And the great news is that there are tens of thousands of 40/50/60 somethings out there who will either have used to go, or know somebody who still does..

It is a bit "staytin' the bleedin' obvious" isn't it to try and target a market who already know about you, rather than one which has little interest and won't pay full price for a very long, long time. (Should they keep interested that is, which is very much unlikely looking at how few 16-25 year olds attend)..

But maybe it isn't so obvious to some?

[MattK]

1 hour ago, mikebv said:

And the great news is that there are tens of thousands of 40/50/60 somethings out there who will either have used to go, or know somebody who still does..

You'd think, wouldn't you? The problem is that speedway's actually quite a hard sell. Four blokes going round in circles with most races won from the gate. And it costs £18. Not really an inciting proposition on the face of it.

Trying to attract back lost fans makes a lot of sense.

[Baldyman]

But the lost ones are lost for a reason, they already know how poor a product it is, how boring it can be, and that it's such rubbish value for money.   Why would they be enticed back? 

[Bonzodog]

My first post here as only recently discovered speedway even though I'm in my late 40s. 

Coming at it from a newcomer I can see the point of concentrating on the target audience of the middle aged. However I would assume the majority of these people discovered the sport as kids so I still think kids should be targeted more.

I have been going for last 3 months with my two daughters (13 and 9) and they absolutely love it. They dont understand or would be bothered that most races finish as they start from the gate. They love the smell, the roar of the engines and interacting with the riders afterwards. By the time they are older and are more aware of the politics behind the sport they will already be hooked.

To a child this sport is still very exciting...as long as they know about it. I asked my eldest to bring her friend to the last meeting and they were instantly hooked too even though the races were poor.

[BluPanther]

42 minutes ago, Bonzodog said:

My first post here as only recently discovered speedway even though I'm in my late 40s. 

Coming at it from a newcomer I can see the point of concentrating on the target audience of the middle aged. However I would assume the majority of these people discovered the sport as kids so I still think kids should be targeted more.

I have been going for last 3 months with my two daughters (13 and 9) and they absolutely love it. They dont understand or would be bothered that most races finish as they start from the gate. They love the smell, the roar of the engines and interacting with the riders afterwards. By the time they are older and are more aware of the politics behind the sport they will already be hooked.

To a child this sport is still very exciting...as long as they know about it. I asked my eldest to bring her friend to the last meeting and they were instantly hooked too even though the races were poor.

What smell is that ?

[Baldyman]

Must be the burger van or chips, as it doesn't smell anymore, it hasn't for a long time. 

I've tried to get my partners young son to come more than once, not interested, it's boring he says. When it comes on the TV he goes to his room. Asked what he doesn't like, he says nothing happens, they just go round, yeah it looks fast and dangerous, but nothing really happens. Now having said all that, he has no interest in any of the other motorsports either.  What he does watch is football, and he is mad for mma, he is up all hours watching that.