cowboy cookie returns? Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 Came across this BBC documentary on you tube from 1997. Such a shame that nothing has changed in 27 years, although I well remember that many thought a brighter future was just around the corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 (edited) Watched it again on YT not long ago.. A lack of a clear vision of travel as to where they saw the sport was the ultimate issue, which meant non stop short term fix, after short term fix.. The Sky millions being the huge opportunity missed... Using that money for example could have allowed squad systems, which would have meant Mickey Mouse didnt have any control over the sport, and the titles then had credibility... And who knows, maybe could have attracted sponsors from "outside" its fanbase.. Instead the sport paid out "the Sky money" to No1's, who then missed the most meetings as the GP's evolved hugely at that time, meaning credibility destroying guestfests after guestfests with inferior riders replacing them, thus peeing off the public.. A public who then got inflation busting increases to admission prices to not only pay for the level of riders, but also to cover the shortfall from disillusioned fans leaving the sport annually... Those left, ultimately paying more to watch less quality as the GP riders had to be "elsewhere" many weeks.. UK Speedway basically bent over backwards to the top riders, often, it appeared so the promoters could bask in the reflective glory of rubbing shoulders with them.. And then of course when the money stopped the No1's showed their loyalty and appreciation to the promoters by foxtrotting and oscaring as quickly as those planes to Poland and Sweden could carry them.. And only came back when the schedule was changed to accommodate their wishes.. Even so many years later, 2024 will see rinse and repeat.. Still no clear direction of travel.. Still no clear leadership.. Still no "outside" sponsorship nor major businesses interested in sponsoring the league or individual clubs.. More opportunities for guest riders though, so, you know, not all bad eh? Edited February 3 by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 1 hour ago, mikebv said: The Sky millions being the huge opportunity missed... Absolutely. Just think where speedway could be today if that money had been spent properly and wisely. The decision makers throughout those years should be ashamed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 34 minutes ago, Bagpuss said: The decision makers throughout those years should be ashamed. They're probably sitting on a beach somewhere sipping on pina colada's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiveusaB Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Other sports have bettered their product! Speedway hasn't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 There are still opportunities though. So many sports have disappeared behind pay per view, so much rubbish thrust in our faces on terrestrial, I include obscure live FA cup matches controlling the tv schedule all the time. The six nations might be the the next tournament to disappear as it isn't protected like the Rugby World Cup is. I hate football with a passion there are many tens of millions like me out there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthsayer Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 18 hours ago, Bagpuss said: Absolutely. Just think where speedway could be today if that money had been spent properly and wisely. The decision makers throughout those years should be ashamed. I'm not sure. Not for one second am I saying that speedway is well run, it is nowhere near well run, but it is always going to be up against it, as all motorsports are. Speedway is a very specialist sport. There are environmental, cultural and financial reasons why it faces a bleak future. Lack of venues is the key one and it is hard to see how any landowner can see value in a speedway track over commercial or residential property. The country has, in all aspects of life, relied on imported labour for many years and this is coming home to roost after the self imposed annexing of 2016. Speedway's lack of homegrown competitors, combined with a lack of facilities, an outdated business model and an almost complete absence of a grassroots/amateur system is creating its long and painful death as a professional sport. It's something being witnessed in other areas of industry too. The Sky money could potentially have been invested into a grassroots and developing a new business model, but frankly the base product isn't good enough for modern TV. If I watch other sports on TV, they start on time, conclude when expected and are not cancelled because conditions are bad. The base product sucks for the modern consumer and I just don't see how that can change until the sport dies and it is forced to reinvent itself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston197 Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Can't even spell Documentary correct in the title, let alone make one ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPanther Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 Wasting a whole evening to watch 15 mins of action is never going to work in the modern digital age. Times have changed since the 'good old days'... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E I Addio Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 (edited) 52 minutes ago, BluPanther said: Wasting a whole evening to watch 15 mins of action is never going to work in the modern digital age. Times have changed since the 'good old days'... I think there is much more to it than that. Sitting in a freezing cold stadium for two months of a six months season is not going to get modern punters through the doors, especially the times when you are 30 minutes into the meeting and have only run maybe three or four races due to delays. Most people have fairly comfortable homes these days and a variety of TV channels and choices. It’s not like the ‘50’s when people had at best poorer quality homes and BBC only on TV. No incentive to stay at home in those days. And all that is before we even get to what goes on at the track . Dog racing is the same. There were around 40 dog tracks in London alone in the ‘40’s and 50’s but only one I think left today. People just don’t want that sort of stadium based entertainment anymore. In many ways the sport has shot itself in the foot but I very much doubt whether it would even be big again in the modern world but even if the sport got its act together . I think less and less people want that sort of entertainment. Edited February 4 by E I Addio 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 2 hours ago, E I Addio said: I think there is much more to it than that. Sitting in a freezing cold stadium for two months of a six months season is not going to get modern punters through the doors, especially the times when you are 30 minutes into the meeting and have only run maybe three or four races due to delays. Most people have fairly comfortable homes these days and a variety of TV channels and choices. It’s not like the ‘50’s when people had at best poorer quality homes and BBC only on TV. No incentive to stay at home in those days. And all that is before we even get to what goes on at the track . Dog racing is the same. There were around 40 dog tracks in London alone in the ‘40’s and 50’s but only one I think left today. People just don’t want that sort of stadium based entertainment anymore. In many ways the sport has shot itself in the foot but I very much doubt whether it would even be big again in the modern world but even if the sport got its act together . I think less and less people want that sort of entertainment. All working independently to try and win something that they themselves devalue to the point of almost worthlessness, (by their own operating model) is almost madness isnt it? Laughable if it wasn't so sad to see the negative impact that the operating model has had on crowds.. Maybe one day they will pool resources, put up some big prize money, and relaunch the sport collectively with some professional marketeers involved.. Or maybe they wont.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 39 minutes ago, mikebv said: All working independently to try and win something that they themselves devalue to the point of almost worthlessness, (by their own operating model) is almost madness isnt it? Laughable if it wasn't so sad to see the negative impact that the operating model has had on crowds.. Maybe one day they will pool resources, put up some big prize money, and relaunch the sport collectively with some professional marketeers involved.. Or maybe they wont.... It will happen. When one person owns and operates the last two remaining clubs, sharing the only rider available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 4 hours ago, Deano said: It will happen. When one person owns and operates the last two remaining clubs, sharing the only rider available. Bomber.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one of clubs Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 At the moment a former BV Colts rider is on BBC's the apprentice and the only thing we hear is that his company supplies pies to MCFC. Yet another example of poor promotion, the powers that be should be right on that by way of taking advantage of free publicity. Shocking really. Terry Russell and his violin case brigade have alot to answer for with the Sky sports money.They did very well out of it thankyou and most of his associated tracks are no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*JJ Posted February 5 Report Share Posted February 5 17 hours ago, truthsayer said: an almost complete absence of a grassroots/amateur system Which was almost completely destroyed by the BSPA for some reason ... The is a small amount of amateur speedway, but only in a couple of stadiums now, noticably those actually owned by the speedway team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 On 2/5/2024 at 7:18 AM, one of clubs said: At the moment a former BV Colts rider is on BBC's the apprentice and the only thing we hear is that his company supplies pies to MCFC. Yet another example of poor promotion, the powers that be should be right on that by way of taking advantage of free publicity. Shocking really. Terry Russell and his violin case brigade have alot to answer for with the Sky sports money.They did very well out of it thankyou and most of his associated tracks are no more. There is very little kudos (if any) to be gained by the BSPA making effort to promote the scenario you refer. The BBC correctly understand what is newsworthy i.e that they have a contestant whos runs a business that provides pies to Manchester City FC (currently the most successful club in world football) this is significant in a competition aimed at finding a business entrepreneur. Conversely they would see little relevance in saying one of their contestants use to ride for a speedway clubs junior team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 valve Posted February 6 Report Share Posted February 6 On 2/5/2024 at 7:18 AM, one of clubs said: At the moment a former BV Colts rider is on BBC's the apprentice and the only thing we hear is that his company supplies pies to MCFC. Yet another example of poor promotion, the powers that be should be right on that by way of taking advantage of free publicity. Shocking really. Terry Russell and his violin case brigade have alot to answer for with the Sky sports money.They did very well out of it thankyou and most of his associated tracks are no more. There is very little kudos (if any) to be gained by the BSPA making effort to promote the scenario you refer. The BBC correctly understand what is newsworthy i.e that they have a contestant whos runs a business that provides pies to Manchester City FC (currently the most successful club in world football) this is significant in a competition aimed at finding a business entrepreneur. Conversely they would see little relevance in saying one of their contestants use to ride for a speedway clubs junior team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_martin Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 On 2/3/2024 at 8:17 PM, mikebv said: The Sky millions being the huge opportunity missed... Not forgetting that only 60% of the Sky money ever reached the sport. The other 40% was Terry Russel's, er, "commission" Nice pay day in the era when Sky Sports had cash to splash and were glad to have every sport in the country harboured under their umbrella. 40% for pushing against an open door. And the rest of the sport were mugs enough to just accept that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 4 hours ago, uk_martin said: Not forgetting that only 60% of the Sky money ever reached the sport. The other 40% was Terry Russel's, er, "commission" Nice pay day in the era when Sky Sports had cash to splash and were glad to have every sport in the country harboured under their umbrella. 40% for pushing against an open door. And the rest of the sport were mugs enough to just accept that. Wasn't it 20% "finder's fee"? To be fair to him, no one else "pushed against that open door", and all got well over a six figure guarantee each season for many years... What they actually did with that money sadly is the legacy.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Davis Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 Does anyone know how much the Sky deal was for? What kind of numbers are we talking here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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