Streaming

[truthsayer]

The problem you have with online streaming is the 'perceived' value to most consumers.

So much online is free and unless you are a hardcore fan, the cost of streaming something you think should be free is hard to get around. 

I think the most likely option for speedway would be to aim for sponsorship to cover production costs. Keep production quality fairly basic, stream it for free and look to get fans to donate what they think its worth to them. Some comedy clubs have been doing this in the past few months and although its not a massive earner, it provides an income and gets people in in  the first place. 

This is my problem. I will not give British Speedway £13 for something that is untried, but which I perceive as probably being a bit rubbish. Give me it for free and I will certainly make a donation if its any good (which might be more than £13).

Long term, I don't think streaming is a viable business model, but it might be an additional revenue, erm, stream.  

[waytogo28]

4 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

If only........ If BVue are charging a tenner for their forthcoming meeting I think that will be it for “top flight” speedway in the UK, especially if a few thousand pay for it this time.

And if what is delivered for the price is "top flight" of course, if you pay £12.95 and get the Plymouth experience or interrupted connectivity then numbers will fall away very, very soon. Step up to the plate please and give VFM which is what has bedevilled live in the stadium domestic speeday over the last few years.

 

Remember that those "top flight" clubs still sell grotty food at far above VFM prices, so the attitude on streaming needs to be set at a pretty good level to sustain the interest of paying customers ( in good enough numbers ).

Edited September 24, 2020 by waytogo28
additional point made

[RobMcCaffery]

2 hours ago, waytogo28 said:

And if what is delivered for the price is "top flight" of course, if you pay £12.95 and get the Plymouth experience or interrupted connectivity then numbers will fall away very, very soon. Step up to the plate please and give VFM which is what has bedevilled live in the stadium domestic speeday over the last few years.

 

Remember that those "top flight" clubs still sell grotty food at far above VFM prices, so the attitude on streaming needs to be set at a pretty good level to sustain the interest of paying customers ( in good enough numbers ).

If not for outside technical faults in Scotland both Plymouth and Edinburgh productions were perfectly acceptable for the prices charged so I don't  want anyone thinking they were of an unacceptable standard. 

[PHILIPRISING]

6 hours ago, MattK said:

How much does it cost to stream a meeting live?

CANNOT accurately answer that but obviously for production such as that being mounted at Ipswich must be a few thousand. 

[MattK]

21 minutes ago, PHILIPRISING said:

CANNOT accurately answer that but obviously for production such as that being mounted at Ipswich must be a few thousand. 

Let's say £5k for arguments sake.

Do you think it would be easier to persuade 500 people to pay £10 each to stream the meeting or 1,250 at £4 to stream the meeting? I'd say 1,250 at £4 is a far easier sell than 500 @ £10.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

Well on Twitter it seems Robert Lambert would want it for free

[InfinitiDiamonds]

I be interested to know viewing figures for tonight’s meeting.

 

[LagutaRacingFan]

25 minutes ago, InfinitiDiamonds said:

I be interested to know viewing figures for tonight’s meeting.

 

1500

[InfinitiDiamonds]

14 minutes ago, KeirStarmerFan said:

1500

Really hoped it would of been more then that. 

[OveFundinFan]

I would have done at a tenner but Thursday evenings are took up by more important things.

[Pinny]

I have thought for a long time that online streaming would be nothing other than a positive for speedway clubs.

It can''t cost all that much to set up, and I seriously don't think it would hamper crowds that much either. Even if it did, you would have plenty of neutrals tuning in to watch. I know i would watch a couple of meetings a week.

Put it this way, I struggle to believe all incomings for a home meeting would be less than if they didn't stream them. Even if you only got 2-300 people streaming, at a tenner a meeting thats an extra 3 grand.

I have just used random figures before anyone jumps on that.

Times are changing, the world is moving on. Get with the times and provide online streaming. Lets be honest, a proper Swindon fan for example wouldn't not go to a home meeting just because he can watch it at home for a few quid cheaper. For the ones who do go, 99 percent attend for the company, the presence, the smell and the part of a night or afternoon out. Many people can't afford to attend with their two kids, mrs and mate. And thats why they arent going anymore. But they can sure as hell afford to stream it in their living room for the five of them for about a tenner.

It would obviously take some work to plan, price and launch but if done properly and not by a few buffoons then it can only be a success.

[mikebv]

10 hours ago, MattK said:

Let's say £5k for arguments sake.

Do you think it would be easier to persuade 500 people to pay £10 each to stream the meeting or 1,250 at £4 to stream the meeting? I'd say 1,250 at £4 is a far easier sell than 500 @ £10.

I have read comments around how cheap it is at £10 compared to going as eg "all the family can watch" with the suggestion that if you paid to watch it live the cost of two admissions at adult level and two at kids level, with food, drink etc would be around £50 to £60..

I think that misses the point..

The stream needs to be aimed at those who dont attend Speedway regularly but know it exists and maybe used to follow it, and also the many thousands of fans around the country who have no affinity to either side on show.

And the amount of 'families' who go is minimal when up against those who attend alone I would say..

If I wont pay £18 to watch it live now, then I probably wont pay £10 to watch it on TV..

Especially given you can watch so much Speedway on BT, Eurosport and Premier from the comfort of your armchair, (which you have already shelled out a good few quid a month for)..

I would imagine given the pandemic the streams will be a perfect time for a 'toe in the water' to see how it goes, and I hope it goes well..

But going forwards when up against the Satellite broadcasters who can provide around 15 to 20 meetings a month for circa £60, then I would think the £5 per meeting price point will be nearer the mark than a £10 one to get fans to purchase the meetings 'regularly'..

Maybe with the technology of today, the stream could be blocked locally around the home teams area to encourage fans to attend, but to be honest I would think that the vast majority of regulars who still go now would go anyway, so it's not really them you will appeal to via a stream. Unless its maybe 50/50 if a meeting will go ahead due to poor weather, but even then you will still be getting some revenue in rather than zero if they stay away as many do at present when it looks like a meeting could be called off..

The target audience for any stream has to be the utopian "everyone who follows the sport in the country that wont be there in person", which is a massive market even for Speedway..

On a 'normal' week, if every track had a meeting I would suggest 20,000 to 25,000 or so will attend, many of whom will watch 'any speedway' on TV...

I would also suggest at least that many again (and probably many more) still follow the sport but hardly attend (if at all). These people currently pay no money directly into the sports coffers yet many will have used to put "plenty" in until they finally 'gave up' with UK Speedway. Yet still watch as much of the sport as they can via TV. 

You only have to look at the high 5, and sometimes over 6 figure viewing figures for Sky and BT over the past ten years, to see that the interest is still very much out there in the UK to watch domestic Speedway..

Get the pricing right and it could be a real winner for the sport as a collective, however, I do think that working as a collective is the key..

If clubs do it as individuals, and stand alone, then I dont think it would be anywhere near as successful as all working together to share costs and share profits, maybe with exclusivity deals to broadcasters to maximise that potential and deliver a consistent quality of stream.. 

Speedway has more % 'neutral' fans than a great many other team sports, fans who just love watching the racing, so streaming could be a great way to harness that and make some real money for the sport as a whole..

Streaming really could be a game changer for clubs and the sport in the UK, with, as just one example, more revenue coming in from local businesses who can build their brand awareness by advertising during the stream to the locality that they serve. Speedway has so many natural breaks it would be perfect to use some of the time as advertising slots..

But again, it will only ultimately work if that price point is right and you get enough people to sign up to it regularly..

Edited September 25, 2020 by mikebv

[cityrebel]

I'm afraid it's live sport or nothing for me. I've never paid to watch a one off sporting event. I find watching the current football matches without fans, a real turn off. The lack of live speedway and premier league football has been replaced by local grassroots football matches, which have been a real life saver for me.

[Rob B]

Obviously these 2 events are different as no fans are allowed in, but in the future if streaming is continued when fans are present the price can't be set too low as this will then effect the attendance, home fans would stay at home if the stream is cheap.

It needs to be targeted at away fans and neutrals who don't want to take time off work and drive a long distance with additional expenses to watch. So for example £12 would be lot cheaper and convenient for them but £12 would hopefully mean most home fans would actually go and pay the £18 to watch it live. 

[hammer1969]

I watched last night's stream from Belle Vue and really enjoyed it but I'd always choose watching live over streaming.  On saying that with no local derbys as in years gone by my nearest track is at least a 2/3 hour round trip which I do for all their home fixtures if the weather's OK.  I'd love to go to all the away meetings as well but thats impossible so I'd happily stream them for £10 each probably up to twice a month but I think to make it viable for watching regularly for most people and to encourage others like me to also watch streams of other than the team they support £5 would be nearer the mark.  It would be much cheaper for 2 or more people to watch from home even at £10 a time but nothing can replace watching live, so alongside streaming Promoters need to find ways to get new supporters into the stadiums first.

[Grand Central]

7 minutes ago, Rob B said:

Obviously these 2 events are different as no fans are allowed in, but in the future if streaming is continued when fans are present the price can't be set too low as this will then effect the attendance, home fans would stay at home if the stream is cheap.

It needs to be targeted at away fans and neutrals who don't want to take time off work and drive a long distance with additional expenses to watch. So for example £12 would be lot cheaper and convenient for them but £12 would hopefully mean most home fans would actually go and pay the £18 to watch it live. 

No £12 would be too much for them all.

[Guest compost]

This might sound a daft  question but in order to view these streamed live meetings do you need a uk television licence ?

I might be interested (at the £10 or less level at least) but have cancelled my licence.  Looking at the 'rules' and guidance I know that I can't legally watch live football matches put out steamed on amazon prime or the live youtube channel.  I did look at the faq in relation to the Belle Vue meetings coverage but this wasn't an area covered.

Thanks

[hammer1969]

17 minutes ago, compost said:

This might sound a daft  question but in order to view these streamed live meetings do you need a uk television licence ?

I might be interested (at the £10 or less level at least) but have cancelled my licence.  Looking at the 'rules' and guidance I know that I can't legally watch live football matches put out steamed on amazon prime or the live youtube channel.  I did look at the faq in relation to the Belle Vue meetings coverage but this wasn't an area covered.

Thanks

Not sure of the rules etc but once you've paid you can watch on demand after the meeting has ended, probably from the next day, don't know how long it would be available for though.  I watched live last night and just after the meeting started I emailed them with a question expecting to get a reply probably today but they answered within 20 minutes, there's a link to email on their website they may be able to advise you.

[Shockster]

36 minutes ago, compost said:

This might sound a daft  question but in order to view these streamed live meetings do you need a uk television licence ?

I might be interested (at the £10 or less level at least) but have cancelled my licence.  Looking at the 'rules' and guidance I know that I can't legally watch live football matches put out steamed on amazon prime or the live youtube channel.  I did look at the faq in relation to the Belle Vue meetings coverage but this wasn't an area covered.

Thanks

Not saying this is right or wrong, but if you use a VPN online then you will be undetectable no matter what you watch.

[Booey boy]

11 minutes ago, Shockster said:

Not saying this is right or wrong, but if you use a VPN online then you will be undetectable no matter what you watch.

I could not find it online.Also the product they put out has got to be worth paying for look at the so called Bfitish final very poor line up not worth paying to watch