Lefty Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 The misses said to me, "You don't seem to visit many tracks these days?" It reminded me that 50 years ago I averaged over 5 meetings a week over the whole season and my team had a home meeting every week! 50 years ago we had the following options for the first Saturday in September : D1: Belle Vue v Poole Cradley v Exeter King's Lynn v Leicester Swindon v Glasgow Halifax v Coventry D2: Berwick v Workington Canterbury v Hull Rayleigh v Scunthorpe. For today I have NDL: Leicester v Kent. I commend the Promoters on their inability to delight me and want my money at the weekend. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 4 hours ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said: The trouble is Trees is that you love the indifferent ones , the bad ones and the downright piss taking ones just as much too..... People still keep going to Cardiff to watch rubbish speedway, yet the GP Series is 'pro'! Not every Polish meeting is fantastic .... hmmmmm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fromafar Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Trees said: People still keep going to Cardiff to watch rubbish speedway, yet the GP Series is 'pro'! Not every Polish meeting is fantastic .... hmmmmm The crowd levels are dropping though.The meetings are Professional run,but Temporary track prep is not consistent.40000 to 20000 tells me that all is not well with Cardiff and this years debacle will certainly not inspire fans to attend next year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Trees said: People still keep going to Cardiff to watch rubbish speedway, yet the GP Series is 'pro'! Not every Polish meeting is fantastic .... hmmmmm Less and less though - same as for mist league meetings too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) For LEAGUE racing what happens inside the fence is a bonus but not the most important, the most important is what happens outside the safety fence, the fan experience, how that fans feels, if that fan supports their team and there is a bond with that team and they are with other like minded fans (the more the better)creating an atmosphere and their team hopefully wins with maybe some controversy thrown in even if the racing was crap the fan experience will be a good one and make that fan want to go back, this is basically what happens in any team sport even football, add in value for money and you’re on a winner, we all want great racing but great racing infront of a few fans with no atmosphere will be a negative fan experience, it’s the opposite for a TV audience as tv can’t capture atmosphere so relies on good racing , just think back when you went to away matches back in the day on a coach or with your teams fans and you watched a dull meeting with no passing and your team got battered but the 50 or so of you supported your team and had a blast creating an atmosphere, it was a good fan experience, it didn’t matter what happened inside the fence Edited September 3, 2022 by THE DEAN MACHINE 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 40 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: For LEAGUE racing what happens inside the fence is a bonus but not the most important, the most important is what happens outside the safety fence, the fan experience, how that fans feels, if that fan supports their team and there is a bond with that team and they are with other like minded fans (the more the better)creating an atmosphere and their team hopefully wins with maybe some controversy thrown in even if the racing was crap the fan experience will be a good one and make that fan want to go back, this is basically what happens in any team sport even football, add in value for money and you’re on a winner, we all want great racing but great racing infront of a few fans with no atmosphere will be a negative fan experience, it’s the opposite for a TV audience as tv can’t capture atmosphere so relies on good racing , just think back when you went to away matches back in the day on a coach or with your teams fans and you watched a dull meeting with no passing and your team got battered but the 50 or so of you supported your team and had a blast creating an atmosphere, it was a good fan experience, it didn’t matter what happened inside the fence Quite right. In my late teens snd twenties I was part of a big group of friends, we had loads of fun and banter on race nights. Lynn, as a team, didn't win the league or anything but it didn't matter, we witnessed some great riders and great racing (as it happens lol). I now stand with a good group of people, the banter has gone but we back our team 100%, we like good racing but I think for us it's most important for Lynn to win. This year has been testing to say the least but it's easy to find positives from every meeting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: For LEAGUE racing what happens inside the fence is a bonus but not the most important, the most important is what happens outside the safety fence, the fan experience, how that fans feels, if that fan supports their team and there is a bond with that team and they are with other like minded fans (the more the better)creating an atmosphere and their team hopefully wins with maybe some controversy thrown in even if the racing was crap the fan experience will be a good one and make that fan want to go back, this is basically what happens in any team sport even football, add in value for money and you’re on a winner, we all want great racing but great racing infront of a few fans with no atmosphere will be a negative fan experience, it’s the opposite for a TV audience as tv can’t capture atmosphere so relies on good racing , just think back when you went to away matches back in the day on a coach or with your teams fans and you watched a dull meeting with no passing and your team got battered but the 50 or so of you supported your team and had a blast creating an atmosphere, it was a good fan experience, it didn’t matter what happened inside the fence As we know... A great meeting in a two thirds empty stadium soon gets forgotten.. An average one in a full stadium, full of noise and emotion due to something truly worth winning being on the line will live long in the memory... Hence, sadly even great Speedway doesn't generate those full houses in the UK, and never will, due to its operating model which drives so many away and fails to engage thousands of other passionate followers of the sport to atrend... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 2 hours ago, mikebv said: As we know... A great meeting in a two thirds empty stadium soon gets forgotten.. An average one in a full stadium, full of noise and emotion due to something truly worth winning being on the line will live long in the memory... Hence, sadly even great Speedway doesn't generate those full houses in the UK, and never will, due to its operating model which drives so many away and fails to engage thousands of other passionate followers of the sport to atrend... Think it does, try play off speedway .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 (edited) 23 minutes ago, Trees said: Think it does, try play off speedway .... Hardly anyone really cares... Bomber will surely appear at some stage... We reach the play offs after so many made up, contrived meetings through the season.. And in one Division we have the play offs before the league has actually finished... Lets be honest, the league is devalued to the point of irrelevance well before any play offs start... Personally, if the Aces get to the final I will go as there will be a decent crowd, and a bit of atmosphere, a novelty for UK Speedway, and many of my mates who used to go regularly will also go along too... We will have a few beers, have a laugh, and if the Aces win then "whoopy do".. And if they don't then it wont really matter to any of us.. Many heats of top class Speedway will be what we judge the night on... Edited September 3, 2022 by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 9 hours ago, mikebv said: Hardly anyone really cares... Bomber will surely appear at some stage... We reach the play offs after so many made up, contrived meetings through the season.. And in one Division we have the play offs before the league has actually finished... Lets be honest, the league is devalued to the point of irrelevance well before any play offs start... Personally, if the Aces get to the final I will go as there will be a decent crowd, and a bit of atmosphere, a novelty for UK Speedway, and many of my mates who used to go regularly will also go along too... We will have a few beers, have a laugh, and if the Aces win then "whoopy do".. And if they don't then it wont really matter to any of us.. Many heats of top class Speedway will be what we judge the night on... I doubt you'll be disappointed ..... you're allowed to not care so much anymore, it happens to long term speedway fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Jacobs Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 12 hours ago, mikebv said: Hardly anyone really cares... Bomber will surely appear at some stage... Harris's average is too high ... his days of raking in the guest bookings have gone, until he suffers a slump in form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Jacobs Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 16 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: For LEAGUE racing what happens inside the fence is a bonus but not the most important, the most important is what happens outside the safety fence, the fan experience, how that fans feels, if that fan supports their team and there is a bond with that team and they are with other like minded fans (the more the better)creating an atmosphere and their team hopefully wins with maybe some controversy thrown in even if the racing was crap the fan experience will be a good one and make that fan want to go back, this is basically what happens in any team sport even football, add in value for money and you’re on a winner, we all want great racing but great racing infront of a few fans with no atmosphere will be a negative fan experience, it’s the opposite for a TV audience as tv can’t capture atmosphere so relies on good racing , just think back when you went to away matches back in the day on a coach or with your teams fans and you watched a dull meeting with no passing and your team got battered but the 50 or so of you supported your team and had a blast creating an atmosphere, it was a good fan experience, it didn’t matter what happened inside the fence Spot on! And many of us have been saying the same for a while now. On Saturday morning, BBC Breakfast interviewed four Primary School aged children about The Hundred cricket. One of them played cricket, and talked about the match - the other three all talked about the noise, music, lights, fireworks, excitement ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 14 hours ago, Trees said: Think it does, try play off speedway .... Play off speedway is great & it can generate a brilliant atmosphere. Ipswich had some brilliant and of season crowds a few years ago for the championship play offs & knock out cup. However it's only 1 or 2 meetings a year and that sort of atmosphere used to be there for 20 odd meetings a season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Smith Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 Think even the Play-Offs have taken a dive in recent years. The semi-finals no longer are rammed full, same with finals. The issue is, they're exactly the same as a regular meeting. There's no fanfare at all & except an extra £5 on the gate. Punters are turning away from the Play-Offs too in favour of watching on TV 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 14 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said: except an extra £5 on the gate. That’s for me is the don’t care about supporters bit and every year really grates me 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 I went to the semi and final at Peterborough last year and there was no increase in admission price for either 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) Speedway's failure has been that it has had people running it that call themselves promoters but openly admit to losing thousands of pounds a meeting to keep it going. If these men running it are prepared to run a business this way, what hope have we of survival? Again they'll be little panic in the winter. No doubt we'll have the Play-Offs, a decent crowd, and go into the winter with promoters using short-term memory (of the past two weeks) to say it's been a good season. Edited September 4, 2022 by moxey63 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 2 hours ago, Daniel Smith said: Think even the Play-Offs have taken a dive in recent years. The semi-finals no longer are rammed full, same with finals. The issue is, they're exactly the same as a regular meeting. There's no fanfare at all & except an extra £5 on the gate. Punters are turning away from the Play-Offs too in favour of watching on TV When I watch the play offs at the NSS on the TV, the semi's seem to get a "normal" non TV match crowd, but not much more than that.. The final gets around 1000 more than a usual match I would say.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moxey63 Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, mikebv said: When I watch the play offs at the NSS on the TV, the semi's seem to get a "normal" non TV match crowd, but not much more than that.. The final gets around 1000 more than a usual match I would say.. Is it really worth carrying on with this play-off malarkey when the whole point of them is to create a bumper payout for clubs at the end? 1,000 more is nice, but how many of those fans don't attend the seven months leading up to them, in which six teams full of somebody else's rider chase four places? Not appealing. Edited September 4, 2022 by moxey63 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trees Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 6 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said: Play off speedway is great & it can generate a brilliant atmosphere. Ipswich had some brilliant and of season crowds a few years ago for the championship play offs & knock out cup. However it's only 1 or 2 meetings a year and that sort of atmosphere used to be there for 20 odd meetings a season. I didn't but almost every speedway fan in the local vicinity went to Peterborough last year, people tell me it was an awesome atmosphere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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