Trees 2,814 Posted January 21, 2016 The thought that Hearn will be allowed to be involved is just wishful thinking, Ever since year DOT the promoters have ruled the roost. It is their baby and regardless of public opinion it will always stay that way. WE can always point fingers and blame others for every problem with our sport, but I think we British fans are very upper crust and reluctant to show our support, like other nations and sports...... Last year when Lynn played the Polish side, as soon as you went through the gate you sensed the excitement and the noise. Although there were probably a 100 or so they easily out voiced the Stars fans. Probably we should take a leaf out of their book. and be more vocal. I know we lost the match that night but it was one of the better meeting we attended last year....... Its hard to generate a good atmosphere without the noise... The Polish promoters do nothing extra on race nights, the Polish fans are there on the terraces, making loads of noise, chanting, flag waving, loving it, nothing else is needed, easy for them 😯 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben91 1,743 Posted January 21, 2016 The governing body needs to be independent from the people running the teams, it's quite simple. Otherwise there are vested interests, promotors need telling "These are the rules, play by them." Not to be suggesting rule changes that will benefit themselves each winter and then hoping they get voted in. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wackie 938 Posted January 21, 2016 Personally I think supporters calling speedway a £10 sport are a bit out of date. What can you get for £10 these days? Cost me £9.50 to park for 3 hours in Reading just before Christmas, little entertainment in that! If you look at other spectator sports in the Reading area and compare their admission prices, taking into consideration running costs, venue rental, medical costs, insurance etc. etc. etc. Speedway admission prices for adults set around £15 - £18 seem pretty much on the mark, bung in kids for a quid and it's not an expensive spectator sport for a family at all really. Reading Rockets Basketball Adults £8 Kids £5 Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey Adults £13.50, Concessions £10, Young Adults (16-21) £8 Kids £5 under 3's free London Irish Rugby Union Adult £25, Concessions £20, 18-21 years £17, 13-17 years £10, 12 years & under £5 Reading FC Adult £28/£33 Concessions £18/£23 18-24 years £13/£18 Kids £10/£15 Windsor Racecourse Adult (Grandstand/Club enclosure) £21/£25 Adult (Rif raff enclosure) £12 Under 18's free Speedway certainly isn't a £25 sport though, even with the top names. I think people need to get their heads around the idea that with the varying schedule in the UK, the sport is never going to attract the stars back. Let's face it, even if the money on offer was the same across the main European leagues, if you were a speedway rider who could plan a schedule knowing you'd only be completing league racing on a Sunday and Tuesday, or had to face planning a schedule that was going to change monthly, weekly, daily, you'd go for the easier more structured option. Unfortunately, with the most speedway clubs in rented stadiums there's never going to be a single day of the week where the majority of PL clubs could race the same day, it maybe more feasible to achieve in the EL, but if the 'big names' returning mean admission prices gong over the £20 mark, it'll bankrupt the sport within 2 seasons. There's much more fundamentally wrong with the sport than it's admission prices anyway, no good fixing the roof when the foundations are crumbling. Promoters need to get the sport back on an even keel before they think about attracting it's stars back. The rule book is the foundation of the sport, everyone knows it's way to complicated and open to manipulation, and everyone knows how that can be rectified! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAy2KGvcUbw 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,615 Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) Personally I think supporters calling speedway a £10 sport are a bit out of date. What can you get for £10 these days? Cost me £9.50 to park for 3 hours in Reading just before Christmas, little entertainment in that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAy2KGvcUbw With your parking skills I disagree Edited January 21, 2016 by orion 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Appleby 13,955 Posted January 22, 2016 thinking out of the box it is most certainly is a possibility......whats to stop having an indoor tournament, similar to the old four team tournament but inside with a few different rules here and there?...yes it would mean laying a proper indoor track! Not really any big enough venues to do it properly, and the one that is is likely too expensive to make it viable for a one off or series of events. It would perhaps be better to tack on a club meeting before or after the British GP, but there would be issues of the track holding up and of course there would need to be cooperation between the organisers. I don't really see it as a solution though. It's the day-to-day product that needs to be improved without having to pay 25 quid for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
g13webb 4,254 Posted January 22, 2016 A catch 22 scenario, who come first, the chicken or the egg? I appreciate posters views about top riders, but we need so much more before we can hope to draw the cream over here.... First priority is we need bums on seats, then in turn we want excitement, that will generate atmosphere. So VFM is of paramount importance if we can entice the fans to join in.. To do this we need cheaper tickets (To start with any way) we need a Publicity firm to take charge of advertising all matches. We want reports in the National / Local press. We want to push the sport back to where it once was. We want a Marketing firm to take charge of Sponsorships, to enable clubs to put on sport at an affordable cost. We want to be able to receive match results on the National 10pm news. We want local TV to report on all matches. We want Speedway pushed into everyone face,....... Just like it use to be..... All the above are achievable, but the biggest issue is the governing body who have shown over the years they are incapable of running the sport in a fair and transparent way. The EL, PL and NL are all run as separate entities. We have EL and PL promoters arguing on the most ridiculous points possible, each thinking only of themselves and not for the sport. We have decisions/ rules doctored to suit whoever, and you wonder why the sport has no credibility. How can anybody market a product like that.???..... We, (Britain), are at the bottom of most riders lists of priorities, our sport has all but faded away. For it to survive it needs major overhaul. I have a lot of faith in Buster, who will do his best to make a difference, but whether that be enough will depend on the amount of objections from the dated committee, that has seen the sport fade in the depths it now finds itself in..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Countershaftcounter 360 Posted January 22, 2016 In terms of social media the world has moved on and speedway hasn't. The fact that you can't put any clips online without permission beggars belief, how the hell do you expect to get the sport known when it's still being run in black and white ? 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woz01 3,589 Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) In terms of social media the world has moved on and speedway hasn't. The fact that you can't put any clips online without permission beggars belief, how the hell do you expect to get the sport known when it's still being run in black and white ? Exactly. Clubs could put a highlights package on you tube a day or two after a meeting, its pretty much free advertising. Its ridiculous that it isn't happening. Edited January 23, 2016 by woz01 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,615 Posted January 23, 2016 Exactly. Clubs could put a highlights package on you tube a day or two after a meeting, its pretty much free advertising. Its ridiculous that it isn't happening. Not sure how Leics would put a highlights package together . 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markyb 323 Posted January 24, 2016 the demographic of the speedway "crowd" at a typical Coventry meeting will show a hefty contingent of the 65 plus age brigade who like me cling on to the memory of the times not so very long ago. Have noticed that NO concession (at Coventry) is being given in 2016 to those loyal warriors and are expected to pay the full 17 quid admission EVERY meeting. Horton and Watson - what you playing at ? It ain't rocket science to realise that a regular who was used to a concession ain't gonna attend on a regular basis going forwards - especially so with the inferior product in 2016 in terms of the "star" riders not being present. It ain't as though you have to employ extra security / crowd control measures. Just think to of the reduced revenue of a programme sale and the potential of the cup of tea / pint / pasty etc. I in my 50's so isn't gonna affect me - I already very selective in which meetings I attend and the value for money on offer - having been a die hard, never miss a meeting regardless, in my many years of following the sport. Am still a massive fan, but not chuffed at the way the hierarchy think they can 'mug' off folk who have provided their wealth over the years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JimiC 34 Posted January 24, 2016 No disrespect to them, because I think they're highly skilled and probably deserve their money, but I think if we want to see value for money, and wages not spiraling out of control,we need to stop engine tuners being involved. That's where the big bucks go, and so the big riders demand more etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,273 Posted January 24, 2016 A 'Barry Hearn' would be great for the sport at a national level, however we all know why it wont happen.. However, nothing is stopping clubs getting their own marketing hype out there at a local level... It is somewhat of a strange business plan when clubs pay out circa 3k a night contracts to a No1 rider who lets face it puts hardly any extra 'bums on seats' by his attendance, nor reduces the average crowd significantly when he has 'other priorities', yet will spend very little, if anything at all on marketing their clubs... You can tangibly grow your customer base with a modern hi tec approach to selling your brand to the public yet speedway teams seem in the main to use 'bring a friend' as their mantra. If a No1 rider has three meetings in a week he can earn around 10k and put zero extra people on the gate Therefore, I would suggest that that weeks salary of 10k would be much better invested in a proper targeted marketing campaign which would deliver far more extra punters both in the short and long term if professionally managed.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mickthemuppet 976 Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) The fact is Speedway could be much bigger than it is, ANY sport could be. Look at what Matchroom has done with the Darts and also the way Eddie Hearn promotes boxing. Matchroom could make Speedway big, fact. Everything is a minority sport other than football, and there is a massive audience for the minority sports out there. As I say, look at the job Matchroom have done with Darts at the PDC, and with Anthony Joshua in the boxing. I'd LOVE to see the Hearns involved in Speedway. Listen to the first few minutes of Hearn here, in fact the whole thing is good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3NSpGE8dTY Yet he could not bring success to Leyton Orient football team that has always lounged in the lower echelons of the football leagues Edited January 24, 2016 by mickthemuppet 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Countershaftcounter 360 Posted January 24, 2016 A 'Barry Hearn' would be great for the sport at a national level, however we all know why it wont happen.. However, nothing is stopping clubs getting their own marketing hype out there at a local level... It is somewhat of a strange business plan when clubs pay out circa 3k a night contracts to a No1 rider who lets face it puts hardly any extra 'bums on seats' by his attendance, nor reduces the average crowd significantly when he has 'other priorities', yet will spend very little, if anything at all on marketing their clubs... You can tangibly grow your customer base with a modern hi tec approach to selling your brand to the public yet speedway teams seem in the main to use 'bring a friend' as their mantra. If a No1 rider has three meetings in a week he can earn around 10k and put zero extra people on the gate Therefore, I would suggest that that weeks salary of 10k would be much better invested in a proper targeted marketing campaign which would deliver far more extra punters both in the short and long term if professionally managed.. This x1000 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
INCOGNITO 357 Posted January 24, 2016 Barru Hearn is taking more of a back seat these days and letting his son take over but he doesn't go into things unless he has control and that is a problem with team sports that are run by owners as snooker and darts are individuals competing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
