Coventry 2016

[Woz01 3,589]

You'd think that as the promotion seems to have linked up with Wasps (they are listed as partners on website) they'd get a bit of advice on promotional skills and event experience. Have they actually sought advice or even attended the fans village before Wasps matches? I've never seen them to be honest.

[Gemini 4,894]

I bet oap get concession as well at these clubs

There's another good example. Why are you complaining on behalf of OAP's when you don't even go? I am an OAP but am quite prepared to pay the extra £3 if it will help the promoters balance the books at the end of our last season. Do you really think any Speedway promoters these days are making loads of money to stash away?

[kingbee 510]

There's another good example. Why are you complaining on behalf of OAP's when you don't even go? I am an OAP but am quite prepared to pay the extra £3 if it will help the promoters balance the books at the end of our last season. Do you really think any Speedway promoters these days are making loads of money to stash away?

 

that's your opinion I have mine do you no if I go or not you don't know me and I think you are in a minority.in answer to your last statement why is it that Horton is the only promoter in this country that does not offer concessions

[Gemini 4,894]

I know you don't go because you have said that on here on more than one occasion.....unless you're telling porkies of course and just say that for effect as woz01 posted "I like the posts from people that say "well I'm not going this week" but I still see them there and made up stories that friends are not going etc. Its like they have an agenda or something." Wasn't it twice you went last season? I don't personally know why the promoters have changed the price structure but they have explained and I do know that pound for pound for a family it is still cheaper to go to Coventry than it is to go to my local track Leicester. Presumably the idea was to encourage more children/students to go but of course that system has been abused so is all up in the air at the moment.

[21st century heathen 220]

Also of importance in my opinion is whether or not student season tickets been withdrawn too?

 

I think what we have here is actually nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction due to panic about a perceived rather than genuine threat to the business. I've been to the Bees fixtures this season and have I seen a queue across half the car park of new student who happen to have, 'coincidentally', all signed up to the same evening class at the same time, which just happens to be precisely when the speedway season starts? No, obviously not!

 

You cannot realistically put an upper age limit on it in my opinion. It would be foolish and alienate students if anything I believe. I don't have exact current figures but Coventry and Warwickshire universities (the obvious main targets to attract the next generation to speedway in Coventry) have around 50,000 students between them. Around 15,000 of those are postgraduate - so you immediately rule 15,000 potential customers. Of the remaining 35,000 a lot (but I don't know the split without contacting them for information) will be over 21/22 (for example) and not necessarily all school/college leavers continuing their education with no break. Again, there are potentially thousands of lost customers if you take this approach. It would be crazy. Also, any SU president who accepts in consultation with Coventry Speedway to offer a concessionary admission price to some but not all of its members is not doing his/her job properly as they should be representing the best interests of all their members, not a select number.

 

If Coventry Speedway could attract just 1% of this local student body to part with a fiver it would rake in an extra £2½k a week. Okay we're not setting any kind of records here but that's not to be sneezed at and more importantly it will far outweigh the few dozen quid you might lose from a tiny number who may try signing up to a course just to get an NUS card. This is the basis on which every other business in the country, EU and beyond operates an NUS card discount scheme. As I said earlier do you think everyone has to take an admissions letter to Co-op to get their 10% off? I know it may sound sarcastic, but seriously, think about it. The answer is no. You present your NUS card, and that's it.

 

Perhaps Mr Sandhu could be approached to offer, in conjunction with Coventry Speedway, a discount to students? I'm sure 20% (for example) off at the bar along with just £5 at the gate will be a good offer to approach the universities SU and external relations/marketing team. You might even open up the door to do some mutual advertising on a quid pro quo basis. Universities work very hard to set themselves apart from their competition and spend an awful lot of money doing so. Being able to advertise free of charge a local cheap night out may help them and the speedway club may only need offer putting up some posters advertising the next open day for example. There are very few late teens and early twenties at speedway compared to older persons so there's a massive untapped market. Most clubs will be close to a university/college, though some will be a more difficult 'sell' due to track location. It just requires that speedway embraces the world it lives in, gets off its collective backside to actively, not passively, promote the sport. Has anyone, from any club not just Coventry Speedway, ever approached the SU at their local uni and invited them plus 10 (for eg) guests to come along as VIP guests to see what it's all about for themselves?

[lisa-colette 6,014]

Maybe he is starting a revolution!

Edited April 6, 2016 by lisa-colette

[Dave Jones 2,124]

There's another good example. Why are you complaining on behalf of OAP's when you don't even go? I am an OAP but am quite prepared to pay the extra £3 if it will help the promoters balance the books at the end of our last season. Do you really think any Speedway promoters these days are making loads of money to stash away?

You need to accept the fact that there are many senior fans of the bees that are very upset with the current admission policy of the club. It's not a simple case of someone moaning for the sake of it, they have a grievance and they are expressing it. They are entitled to do so .

 

You have your view, one that you have expressed on several occasions, and we are clear where you stand on it all.

Others, myself included , don't have that opinion and as such feel that the club shouldn't be going down this route. Some will feel that the extra cost is not value for money, some won't pay on principle,and others will just not have the spare cash to do it. It's not for you to judge, everyone is entitled to make their own decision and comment accordingly .

[speedibee 3,091]

Removing the student offer is ridiculous. I'm not a student, have no NUS and pay full price when i go, but in Coventry alone you have Coventry City, Wasps, Coventry Rugby Club and Coventry Blaze, all of which embrace students and accept NUS cards as proof for their discount. If people "abuse" it at the speedway, they will do the same at those other clubs.

 

The management clearly have a strict idea of who they consider to be entitled to a discount, and it seems they are stuck in an archaic world where only youngsters can be students.

 

This will just lead to more and more people walking away from Brandon, meaning bigger losses for the club... leading to the inevitable closure after this season

Those other sports in Coventry have sponsors paying the bills ,and all are operating in council owned stadia at discount rates , , so letting a few bend the rules and get in cheap doesn't really affect them , On the other hand Speedway has all the cost and none of the help . plus if you took out all the amateur photographers and other assorted hangers on who run around in hi-viz vests with Bspa tags round their necks most places would be half empty .

[Woz01 3,589]

that's your opinion I have mine do you no if I go or not you don't know me and I think you are in a minority.in answer to your last statement why is it that Horton is the only promoter in this country that does not offer concessions

Simple answer is because kids u16 are free and until this week a students a fiver. No other promotion does/did more to entice a new young fan base.

[Gemini 4,894]

I quite understand people have different opinions. What irritates me is the fans who still moan on here when a price increase doesn't even affect them. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't remember seeing any OAP (except me) comment on the subject. However, it's been quite clear over the years there are some who don't like the current promotion so take every opportunity to criticize and it's the same people every time.

[speedibee 3,091]

Also of importance in my opinion is whether or not student season tickets been withdrawn too?

 

I think what we have here is actually nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction due to panic about a perceived rather than genuine threat to the business. I've been to the Bees fixtures this season and have I seen a queue across half the car park of new student who happen to have, 'coincidentally', all signed up to the same evening class at the same time, which just happens to be precisely when the speedway season starts? No, obviously not!

 

You cannot realistically put an upper age limit on it in my opinion. It would be foolish and alienate students if anything I believe. I don't have exact current figures but Coventry and Warwickshire universities (the obvious main targets to attract the next generation to speedway in Coventry) have around 50,000 students between them. Around 15,000 of those are postgraduate - so you immediately rule 15,000 potential customers. Of the remaining 35,000 a lot (but I don't know the split without contacting them for information) will be over 21/22 (for example) and not necessarily all school/college leavers continuing their education with no break. Again, there are potentially thousands of lost customers if you take this approach. It would be crazy. Also, any SU president who accepts in consultation with Coventry Speedway to offer a concessionary admission price to some but not all of its members is not doing his/her job properly as they should be representing the best interests of all their members, not a select number.

 

If Coventry Speedway could attract just 1% of this local student body to part with a fiver it would rake in an extra £2½k a week. Okay we're not setting any kind of records here but that's not to be sneezed at and more importantly it will far outweigh the few dozen quid you might lose from a tiny number who may try signing up to a course just to get an NUS card. This is the basis on which every other business in the country, EU and beyond operates an NUS card discount scheme. As I said earlier do you think everyone has to take an admissions letter to Co-op to get their 10% off? I know it may sound sarcastic, but seriously, think about it. The answer is no. You present your NUS card, and that's it.

 

Perhaps Mr Sandhu could be approached to offer, in conjunction with Coventry Speedway, a discount to students? I'm sure 20% (for example) off at the bar along with just £5 at the gate will be a good offer to approach the universities SU and external relations/marketing team. You might even open up the door to do some mutual advertising on a quid pro quo basis. Universities work very hard to set themselves apart from their competition and spend an awful lot of money doing so. Being able to advertise free of charge a local cheap night out may help them and the speedway club may only need offer putting up some posters advertising the next open day for example. There are very few late teens and early twenties at speedway compared to older persons so there's a massive untapped market. Most clubs will be close to a university/college, though some will be a more difficult 'sell' due to track location. It just requires that speedway embraces the world it lives in, gets off its collective backside to actively, not passively, promote the sport. Has anyone, from any club not just Coventry Speedway, ever approached the SU at their local uni and invited them plus 10 (for eg) guests to come along as VIP guests to see what it's all about for themselves?

students are not the future supporters of speedway , although a few might come because its what they did with their parents at home ,most of them will leave university and head off to far flung places SCB excepted of course , approaching mr Sandhu (spit ) will achieve nothing , he is and never really was ,interested in speedway flourishing ,in fact quite the opposite ,it suits his greedy purposes if the speedway flounders because there will be less opposition to his bulldozers that way

[kingbee 510]

I know you don't go because you have said that on here on more than one occasion.....unless you're telling porkies of course and just say that for effect as woz01 posted "I like the posts from people that say "well I'm not going this week" but I still see them there and made up stories that friends are not going etc. Its like they have an agenda or something." Wasn't it twice you went last season? I don't personally know why the promoters have changed the price structure but they have explained and I do know that pound for pound for a family it is still cheaper to go to Coventry than it is to go to my local track Leicester. Presumably the idea was to encourage more children/students to go but of course that system has been abused so is all up in the air at the moment.

 

I have have been a supporter of Coventry for 60 years but that is not point I have decided not to go for many reasons the product is not what it was it is not elite any more may be I was spoiled by what I watch before .I am at the moment a volunteer at Brandon cycle speedway at Bretford where I give my time free and enjoy it so I am not a tight moaning oap

[bluebee 199]

You need to accept the fact that there are many senior fans of the bees that are very upset with the current admission policy of the club. It's not a simple case of someone moaning for the sake of it, they have a grievance and they are expressing it. They are entitled to do so .

 

You have your view, one that you have expressed on several occasions, and we are clear where you stand on it all.

Others, myself included , don't have that opinion and as such feel that the club shouldn't be going down this route. Some will feel that the extra cost is not value for money, some won't pay on principle,and others will just not have the spare cash to do it. It's not for you to judge, everyone is entitled to make their own decision and comment accordingly .

Where did Gemini state that she is offering an opinion based on the views of all OAPs. Certainly the poster she was responding to was. As an OAP she was representing my view but I know that is not shared by all over 60s.

 

This concession business is getting ridiculous. It seems to me that it is a path strewn with pitfalls. Once it's offered to one section of society then it aggrieves another. Perhaps it would be better to have none at all - particularly if they are going to be abused.

 

The free entrance to under 16s must be a massive financial hit. Where else is such a generous offer made? Isn't that a very forward thinking move?

 

Mick Horton must think that he can't win whatever he tries.

[Star Lady 5,400]

It doesn't affect me, but Coventry should be given credit for at least trying something different.

 

OAPs, and I'm one, do not have a god given right to discounts and just because they have always had one doesn't mean it should continue. There have been numerous threads on BSF over the years, some are still going, about trying to attract newcomers to the sport. If it doesn't the sport will die along with the OAPs. Coventry are trying it, fair enough they didn't think it thro properly but if it doesn't have an adverse effect on attendances other tracks might well try something similar in the future.

 

You cannot complain about the state of the sport on one hand and complain when someone tries to do something about it on the other.

[Woz01 3,589]

I quite understand people have different opinions. What irritates me is the fans who still moan on here when a price increase doesn't even affect them. Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't remember seeing any OAP (except me) comment on the subject. However, it's been quite clear over the years there are some who don't like the current promotion so take every opportunity to criticize and it's the same people every time.

 

Didn't see any of these complain when adults and child prices increased last year and the year before that. No one has yet given me a valid explanation as to why OAPs shouldn't pay the same as everyone else? Going to speedway is a choice not a necessity like OAPs getting discounts for public transport, medication, gas etc. When I retire I certainly wouldn't expect any special discounts to something I choose to go to.

It doesn't affect me, but Coventry should be given credit for at least trying something different.

 

OAPs, and I'm one, do not have a god given right to discounts and just because they have always had one doesn't mean it should continue. There have been numerous threads on BSF over the years, some are still going, about trying to attract newcomers to the sport. If it doesn't the sport will die along with the OAPs. Coventry are trying it, fair enough they didn't think it thro properly but if it doesn't have an adverse effect on attendances other tracks might well try something similar in the future.

 

You cannot complain about the state of the sport on one hand and complain when someone tries to do something about it on the other.

Excellent post. I'd also suggest showing planning officials that a younger generation is attending may help the new stadium situation. Just a thought.