Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 British speedway is very short of cash, it’s having to operate with reduced attendances and yet clubs are not using the obvious and potentially profitable avenue of live streaming it’s meetings. Take today’s meeting at Belle Vue. The official speedway site were quick in putting up a couple of heats, yet there are hundreds of supporters in and around Peterborough and thousands around the country who would have been quite happy to pay £10-12 for the opportunity of watching this meeting. The quality of the feed is high, there’s live commentary, what’s the problem? 1000 people paying for a stream would bring in £10,000 at a tenner, or £11,950 at £11.95. Hugely profitable. And remember. There’s a worldwide audience to pay and watch. Promoters might be worried about loss of revenue at the stadium but currently with reduced capacity demand should be enough for a stadium to sell out. And it is possible to geo-block fans within a set distance from the stadium. Glasgow are running behind closed doors, with live feed only at £11.95. The meeting against Poole on Friday should achieve very good numbers with the take up of the stream. I have already purchased my ticket. Pretty sure a lot of Poole fans will also. And the feed will give neutrals something to watch on a Friday night if they want to see some action. Now for the top flight Eurosport have the rights to TV, but I don’t think it has been tied down like the Sky and BT deals, allowing promoters to be more flexible on doing their job of promoting. The days of no filming inside, no photos etc choke the sport. Use technology to open up the market. Streaming cost a small amount to do. One cameraman, a commentator and someone in charge of the streaming is all that is needed. Two cameramen and a little more is required. But bloody hell it should already be in place, bringing in the funds for our sport to be sure of its survival. Come on sort it out! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Agree Steve and I don’t think Eurosport can complain unless they were going to show highlights or full coverage of every meeting, and I doubt they will show even 25% of PL meetings raced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryW Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 100% agree. Edinburgh Monarchs were providing live streams for away fans even before the current pandemic (geo blocked within 50 miles of Armadale). While capacity restrictions are in place these streams have been made available for anyone to buy. The service is brilliant and I can't understand why every other club isn't doing the same! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 2 minutes ago, HenryW said: 100% agree. Edinburgh Monarchs were providing live streams for away fans even before the current pandemic (geo blocked within 50 miles of Armadale). While capacity restrictions are in place these streams have been made available for anyone to buy. The service is brilliant and I can't understand why every other club isn't doing the same! Even if 500 take a stream, that £5000 at a tenner. (Less vat and stream fees) It’s money for nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Absolutely agree, but the people who run our sport are light years behind where they should be do it’s no surprise really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarracudaAce Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 I was talking to a family of four at the Belle Vue Colts match on Friday night and they said they were unable to get tickets for today. They commented that they would have been prepared to pay a tenner each if today's Aces match had been streamed - even though they would have been watching it on same TV. Just to add to the frustration, the match was being filmed today and Dave Rowe was doing commentary, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcatdiary Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 I would have thought in this current situation this was a no brainier for clubs to stream all their home matches. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 You could even say, even if they charged £5 that's five pounds more than they would have got without streaming because its about people who probably would not have gone even if they could. My nearest track is now Ipswich, I probably wont bother going to one of their meetings in person because of factors like time to get their and back, fuel costs etc but if they charged £10 streaming I might give a couple of meetings a go, that's £20 they got for no extra outlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 13 minutes ago, marko said: You could even say, even if they charged £5 that's five pounds more than they would have got without streaming because its about people who probably would not have gone even if they could. My nearest track is now Ipswich, I probably wont bother going to one of their meetings in person because of factors like time to get their and back, fuel costs etc but if they charged £10 streaming I might give a couple of meetings a go, that's £20 they got for no extra outlay. And when the meeting is sold out (as a few have been), well in advance, it seems crackers to not add on the streaming for those who haven't got tickets and maybe also interested neutrals from around the country/globe who want to see some Speedway... Bank Holiday Monday would have been "prime time" you would have thought to get an audience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzac Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 3 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said: British speedway is very short of cash, it’s having to operate with reduced attendances and yet clubs are not using the obvious and potentially profitable avenue of live streaming it’s meetings. Take today’s meeting at Belle Vue. The official speedway site were quick in putting up a couple of heats, yet there are hundreds of supporters in and around Peterborough and thousands around the country who would have been quite happy to pay £10-12 for the opportunity of watching this meeting. The quality of the feed is high, there’s live commentary, what’s the problem? 1000 people paying for a stream would bring in £10,000 at a tenner, or £11,950 at £11.95. Hugely profitable. And remember. There’s a worldwide audience to pay and watch. Promoters might be worried about loss of revenue at the stadium but currently with reduced capacity demand should be enough for a stadium to sell out. And it is possible to geo-block fans within a set distance from the stadium. Glasgow are running behind closed doors, with live feed only at £11.95. The meeting against Poole on Friday should achieve very good numbers with the take up of the stream. I have already purchased my ticket. Pretty sure a lot of Poole fans will also. And the feed will give neutrals something to watch on a Friday night if they want to see some action. Now for the top flight Eurosport have the rights to TV, but I don’t think it has been tied down like the Sky and BT deals, allowing promoters to be more flexible on doing their job of promoting. The days of no filming inside, no photos etc choke the sport. Use technology to open up the market. Streaming cost a small amount to do. One cameraman, a commentator and someone in charge of the streaming is all that is needed. Two cameramen and a little more is required. But bloody hell it should already be in place, bringing in the funds for our sport to be sure of its survival. Come on sort it out! Steve, you can make a well constructed sensible post then compared to your usual stuff, keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 11 minutes ago, gazzac said: Steve, you can make a well constructed sensible post then compared to your usual stuff, keep up the good work. In other words you don’t agree with my regular way of thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 1 hour ago, marko said: You could even say, even if they charged £5 that's five pounds more than they would have got without streaming because its about people who probably would not have gone even if they could. My nearest track is now Ipswich, I probably wont bother going to one of their meetings in person because of factors like time to get their and back, fuel costs etc but if they charged £10 streaming I might give a couple of meetings a go, that's £20 they got for no extra outlay. They can’t devalue the sport by charging a fiver. But £11.95 seems a good fair price. Happy to pay that no question. The price of a cheap meal in Beefeater and something that should be better value and leave a better taste in the mouth. Poole first meeting is going to be streamed even though crowds are allowed inside. The Poole promotion said it would cost them £2000 approx but would be cheaper going forwards. Plenty of Berwick fans buying the stream I should think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzac Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Just now, Steve Shovlar said: In other words you don’t agree with my regular way of thinking. Being at Eastie fan not always, but never boring, normally creates a reaction one way or the other I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89buttons Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 4 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said: British speedway is very short of cash, it’s having to operate with reduced attendances and yet clubs are not using the obvious and potentially profitable avenue of live streaming it’s meetings. Take today’s meeting at Belle Vue. The official speedway site were quick in putting up a couple of heats, yet there are hundreds of supporters in and around Peterborough and thousands around the country who would have been quite happy to pay £10-12 for the opportunity of watching this meeting. The quality of the feed is high, there’s live commentary, what’s the problem? 1000 people paying for a stream would bring in £10,000 at a tenner, or £11,950 at £11.95. Hugely profitable. And remember. There’s a worldwide audience to pay and watch. Promoters might be worried about loss of revenue at the stadium but currently with reduced capacity demand should be enough for a stadium to sell out. And it is possible to geo-block fans within a set distance from the stadium. Glasgow are running behind closed doors, with live feed only at £11.95. The meeting against Poole on Friday should achieve very good numbers with the take up of the stream. I have already purchased my ticket. Pretty sure a lot of Poole fans will also. And the feed will give neutrals something to watch on a Friday night if they want to see some action. Now for the top flight Eurosport have the rights to TV, but I don’t think it has been tied down like the Sky and BT deals, allowing promoters to be more flexible on doing their job of promoting. The days of no filming inside, no photos etc choke the sport. Use technology to open up the market. Streaming cost a small amount to do. One cameraman, a commentator and someone in charge of the streaming is all that is needed. Two cameramen and a little more is required. But bloody hell it should already be in place, bringing in the funds for our sport to be sure of its survival. Come on sort it out! Possibly the most sensible post of yours I’ve ever read on here Steve haha beggars belief that they haven’t done this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob B Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, marko said: You could even say, even if they charged £5 that's five pounds more than they would have got without streaming because its about people who probably would not have gone even if they could. My nearest track is now Ipswich, I probably wont bother going to one of their meetings in person because of factors like time to get their and back, fuel costs etc but if they charged £10 streaming I might give a couple of meetings a go, that's £20 they got for no extra outlay. It’s not £5 more then they would normally get as it’s not free to put the streaming on! But I agree it should be an option especially when crowds are limited. Ice hockey in UK are similar size sport to speedway and get similar size crowds. They been doing streaming for quite a few years now. At first they were concerned it would effect attendance but they found 90% of the viewers were away fans or home fans who didn’t live close by. Majority of home fans still attended, but to make sure of that you can’t price too low, £10-12 about right. Edited May 31, 2021 by Rob B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 If it’s £12 to stream or £16 to attend, home fans would rather be in the stadium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldyman Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Speedway and missed opportunity,,,,,, never Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Lots of links on the Facebook posts offering a stream. Obviously scams as there isn't a stream but one of the issues if the was would be piracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Shovlar Posted May 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 Piracy is fairly easy to stop. One IP address per stream. If the stream is shared, then the buyer gets blocked out. Works like this on most live paid for streams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 36 minutes ago, Rob B said: It’s not £5 more then they would normally get as it’s not free to put the streaming on! But I agree it should be an option especially when crowds are limited. Ice hockey in UK are similar size sport to speedway and get similar size crowds. They been doing streaming for quite a few years now. At first they were concerned it would effect attendance but they found 90% of the viewers were away fans or home fans who didn’t live close by. Majority of home fans still attended, but to make sure of that you can’t price too low, £10-12 about right. True Rob, there is some initial cost with making sure you have the equipment. A lot of non league football clubs invested a bit of money so they could film matches and have the ability to connect everything up to a streaming service, so they would have the initial setup costs, providing they do not already have the equipment, then service fees to the streaming company, but overtime that would be paid back, not just over one season but many, this really would be a long term scheme for well beyond any pandemic situation, most non league football clubs seemed to be around a tenner, speedway is sort of on a level with that but £12 is ok, there is a balance, you don't want to price it too low so nobody goes to watch live, but not too high so the take up is so low it becomes unsustainable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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