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SarahLapworth

British Speedway - Dead Or Alive?

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I can say that I am no longer involved in speedway and very rarely watch it these days. I did watch the 2nd leg of the Grand Final on SKY - well a few heats anyway until it was obvious that Wolves had won. I used to watch the GP as that was the best racing one could watch until it went to BT Sports. I cannot justify the extra subscription fee to watch it when I already pay for Sky.

 

What I have noticed in the last few years is the rapid decline of British Speedway. I have looked at the team listings this year for the Elite League/Premiership or whatever they call it these days and I must admit there are no names that stand out. It looks like a watered down top division if you will. Ok maybe I am being a bit harsh here but my point is this. The top division clubs and even Premier League (oh sorry Championship) are charging up to £20 each to get in. take into account £3 for your programme, petrol, food and drink and you are looking at a fortune. Now one would not mind if you were paying to see the best riders in the world but the truth is you are not. What you are paying for is a watered down pile of c*** labelled as the best that British Speedway has to offer.

 

Wages have risen in the UK over the last couple of years and folk have move disposable income but there are far better things to spend your money on. Promoters should stand back and take a look at the product they are selling. If they lowered their admission prices and marketed it better maybe more people would turn up. Of cause there will always be the hardcore fans that turn up no matter what. Do these people have more money than sense? I doubt it.

 

Overall is the product that these promoters are selling in 2017 viable? I very much doubt it.

Ok, so you wont be returning, 'then on your bike, buddy'. :neutral:

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Names don't necessarily mean that much to me. If anything the likes of Hancock and Woffinden would put me off going but I accept they might entice others.

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Perhaps the GP's will go from strength to strength, to a point where GP riders will be almost a separate entity...

 

Something like 14 to 15 Rounds, bigger sponsors, bigger prizes, and GP riders won't need to compete at league level...

 

League racing will be free of GP riders and will be able to flourish with riders not zipping off fortnightly to do the GP's, except for perhaps the qualifiers......

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Perhaps the GP's will go from strength to strength, to a point where GP riders will be almost a separate entity...

 

Something like 14 to 15 Rounds, bigger sponsors, bigger prizes, and GP riders won't need to compete at league level...

 

League racing will be free of GP riders and will be able to flourish with riders not zipping off fortnightly to do the GP's, except for perhaps the qualifiers......

Hope this never happens, can you just imagine the uproar and disappointment of league fans if a rider was gp reserve/next up, a pukka GP rider gets injured during early season so ya team is buggered up as ya top man has to swan off to the GPs! And nobody else wants to race here that year .....

 

The GP series is great for the top guys and a goal for up and comers but it haven't benefitted speedway as a whole. How many young people/people full stop have watched the GPs on the TV then started supporting a league team? How many new sponsors have come into league speedway because of the GP series? All I see is the series take and take and give nothing back.

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Well at the moment it is dead !, but come March it will be given the "kiss of life" and dragged kicking and screaming back to existence, maybe not "life as we know it Jim", maybe not as healthy as previous years, but definitely alive

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Well at the moment it is dead !, but come March it will be given the "kiss of life" and dragged kicking and screaming back to existence, maybe not "life as we know it Jim", maybe not as healthy as previous years, but definitely alive

And I can't wait 😄😄😄
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I think the views of those who have recently stopped attending live matches are very important as they give vital feedback as to why they have turned away from the sport. IF anyone at the BSPA is listening and interested in those reasons. I am teetering on the brink of not going to live in-stadium matches this coming season - after not missing most of any season since 1956. I am a great fan of live TV broadcast matches and intend to see them all during 2017. They contain so much more content and interest than what is on offer at live, in -stadium matches. It is not age nor infirmity that is driving me away but the overlong empty desert between races and the poor facilities ( even something as basic as clear tannoy announcements ) With only 25% of heats having any passing in them ( if you are lucky enough to get that many! ) Poor quality overpriced food and drink on offer. The list of cons far outweighs the list of pros as reasons to go. And that is without the cost of admission! Far too expensive - for me to see every televised speedway match of last season inc Sky and BT cost less than £10 per meeting. Great value and very enjoyable for such a professional package. The worst thing is the "is it on or off" decision taken after poor weather and that often takes another wasted 45 - 60 mins before it is declared as "off". Once last season it was "we will crack on at 7.30 pm because more rain is forecast later " ( but then further remedial work was demanded by some of the riders ) and it was then called off at 8,30 pm. We had been standing there since 7 pm. on what was anyway not a pleasant evening weatherise. Sadly nothing organisationally nor presentation wise has change much since the 1960's. Speedway matches need to be £!2 /£10 and free for under 16's. If you want a continuing and growing future audience. In this weeks Speedway Star the Polish Speedway "overlord" was quoted as saying re British Speedway " most importantly you must enhance the marketing strategy" AND " renaming the leagues is not enough". Things may not be perfect in Polish Speedway but they DO have "bums on seats" in meaningful, viable numbers .

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I think the views of those who have recently stopped attending live matches are very important as they give vital feedback as to why they have turned away from the sport. IF anyone at the BSPA is listening and interested in those reasons. I am teetering on the brink of not going to live in-stadium matches this coming season - after not missing most of any season since 1956. I am a great fan of live TV broadcast matches and intend to see them all during 2017. They contain so much more content and interest than what is on offer at live, in -stadium matches. It is not age nor infirmity that is driving me away but the overlong empty desert between races and the poor facilities ( even something as basic as clear tannoy announcements ) With only 25% of heats having any passing in them ( if you are lucky enough to get that many! ) Poor quality overpriced food and drink on offer. The list of cons far outweighs the list of pros as reasons to go. And that is without the cost of admission! Far too expensive - for me to see every televised speedway match of last season inc Sky and BT cost less than £10 per meeting. Great value and very enjoyable for such a professional package. The worst thing is the "is it on or off" decision taken after poor weather and that often takes another wasted 45 - 60 mins before it is declared as "off". Once last season it was "we will crack on at 7.30 pm because more rain is forecast later " ( but then further remedial work was demanded by some of the riders ) and it was then called off at 8,30 pm. We had been standing there since 7 pm. on what was anyway not a pleasant evening weatherise. Sadly nothing organisationally nor presentation wise has change much since the 1960's. Speedway matches need to be £!2 /£10 and free for under 16's. If you want a continuing and growing future audience. In this weeks Speedway Star the Polish Speedway "overlord" was quoted as saying re British Speedway " most importantly you must enhance the marketing strategy" AND " renaming the leagues is not enough". Things may not be perfect in Polish Speedway but they DO have "bums on seats" in meaningful, viable numbers .

Polish fans on the whole walk or tram it to their big stadiums to support their town's team racing on bloody great tracks made for today's bikes. They go with a determination to have a good time after having a few beers before hand, ready to chant and wave their team onto a win, no interviews, extras or anything, simple as that, how many British fans can say the same?
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Perhaps the GP's will go from strength to strength, to a point where GP riders will be almost a separate entity...

 

Something like 14 to 15 Rounds, bigger sponsors, bigger prizes, and GP riders won't need to compete at league level...

 

League racing will be free of GP riders and will be able to flourish with riders not zipping off fortnightly to do the GP's, except for perhaps the qualifiers......

Certainly separate from British Speedway. But the Poles will hold on to them just fine. Might not be the worst thing ever. Does Chris Holder really bring in that many people?

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but the overlong empty desert between races and the poor facilities ( even something as basic as clear tannoy announcements ) With only 25% of heats having any passing in them ( if you are lucky enough to get that many! ) Poor quality overpriced food and drink on offer.

 

Which bit of that has changed in the last few years ?

 

I was going regularly in the 1980's and it was the same then.

Edited by Halifaxtiger
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Polish fans on the whole walk or tram it to their big stadiums to support their town's team racing on bloody great tracks made for today's bikes. They go with a determination to have a good time after having a few beers before hand, ready to chant and wave their team onto a win, no interviews, extras or anything, simple as that, how many British fans can say the same?

Not many because there aren't many tracks that you can walk or bus to and some of them are so horrible that you probably wouldn't want to go twice.

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Not many because there aren't many tracks that you can walk or bus to and some of them are so horrible that you probably wouldn't want to go twice.

It's all the racing though, I must be old hat, I just need a terrace, a decent mic man and tannoy and some great racing

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It's all the racing though, I must be old hat, I just need a terrace, a decent mic man and tannoy and some great racing

 

Not at all.

 

Throw in a home win and that's pretty much what everyone wants.

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Not at all.

 

Throw in a home win and that's pretty much what everyone wants.

Or an away win, heaven is an away win lol
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Some very interesting comments. Thank you for taking the time you share your views even if some of you don't agree with me. There is nothing like a good debate.

 

One aspect I forgot to add to my post was is speedway dead or alive? For now maybe its just clinging on. If you look at the current league structure and costs of British speedway you will have noticed that in the last couple of seasons most of the established tracks have decided to cut their losses and drop down to the National League. Eastbourne and now Lakeside. Tracks who found they simply could not survive in the higher tiers such as Birmingham and Plymouth. On the other hand does one see Kent or Cradley stepping up anytime soon? errmm NO! Their owners would have to have very big pockets and be financial suicidal. From what I can gather the only track that makes any money is Poole?

 

Will speedway in the UK be dead in the next 10 years? Very very probable! Why do I say this? Land and the need of it for housing. I actually work in the housing sector so know what I am talking about here. I'm sure unless you have been living in the deepest darkest jungles of the Congo for the past few years most of you will be aware of the housing crisis in the UK. It is a two way scenario. Firstly there is a shortage of social housing. Secondly the government in partnership with the developers want to provide more people for opportunity for people to buy new builds with schemes such as help to buy and shared ownership.

 

Available land is now a premium. Landowners are being asked name your price (depending on the area obviously). It's well noted Coventry will be gone shortly. But there will come a time when the land owners of all tracks close to populated area's will be tempted to bite the cherry. Think it will never happen to my team? Well take into account last weeks news that the Jockey Club want to sell off Kempton Park Racecourse. Kempton Park - one of the UK's most famous and premier racecourses! It's certainly not making a loss and attracts huge crowds to its feature meetings. However it is very close to London and the Jockey Club have been rumored to be asking £100m for the land.

 

Maybe in 2027 we will have an elite league with just Buxton and Mildenhall. Poole may be making money but its only a matter of time before Mr Ford accepts the millions.

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