mbbunyan 0 Posted September 26, 2003 How about making the rules more simple and easier to understand for newcomers,the casual supporter and even the long term fans.Golden tacticles,guest riders for everybody and his brother riding abroad,rider replacement for reserves, a rider can ride for a team in this comptetion but not that one.what rubbish.The old national league had it far better,only guests and rider replacement for a heat leader and an easier race format that made sense.New rules are not always the way forward,a look back could be far more healthy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vince 9,454 Posted October 13, 2003 I found an article about Speedway on the BMF web site. I think that for a motorcycle site to include the following comments (although it is pretty upbeat about the sport in the main) is a good indication of where the sport is shooting itself in the foot. Motorcycling generally is enjoying a massive upsurge in popularity with Road Racing and Motocross especially recording records in spectator and rider attendances. Speedway should be able to benefit from this relatively cheaply and easily but like you say the sport has to be easy to understand the first time you go. "Although speedway is a bikesport, many bikers find it difficult to relate to. Unlike road racing or motocross, neither the bikes nor the skills required to ride them bear any resemblance to those used on the road. Most regular spectators have little interest in bikes, just the sport, and the lack of motorcycles parked outside any speedway stadium is testimony to this. Speedway should be a simple enough sport, with four guys racing each other over four laps, but it has some strange rules. It is hard enough for newcomers to understand why an individual sport is played as a team game. Rules that allow teams to borrow riders from other teams are commonplace and cause the sport’s credibility to continue to be questioned. Can you imagine Manchester United borrowing one of Liverpool’s star players for a match because one of their own is injured? It happens in almost every British league speedway meeting. When you add in tactical substitutions, reserve replacement, rider replacement, golden doubles and green sheet averages you can see why a love of statistics is almost as important as a love of speedway." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevehone 3,425 Posted October 13, 2003 nail on head Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest PorkyFenman Posted October 14, 2003 More like a nail in the coffin lid . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dekker 239 Posted October 14, 2003 "Although speedway is a bikesport, many bikers find it difficult to relate to. Unlike road racing or motocross, neither the bikes nor the skills required to ride them bear any resemblance to those used on the road. Most regular spectators have little interest in bikes, just the sport, and the lack of motorcycles parked outside any speedway stadium is testimony to this. Yawn typical BMF there, although it does show what the terminaly uniterested think of the sport. This year has been a bad one for rules and messing around with teams, the blc being a good example. EL speedway needs to decide if its having squads or not? and to decide if they are the panacea ppl think they are. Cant see any squad helping with the absence of GP riders at all.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest PorkyFenman Posted October 15, 2003 Yawn , typical non believers . Unfortunately for the future of speedway , the 'terminally uninterested' are not just BMF members or bikers , but the vast majority of people interested in sport . I love watching live speedway . I can also recognise the deep seated flaws in league racing which make it appear farcical to non converts . Tinkering with petty rules will gain no new paying fans . Speedway will remain a minority sport unless major changes that address the problems quoted from the BMF (Yawn) article are addressed . Or , maybe not . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vince 9,454 Posted October 15, 2003 My point is that it should be relatively easy to attract motorcyclists. If the sport can't do that what are it's chances of attracting new spectators from the general public who have absolutely no link with the sport? Making the rules more easily understood may not be the answer but it has to be worth a try along with better promotion and finding a way to reduce the riders costs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lioness 1,449 Posted October 15, 2003 Porky I fully agree with you. The stereotyping that goes on amongst people who have never been to a speedway meeting as well does not help. I'm not your typical fan. No-one in my immediate family goes to speedway or probably knew it existed, I'm not into motorbikes per se, I just suffer terminal nosiness which made me go and see what on earth was going on at Armadale that night. Would I have gone in if I had known what was on in advance? Probably not as I had heard all the stereotyping about 'petrolheads' (ignorance itself as petrol isnt bloody used!) and I would have missed out on one of the greatest sports on earth. The rule changes are sometimes detrimental to the sport but the problems faced in getting people through the gates are much more deeply rooted and at a far more basic level. We need to get folks in through the gates first before they can discover how ludicrous the BLC is!! We also need to get round that falacy that speedway can only appeal to bikers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
