Extortionate Admission Prices

[topsoil]

3 hours ago, cityrebel said:

My missus hates it and my kids lost interest in their teens. What is there for youngsters at speedway. It's a sport that has stood still and never moved with the times.

Isn't this a case for all sports though, other than football maybe? I know going back to my own experience, I was speedway daft when I was a teenager, Then I started to go out, alcohol and girls took over. Then you settle down and lose interest in the "chase". Then you go back to what you used to enjoy.

I would bet that the only sports which attract teenagers in any amounts are one which also have alcohol nearby? Football (because it is media wall to wall), T20 cricket, darts nights out (sold as a night out rather than a purely sporting attraction).

So if you want to attract teenagers, maybe you need to turn speedway meetings into a stag party atmosphere?

[Beowulf]

19 hours ago, bruno said:

Gigs are the same I think I worked it out for a top band it should be about £15 now but you can easily pay close on 3 figures for some of them. The world's gone barmy

Are but the music world has changed drastically. Artists used to tour to promote and sell the new album. But with illegal downloading etc.artists are making much less money from vinyl and CD sales. What to do ? Push up concert ticket prices to eye watering levels. 

[cityrebel]

8 minutes ago, topsoil said:

Isn't this a case for all sports though, other than football maybe? I know going back to my own experience, I was speedway daft when I was a teenager, Then I started to go out, alcohol and girls took over. Then you settle down and lose interest in the "chase". Then you go back to what you used to enjoy.

I would bet that the only sports which attract teenagers in any amounts are one which also have alcohol nearby? Football (because it is media wall to wall), T20 cricket, darts nights out (sold as a night out rather than a purely sporting attraction).

So if you want to attract teenagers, maybe you need to turn speedway meetings into a stag party atmosphere?

Something needs to be done to bring some fresh blood into the sport. Fans of any age would be a start!

[Pieman72]

Promoters have always ignored the obvious and the VSPL have a bunker mentality and definitely won't change. They have never had the best interests of the sport Dan NcCormack Cradley/Monmore Green Greyhound promoter turned out to be be a disaster for speedway and the decline has persisted since. Also a now defunct premier stadium was sold to a property developer.  It's a complex situation that can't attract sponsorship when it should and we have to ask why. The consequences are the admission prices have to cover all the outgoings.

[cityrebel]

I've always felt the admission prices are one of speedway's biggest obstacles in attracting new fans. If the product was at a similar level to Poland, it could be justified.

[Pieman72]

What gets me is a £20 take it leave it attitude. No attempt to attract a new audience or throwing in additional entertainment just this is our track aren't you lucky to have permission to come in and watch our racing.

[Sings4Speedway]

3 hours ago, Skodaman said:

As I have said elsewhere, some promotiobns have no choice as they dont own the stadiums.

But why does speedway have to operate in stadiums? Internally its viewed as a sideways alternative to superbikes but externally its seen in the same light as stockcars and banger racing. So why don't / can't clubs run successfully on a lower glamourous environment? 

The basics to run a decent speedway event are track, parking, spectator viewing, toilets, food & drink. A Grasstrack has all of these bar the permanent track.  Why not create more venues like Buxton? Lay a decent track in a field, fit fence, erect basic pit area and stick refs box on top of a shipping container? Everything else can be added at a later date, hired per meeting etc and all at far reduced costs than the thousands spent out on rent for tracks hindered by their Landlords because they feel they have the upper hand. Create an alternative and at least give the Speedway promotions some options on how they market the sport.

[Hawk127]

Many aspects of the sport have simply not moved with the times, they have tinkered with the number of heats over the years but it is still four laps clutch start and that is it. Team racing is rare and most ‘teamsters’ race firstly for themselves and the income with the club a secondary factor in the equation which is why I never understand why so many dislike individual meetings apart from the GP. The admission price is seemingly determined by the riders and not the paying punter.

Rarely do tracks actively promote themselves or the sport either individually or collectively (some decent advertising deals are available on a number of commercial radio stations) and most could learn a thing or two from the banger racing promoters and the IOW.

Despite claims from many who run the sport, it is not family friendly night out given the cost and no need to go on about the odd summer promotion re kids admission , how many regular weekly meetings are being held at all top tier tracks this year and covid  is not an excuse for not thinking outside the box and putting on a motor cycle show with various two wheeled disciplines not just the gate and go merchants.

Sadly with few exceptions it is boring, living in the past, over priced and going nowhere in a hurry as no one has any vision and the balls to turn it around and make it an evening spectacular and leave behind the dead wood of 15 heat league racing.

First and foremost give the punter value for money as no clubs needs to chase ratings, the sport is not big enough to think like that so play to a new audience and drag the oldies screaming into the current day but do something different before it is too late for the sport and it ends up as an amateur outing for a few enthusiasts.

[uk_martin]

15 hours ago, topsoil said:

Berwick allow under 16s in free. As a result you get a lot of younger fans going as part of a family. But that side of promotion very seldom gets the praise it deserves. Far easier to be negative.

It's dead easy to praise someone who gives you something for nothing, innit? Your new best friends. Wait a minute though.

Birmingham (one amongst many) were running with "Kids for a Quid" in one guise or another since 2007. If lowering the price, or giving admission away for next to nothing was the answer, then the terraces would be awash with young people in their late teens and early 20's now, wouldn't they? I mean, how many 17-20-year-olds are at Berwick now, having been bitten by the bug in their pre-16 years and are now paying full price at the gate? How do you answer that one without sounding negative? I know that the answer to the same question at Birmingham will result in a big round number. Basically, the experiment that everyone hung their hopes on has failed. (just waiting for the "I know someone who knows someone who came in as a kid for a quid" smartarse who just wants to be contrary)

Sadly in the rush to the bottom of the admission price barrel has resulted in promoters taking the eyes off the ball when it comes to quality of the product. Whilst Rugby, Darts and Cricket have reinvented themselves time and again, and now have full venues, and attract competition from TV stations for the broadcasting rights, speedway still tries to offer the same old same old 1950's product without any thought to new ways of doing things. And all for the fear of losing the 70-80 year old "regular" fan base that's kept the sport going. There will come a day however when it'll be time to crack some eggs to make an omelette...

[old bob at herne bay]

Got to agree with Uk_martin on his point re quality of product.

As an example T20 cricket down here in Kent - all the remaining matches have sold out ....... its £25 a ticket and £7 for 5-15 year olds.  Party atmosphere, flames leap int othe air every time someone hits a boundary.  Day night games add to the atmosphere.  Cricket officianados scoff at the crash, bang, wallop, limited overs white ball game , but it has saved cricket from the abyss. Watching a 3 or 4 day county match is not everyones cup of tea . Someone has gone in and sorted out Cricket with choices of format, whilst speedway is stuck with 15 heats every match 4 riders  4 laps per race .............. yawn.

IF the product was moved into the 21st century,  interst woudl be increased , crowds would increase , and maybe prices would reflect better value for money?

 

 

[topsoil]

3 hours ago, cityrebel said:

I've always felt the admission prices are one of speedway's biggest obstacles in attracting new fans. If the product was at a similar level to Poland, it could be justified.

If you want to attract riders from Ekstraliga good luck trying to pay the signing on fees

[topsoil]

1 hour ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Got to agree with Uk_martin on his point re quality of product.

As an example T20 cricket down here in Kent - all the remaining matches have sold out ....... its £25 a ticket and £7 for 5-15 year olds.  Party atmosphere, flames leap int othe air every time someone hits a boundary.  Day night games add to the atmosphere.  Cricket officianados scoff at the crash, bang, wallop, limited overs white ball game , but it has saved cricket from the abyss. Watching a 3 or 4 day county match is not everyones cup of tea . Someone has gone in and sorted out Cricket with choices of format, whilst speedway is stuck with 15 heats every match 4 riders  4 laps per race .............. yawn.

IF the product was moved into the 21st century,  interst woudl be increased , crowds would increase , and maybe prices would reflect better value for money?

 

 

So your solution to speedway moving into the 21st century would be? 

[topsoil]

1 hour ago, uk_martin said:

It's dead easy to praise someone who gives you something for nothing, innit? Your new best friends. Wait a minute though.

Birmingham (one amongst many) were running with "Kids for a Quid" in one guise or another since 2007. If lowering the price, or giving admission away for next to nothing was the answer, then the terraces would be awash with young people in their late teens and early 20's now, wouldn't they? I mean, how many 17-20-year-olds are at Berwick now, having been bitten by the bug in their pre-16 years and are now paying full price at the gate? How do you answer that one without sounding negative? I know that the answer to the same question at Birmingham will result in a big round number. Basically, the experiment that everyone hung their hopes on has failed. (just waiting for the "I know someone who knows someone who came in as a kid for a quid" smartarse who just wants to be contrary)

Sadly in the rush to the bottom of the admission price barrel has resulted in promoters taking the eyes off the ball when it comes to quality of the product. Whilst Rugby, Darts and Cricket have reinvented themselves time and again, and now have full venues, and attract competition from TV stations for the broadcasting rights, speedway still tries to offer the same old same old 1950's product without any thought to new ways of doing things. And all for the fear of losing the 70-80 year old "regular" fan base that's kept the sport going. There will come a day however when it'll be time to crack some eggs to make an omelette...

See my post above regarding darts and T20 cricket. Speedway could attract a similar audience by just offering cheap alcohol.

Where the free admission is scoring, as far as I can see, is adults are coming along with children, knowing that it won't cost them too much. So I wouldn't call it a "failure". 

[cityrebel]

22 minutes ago, topsoil said:

If you want to attract riders from Ekstraliga good luck trying to pay the signing on fees

How much does it cost to get into top flight Polish league matches?

[wealdstone]

Like many others I agreed and was prepared to let my club hang on to the money I paid for 2 season tickets last year. I am not proposing to make an issue of it but my club at least had promised that people like myself would not lose out despite the fact that we will not see as many matches for our money that we paid for last year.

[old bob at herne bay]

1 hour ago, topsoil said:

So your solution to speedway moving into the 21st century would be? 

You could start by looking at offering some alternative formats for meetings...... do we have to have every race of 4 laps ?  do we have to have a standing start ? Does every meeting have to have 500cc only bikes?  Would the TV companies be happy to show a speedway meeting of say 45 minutes with 3 laps per race and say 4 man teams 8 heat meetings and get the riders out for the next race as soon as the previous race was finished? Open up the bars and snack bars ... put up a big screen somewhere showing action replays of all the incidents ......

Go ahead topsoil and do some blue sky thinking..... everyone thought the original 40 overs one day Sunday cricket was a joke at first. Until it appeared on the TV every week and filled the grounds.

First 500 tickets sold online at the T20 get a free beer at Canterbury ...... seems to be a popular idea. Stadium owners would be happy to see more punters enjoying their facilities and eating at the tracks food outlets. 

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, old bob at herne bay said:

You could start by looking at offering some alternative formats for meetings...... do we have to have every race of 4 laps ?  do we have to have a standing start ? Does every meeting have to have 500cc only bikes?  Would the TV companies be happy to show a speedway meeting of say 45 minutes with 3 laps per race and say 4 man teams 8 heat meetings and get the riders out for the next race as soon as the previous race was finished? Open up the bars and snack bars ... put up a big screen somewhere showing action replays of all the incidents ......

Go ahead topsoil and do some blue sky thinking..... everyone thought the original 40 overs one day Sunday cricket was a joke at first. Until it appeared on the TV every week and filled the grounds.

First 500 tickets sold online at the T20 get a free beer at Canterbury ...... seems to be a popular idea. Stadium owners would be happy to see more punters enjoying their facilities and eating at the tracks food outlets. 

Stadium owners would be delirious. Just a shame there are so few Speedway stadium owners that get the same benefit?

[Pieman72]

3 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

You could start by looking at offering some alternative formats for meetings...... do we have to have every race of 4 laps ?  do we have to have a standing start ? Does every meeting have to have 500cc only bikes?  Would the TV companies be happy to show a speedway meeting of say 45 minutes with 3 laps per race and say 4 man teams 8 heat meetings and get the riders out for the next race as soon as the previous race was finished? Open up the bars and snack bars ... put up a big screen somewhere showing action replays of all the incidents ......

Go ahead topsoil and do some blue sky thinking..... everyone thought the original 40 overs one day Sunday cricket was a joke at first. Until it appeared on the TV every week and filled the grounds.

First 500 tickets sold online at the T20 get a free beer at Canterbury ...... seems to be a popular idea. Stadium owners would be happy to see more punters enjoying their facilities and eating at the tracks food outlets. 

The facilities a Stadiums are dire and expensive like the food well I could hardly describe it as food like Niceland on steroids. The type of speedway fan that exists now is quite happy with the price, food, facilities and standard of racing and promoters know this. Having different formats, racing, bikes and even sidecars i.e. Grasstrack on an oval shale track would be so interesting and would attract a broader clientele.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Pieman72
Grammar

[enotian]

2 hours ago, topsoil said:

So your solution to speedway moving into the 21st century would be? 

The irony is cricket had adopted a couple of key aspects common to speedway.  A variety of formats and more recently players who play for numerous teams.  However they've done it somewhat better than speedway does.  On a much larger budget of course.

Would using the 4TT format for the league be the way to answer the current ills?  Fair enough you lose team riding but that's, as stated earlier, rare.  One league 16 teams.  Facing your 15 opponents twice home and away with some kind of end of season play off and grand finals (4 of them, 5 if you add a neutral track).  That's 10 regular home fixtures (similar to this season) and 30 away fixtures.  Just about the equivalent number of fixtures riders have this season doubling up. 16 teams of 4 requires 64 riders (80 if you include a reserve) which is about the same number of active riders this season across the two leagues, so no need for riders to ride for more than one team.  Rank the riders A, B, C, and D and each team would consist of one of each (maybe have a pre-season auction to generate interest).

At each home meeting you have the potential for three sets of away supporters (or even streamers) as opposed to one.

It won't happen because it's 16 (20 inc reserves) riders to pay for instead of 14 and 20 or 16 heats instead of 15.

 

[Pieman72]

Just giving the opportunity for semi-professional riders to compete would be excellent for spectators, riders and administrators. I would expect riders to pay to ride but this would make the sport more sustainable for the future. There could be 125s/250s/350s/500s(upright, lay-down(2valve,4valve) even pre75 and vintage. The permutations are endless but fundamentally lets go racing. Finding a suitable track or surface for this to take place is the most difficult element.