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MattK

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Everything posted by MattK

  1. I can't say I am to be honest. Companies have stepped up with so many offers of free this and that during lockdown that there's not enough hours in a day as it is. If I wasn't so busy I'd furlough myself so I could take free guitar lessons, learn a language, complete some technical certifications...
  2. I don't see what is gained from splitting the season over two years with a long gap during the winter. Why not simply run a short 2020 season, even if it means riding each team only once at home and once away? Then start afresh with a full season in 2021. As said, there are too many variables over a winter break. What if a rider retires or decides to give Britain a miss? Similar, I assume that if travel restrictions are in place for the remainder of 2020 then the likes of Doyle, Batchelor, Lambert, Fricke etc. won't be eligible to ride in 2021 either? It seems to cause more problems that it solves.
  3. MattK

    Behind closed doors?

    Clean Cut who produce speedway DVDs do live stream hockey, therefore technically it isn't an issue. The challenge would be costs. People won't pay more than couple of quid and therefore riders would have to take an 80% pay cut or clubs would lose their shirts.
  4. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    Ii guess it depends on whether Doyle has signed an exclusivity contract with his Polish clubs, if Poland relaxes their 14-day quarantine law and how quickly short haul flights return to normal.
  5. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    Częstochowa have tweeted that they've agreed terms with Jason Doyle.
  6. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    Exactly. The hard decisions will be for the middle weight riders, Kurtz, Lidsey, Batchelor, Bewley etc. Do they risk a partial season at a very reduced rate in Poland or stay in Britain hoping our season gets started. I still think that if it were me, in the current climate, I'd take what's on offer in front of me.
  7. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    Realistically, what's the alternative? The British leagues cannot afford to run behind closed doors. Therefore there will be no speedway until social distancing rules are relaxed, which will be June/July at the earliest. Then at best it will likely be a reduced calendar. Or, if you're offered a team place in Poland, you get a full season at an albeit reduced rate. Logistically it will be a bit of a ballache, but realistically how many nights a week do you think Doyle spends in his own bed during the season? Seems like a no brainer to me.
  8. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    It isn't really a dilemma though, is it? A bird in the hand and all that.
  9. Give the Poles their dues, they don't mess about. Are the teams on the first page accurate or have changes been made since October?
  10. What are you basing that on? As a "critic", "armchair fan" and "keyboard warrior" all I see are the outputs, which are very little. It is also interesting to see that the BSPA had to engage outside help to secure the Eurosport deal. At least with GoSpeed the money stayed within speedway.
  11. MattK

    Swindon Robins 2020

    Depends what the contract says. Given that short haul flights are likely to be extremely rare in the short term, it makes sense to require riders to based themselves in country.
  12. Why would riders accept a pay cut if they were able to reduce their overheads, any more than I'd request a pay cut because I bought a more economical car?
  13. Are riders wages linked to their costs or are they linked to supply and demand of riders? For example does Jason Doyle have double the costs of Anders Rowe - because I'd bet he is on at least double the points money?
  14. It may address the cost to riders, but how does that help clubs? Let me give you an example, say I earn £50k and drive a 6.3 litre V8 costing me £100 a week. I trade it in for a more economical 1.6 litre diesel. Do I tell my employer that they can reduce my wages? Of course not, I pocket the difference. Why would that be any different if the costs incurred by speedway riders were reduced?
  15. In the short term I agree, but what makes you think that in the medium to long term the demand for short haul foreign travel will diminish compared to where it was last year?
  16. I agree that airlines will be disrupted for the rest of this year and maybe early next year. However, I cannot see any scenario where the market for budget airlines doesn't get back to its original position in the medium term.
  17. No one is saying to do nothing. However, I don't think tinkering with the league structure, race format or eligibility of riders will make one iotas difference to the number of paying customers thorough the turnstiles. The answer in my mind is marketing. You can fluff up the product as much as you want, but if no one knows about it then you'll only ever be attracting a diminishing number of diehard fans.
  18. Yes, it is indisputable. You can pick two teams and compare them, (I think the 2007 team would beat the 2019 team) however every time the points limit is below 42, which it has been numerous times in the last decade, the league gets watered down.
  19. The reason there is no appetite for a re-boot is because all of the suggestions in this thread completely fly in the face of reality. Over the last ten years the standard of riders in the Elite League/Premiership has declined and this has coincided with a decline in spectator number. This is an indisputable fact. National League team charge a lower entry fee than Championship teams, which charge a lower entry fee than Premiership teams. Despite this on average Premiership teams get higher crowds than Championship teams who get higher crowds than National League teams. Therefore there is no evidence that lower entry fees encourages supporters. When Premiership clubs have run National League teams they have resulted in significantly lower attendances. Therefore there is no evidence that fans will support a weaker product, regardless of admission cost. All of the suggestions in this thread complete ignore the evidence that the last ten years of British speedway have laid out. If people wanted to see teams of mainly British riders and save a few quid on admission, then the National League would be thriving and every club in speedway would be running a team. It is not and they are not. It is easy to spitball a wish list for British speedway. The difference is that promoters have to actually deliver a product and cough up for cash if (when) clubs make a loss. Could the ideas above work? Maybe, but all the evidence suggests otherwise. Therefore, if you were a promoter, would you completely re-boot British speedway into a format which is almost certainly going to lose you more money than you are today?
  20. MattK

    Brandon Update

    This is from the Government's Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales Title Number WK405562 Tenure Freehold Property Address Coventry Stadium, Rugby Road, Brandon, Coventry (CV8 3GJ) District RUGBY County WARWICKSHIRE Region WEST MIDLANDS Postcode CV8 3GJ Multiple Address Indicator N Price Paid 2700000 Proprietor Name (1) BRANDON ESTATES LIMITED Company Registration No. (1) 116507 Proprietorship Category (1) Limited Company or Public Limited Company Country Incorporated (1) JERSEY Proprietor (1) Address (1) Elizabeth House, 9 Castle Street, St Helier, Jersey JE2 3RT Date Proprietor Added 02-12-2015 Additional Proprietor Indicator N
  21. MattK

    Brandon Update

    It must be just me then, not wanting to live next to a main road.
  22. MattK

    Brandon Update

    This was just sticking a pin in a map. There must be pieces of land, ideally sandwiched between major roads which would make it unattractive for houses, which could be used for speedway?
  23. MattK

    Brandon Update

    What wrong with here?
  24. MattK

    Brandon Update

    This is the answer. I don't understand why so many people look a gift horse in the mouth - Coventry, Swindon and Oxford could all take the same approach. The plan at Brandon is for 137 new homes. If you assume a £100k profit on each house, that's £13.7m of potential profits for the developers. If speedway (and stox or whoever) ask for a simple donation of just ten percent, this would give £1.3m for everyone to go off and set up a track, away from any potential housing development and completely own by the racing fraternity. In exchange, any claims or opposition to the housing development from Save Coventry Speedway or other groups would be dropped. I don't know why this approach isn't pursued. Maybe people think it is too much work? I think it is less work than trying to go up against experienced developers with deep pockets. Maybe they think they don't have leverage? The situation at Oxford proves that protests can at best slow development and at worst bring it to a halt for years. This for me seems like a solution where everyone walks away with what they want.
  25. MattK

    Will British Speedway Survive ?

    You have drawn a conclusion, without knowing how the question was asked. If people were asked for their top reason, then you cannot say only 40% are interested in teams/riders.
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