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BSI seem to be having some problems now, anyone noticed that there is only 3 sponsors now on the airfence and centre, Castrol, Viedec and Fiat Vans, there use to be loads, the meeting sponsors on the front of the bikes use to be big like Coca Cola, Egg etc now we have HSE in Slovenia and Meridian Lifts in Sweden that nobody will have heard of. Also they are cutting back on the big stadiums in Sweden and they have let off a lot of their staff who use to work on the airfence and organisation. They said they would promote the Australian GP themselves but it's never happened.

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Things like promoting an Aussie GP arent going to happen overnight.

BSI are most probably still feeling the after effects finacially of Gothenburg 2003. (£1million losses?)

 

Chances are, these 'big' sponsors a few years ago were paying very little for what, at the time was not as big a product as it is now. Sponsorship prices for SGP I would expect have gone up quite alot in the past 3/4/5 years.

 

Viedec, Castrol & Fiat Vans are still big companies. Egg simply sponsored Cardiff, then Fiat Vans got that GP.

 

I reckon that we will soon see some GP's outside of Europe, it takes time and they don't want to take any risks (Ullevi for BSI, and Sydney for the local promoter ended up as huge losses)

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Rob,

If BSI are genuinely having problems, is that a good or a bad thing?

From an Elite League perspective, the GPs are very disruptive regarding riders and fixtures. And using riders without really paying for them is really cheeky.

But taking a global view, BSI's involvement has dragged speedway into the 21st century and has raised it's profile in Britain, Scandinavia and much of Europe.

For instance, would the Elite League be getting all the SkyTV money(and consequent exposure) if it weren't for the high-profile televised GPs, which attracted the broadcaster in the first place..I doubt it.

Sam.

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From an Elite League perspective, the GPs are very disruptive regarding riders and fixtures. And using riders without really paying for them is really cheeky.

 

So BSI taking 24 riders (down to 16 next year) minus the 2 or 3 who don't ride in the UK is 21 (13 next year) for between 6 and 16 days a year (rider only have to turn up for the GP's these days and have not got to ride in practice) is "very disruptive"? Yet Sweden and Poland taking rider for 20(ish ?) days a year is ok?

 

Using the riders without paying for them? Again, BSI are not allowed to do it for a World Championship without people monaing yet Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Germany can take whoever they like for 20(ish ?) meetings a year that in some cases might mean very little (compared to a World Championship).

 

 

I wish people woudl think before they actuse the GP's of being restrictive and stealing riders, they do it no more than the Polish, Swedeish, Danish, Czech and Germna leagues, yet do people moan about them? No!!!

 

Also did people moan when rider used to have to go through all the qualifying rounds years ago? That was a few extra days when rider were taken awya but that was ok, the new format is not :rolleyes:

 

IMO, if BSI are having problems it's more bad than good for us, the speedway fans but it might be good for the promoters, who as Kevin Meynell has said numerous times, can run the GP's themselves.

Edited by SCB

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I wish people woudl think before they actuse the GP's of being restrictive and stealing riders, they do it no more than the Polish, Swedeish, Danish, Czech and Germna leagues, yet do people moan about them? No!!!

 

Also did people moan when rider used to have to go through all the qualifying rounds years ago? That was a few extra days when rider were taken awya but that was ok, the new format is not

 

IMO, if BSI are having problems it's more bad than good for us, the speedway fans but it might be good for the promoters, who as Kevin Meynell has said numerous times, can run the GP's themselves.

 

Well said, totally agree.

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What a load of rubbish as normal. All the large so called sponsors have gone because all they put in was products no money. If you knew what they charge an elite sponsor, title sponsor as well as tele rights speedway federations and so on you would not make these comments as the bsi are working very hard and doing a fantastic job for speedway.

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So after the GP's all the rider used to nip around to the local KFC for a bargin bucket each and had a can of coke(or was it a crate of 24 cokes), then they went out and splashed some cash (or is that credit card, thanks to Egg and American Express(blink and you miss there logo, I have) all whilst driving around in the JCB's or is that Fiat's? Then they go home and feed there chicken some LNB chicken feed. :lol::blink:

 

 

Incidently, William F1 only have (or at least had) ONE (1) sponsor that didn't give them products (Compaq provided all the teams computers, they were sponsored by oil and ful companies who provided all the oil and fuel etc) the ONE (1) exception was the brewery that produces Budweiser, I can't think why they didn't provide any of there product ;)

Edited by SCB

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]Of course they are working hard to make a profit for themselves and of course they are doing a fantastic job for themselves or himself whatever the case might be but for speedway I'm not so sure, they could drop the series at the blink of an eye if they wanted no doubt.

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This discussion highlights something for me which I don't really understand - who actually owns the riders? For example, when Belle Vue paid a transfer fee for Jason Crump, does that mean they own him or are they simply buying the British rights to him?

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Of course they are working hard to make a profit for themselves ............. they could drop the series at the blink of an eye if they wanted no doubt.

 

That's what business is all about Trees.

 

It's why I and many others on this forum go to work. Why expect anything different from JP and BSI?

 

Yes they could drop the series in the blink of an eye in just the same way they took it on in the first place but why would they want to as long as it turns a profit and potentially a much bigger profit. They aren't the only ones making a living, or part of one, from the GP's. Think of the hundreds of people involved in staging just the British GP in Cardiff. They all got paid and the money came from where it always does, the paying customers who want to see the show, whether they paid at the turnstyle or paid their Sky subscriptions.

 

We wouldn't think of criticising ITV for employing actors to appear in a drama only to drop them at the end of the series. Same thing really.

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BSI are most probably still feeling the after effects finacially of Gothenburg 2003. (£1million losses?)

 

I think it's unlikely that BSI took much of the loss. It's usually the local organisers who are financially responsible for the GPs, so SVEMO undoubtedly suffered most. This said, it can't have done BSI's credibility much good, and they may be paying in terms of lost sponsorship this season.

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Yet Sweden and Poland taking rider for 20(ish ?) days a year is ok?

 

Yes, because they run on Tuesdays and Sundays respectively, when no BEL has its regular race night. In fact, Sweden chose Tuesdays many years ago precisely because it wouldn't clash with the then British League.

 

By contrast, the SGP is run on prime days for staging league racing, and clashes (or did) with at least four BEL teams. BSI can also re-organise GPs when they wish, without any regard to existing fixtures.

 

Using the riders without paying for them?

 

The difference is that the Swedish and Polish leagues generally do not take away riders from BEL fixtures. The SGP does, and the BSPA has no power to stop them because FIM meetings have priority.

 

Also did people moan when rider used to have to go through all the qualifying rounds years ago?

 

Again, the difference was the British speedway generally benefitted from the World Championship because it staged at least two rounds in Britain where the profits where shared between promotions. British speedway also profited whenever a World Final was staged in Britain. Nowadays, only BSI profits from the World Championship.

 

Kevin Meynell has said numerous times, can run the GP's themselves.

 

Well I don't actually have any confidence that they would do a good job, but neither is it right that a company unrelated to the national speedway leagues is running the SGP.

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who actually owns the riders? For example, when Belle Vue paid a transfer fee for Jason Crump, does that mean they own him or are they simply buying the British rights to him?

 

They only own the British rights to him, and in principle can't stop him riding in other countries unless it clashes with a domestic fixture to which he's contracted to ride in.

 

Poland has a similar asset system, although I don't think Sweden does. AFAIK, riders in the Swedish league merely sign-up with teams on an annual basis and are free to move without a transfer fee when out of contract.

 

The situation with the SGP is different though, because it is not in free competition with the national competitions. It can stage its events whenever it wants and without regard to other fixtures, and it can use any riders that it wants (whether they're needed elsewhere or not).

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So after the GP's all the rider used to nip around to the local KFC for a bargin bucket each and had a can of coke(or was it a crate of 24 cokes)

 

Well, I guess KFC weren't actually providing the bargain buckets because BSI were taking legal action against them to recover the sponsorship they defaulted on :)

 

BTW - the SGP sponsors are most definitely paying hard cash.

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It's why I and many others on this forum go to work. Why expect anything different from JP and BSI?

 

I don't think anyone is criticising BSI for trying to make as much money as possible - good luck to them. However, I do question why the speedway authorities, and particularly the major speedway leagues, allow them to get away with doing so.

 

BSI don't do anything particularly clever, and certainly nothing that existing speedway promoters couldn't have done if they had half-a-brain. Speedway could then be sharing GBP 0.5 million amongst itself, instead of it going into JP's pocket.

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