Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

Pieman72

Members
  • Content count

    870
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Pieman72

  1. Pieman72

    British Speedway - Dead Or Alive?

    Fundamentally speedway is a spectator sport and is totally reliant on admission prices and sponsorship. With many young people privately renting and living costs / inflation rising the amount of disposable income from the target audience is restricted. To attract new fans and to hang on to current ones admissions costs have to fall. For a single person who is passionate about the sport that is fine but the majority of spectators look on speedway as a recreational pursuit to be enjoyed with a partner and family. Ultimately we need to look at the entertainment value and what we are getting for £19 admission. The empty terraces with old enthusiasts like me reminiscing about the past won't pay the bills or take the sport back to health. It's not the odd exciting race that we need to focus on but the foundations and scaffold of speedway that have held it together for nearly 90 years. Home grown riders would be a good point of reference. Realistically it's not point arguing about the merits of paying £18 or £20 to watch a meeting for most people it is unaffordable but for some reason no one seems to get it?
  2. As a result of digital broadcasters speedway is in terminal decline. I find unless your an ardent fan watching the sport on tv be it digital or terrestrial is utterly boring. Watching speedway taking in the noise, smell, atmosphere and excitement is the only way and without spectators the sport will die. The revenue gleaned from this is hastening the closures and doing nothing to promote the sport. The administrators need to critically analyse the model they are using and realise it is not working. Enthusiasts like use need to be heard before it's too late. Parochial nit picking is not the answer I don't think everyone understands how serious this is !!
  3. I do hope that this is not a downbeat post but something that can get to the fundamentals of why our wonderful sport is stuggling to survive. Please can we have more idea's really radical proposals to get those turnstyles turning !!! Anything barmy or different as long as it's not offensive. Some of the most illogical things have gone on to be world beaters. Take for example skiing which has been totally upstaged by snow boarding but they sucessfully co-exist.
  4. I think the first thing to do is to charge realistic admission prices. How can I justify £42 every week plus the odd away match for myself and my wife? It's not the money but what am I getting for this. Santa Pod went down this route and went bust 3 times before a realist took over. A full days racing 9 hours, bikes, cars all classes 240+ mph costs us about £40 for a National event. Come on Speedway get into the real world !!!
  5. Excellent post Wealdstone frankly it's disgusting how much it costs to attend a meeting. I'm here and I'm going nowhere it's getting something what we all want and then nogotiating. £18+ admission costs are not sustainable and that is top of the agenda.
  6. Excellent post Gresham a wake up call to all concerned slumbering in their bunker.
  7. In it's present form speedway will stay as it is and from the posts on here most are happy for it to carry on without change and I wouldn't want to moderate that enthusiasm.
  8. Speedway needs a lot more than a makeover.
  9. Thanks Sue an excellent post. I think this emphasises the 'bunker mentality' of the sport and the post is evidential to what needs to happen in speedway. Whether your a die hard or a newcomer just an anorak (like me) lol or not any contribution is welcome, what we don't need is anything offensive. We all have self interests and as I get older I become welded to the past but I do realise what needs to happed. Thanks again for some brilliant replies keep em coming !!
  10. Very good point speedway should be for everyone. My rational is: 1) Potential sponsors. 2) Speedway is generally watched by 'blue collar' individuals. 3) Tracks are in less affluent area's where they have not been developed into housing. 4) The median income of the uk is particularly low so it is a bigger market. 5) A low admission price will potentially bring in more supporters? I'm interested in your discussion point as this is what my post was about. Please continue the thread as everything is invaluable.
  11. This is ok for individuals with a reasonable disposable income but the type of person that we need to attend speedway meetings does not have that kind of money. I would be far happier with 1000 people paying £10 than 500 paying £18. It would bring in more money create more atmosphere and they are more likely to buy food, drink and memorabillia etc. Where as people like me will take a flask plus sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper lol. How can speedway justify the eye watering admission prices when the stadfiums are closing and empty?
  12. The solution is lowering the admission price and to run meetings on a Friday and Saturday night and if they don't want to play then find some local talent i.e. training schools, bikes provided and sponsors. Drawing an analogy to the England Football team performance recently and the Premier League rammed full of foreign players is a good example of what speedway is experiencing. A lot of football clubs are struggling hand to mouth and at the top is your favourite pay to view predator.
  13. The demograph of the typical speedway fan was a manual skilled worker and we need to understand what the current generation would like to watch thus constructing the sport around the past and present visitor to a speedway track. It's no point expecting a new supporter to pay £18-£20 it just isn't going to happen. I think the sport is reflected in the type of sponsor the more watchable it is the better the sponsor. Love the posts from by-gone days you were privileged to have seen the likes of Ove Fundin and Peter Craven.
  14. People don't like change and that's understandable and it's no point reminiscing we have to look forwards; good or bad. From the contributions made following my original post I think there is a passion that won't let the sport die. Me and others will contribute financially but definitely not under the present system. I'm so impressed with the replies thanks to everyone I think this is starting to take off keep the posts coming. Change will happen !!
  15. Nice idea's... crucially meetings should cost £10 no more. At the moment £41 including a programme for me and my wife is ridiculous we don't spend that much on food then there is petrol the odd pint and a burger, someone in charge of speedway needs a reality check. Most individuals do not posess that amount on money for a leisure activity.
  16. What an excellent post. This shouldn't be the case in a professional sport. Who pays your mortgage/rent, food, car....wife etc. Get rid of the prima donna's and bring on local talent intermingled with the odd foreign rider. A certain Danish gentleman started this and it was continued by his protege and as a result we have the Scandinavian World Championship and British Speedway in a very sorry state. Who's got new idea's on how to make the meetings more interesting. Unfortunately if we don't attract a younger audience the sport will decline further.
  17. Do like your realism I think there is a half way point between Grasstrack and Speedway and most Grassboys do like the opportunity to race on shale but the costs are inhibitive. It certainly would be taking Speedway back to it's roots. Flat Track has never found a market in this country and fans are more used to the thrills and spills of Speedway.
  18. Unfortunatly I/we can't guarantee anything. Many thanks for all the contributions we are all passionate about this sport. Has anyone any idea's about engines. bikes, formats and racing schedules? I would like to float the idea of shale racing using a different format with different engines and capacities giving the percentage of profit (if any) to the riders. Any idea's? Do we have to use 1920's style engines with methanol and odd lubrication systems that require a high level of maintenance particularly running high compression?
  19. Unfortunately Coventry Speedway is no more fixtures, fittings and shale have all been removed. housing will be built on the site and speedway will be no more. Fundamentally profitability entertainment and survival is the crucial situation. To fight off housing propectors, the sites must turn in a profit. I'd rather have a full stadium with £10 per head than £18 and an empty one. It would be more profitable, draw an analogy between the discount supermarkets and the big four it can't be clearer. Same products but without the frills.
  20. Losing Coventry is a massive blow to speedway hopefully it will be a 'wake up call' for everyone invoved in the sport.
  21. The concencus seems to be that an organisation needs to be formed that can engage with and promote motor cycle racing on dirt/shale in a stadium that is fully insured and regulated but without the red tape and overheads that is moderating the sport. Thanks for the wonderful replies and it is so nice that they are pregmatic and sensible. Keep the ideas coming !!
  22. We can twaek the sport once it's in better health. What I require is idea's something not tried or racing that gives better value and entertainment at a realistic admission price. Amateur riders probably aren't the way forward as it's too expensive and you would need a second full time income? Clicking turnstiles is the answer. Protential promoters need to try new formats and see what does and doesn't work. Pirate tracks aren't the answer but something devolved from the SCB may be the solution?
  23. Speedway is the same format, same people, same rules, same bikes and what people enjoy is mixing it up. For example different make/size/fuel/engines/frame, scratch races grasstrack type supension for the more agricultural tracks and above all admission prices that reflect out current financial climate. Empty stands do not make for a good atmosphere. You can change rules make the racing more competitive but fundamentally to get people through the turnstiles change has to occur. Speedway is a wonderful spectacle particularly under floodlights and the smell of 'R' is something special but we need to attract individuals who are not as an anoraky as myself.
  24. Keep the thread going. Some excellent very pragmatic comments. Fundamentally we need idea's and proposals to be fair anything. My feeling is that the sport needs reorganising from the top down with people who look outside the box and not in it recycling tired old idea's used way back in the halcyon days of the 70's.
  25. Got any photo's of the track?
×

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy