Notenoughnerve 67 Posted April 6, 2017 All fair comments.. Bottom line for me is simply admission costs keep the crowds away the most.. For me and my 13 year old lad it costs me £24 to stand up at BV, to sit its a minimum £30, £33 being the top figure. We get a seat each at United for £45 in total with the same £10 cost for him to sit down.! Add on the £3 parking and the programme and you are looking at £30 before any food and drink. Meaning circa £40 for a visit to Speedway to stand up for two hours and often much more.... £40 for a tiny minority sport unheard of by vast swathes of the population.. Run one match a week and that's around £160 out of your monthly disposable income.. What that has done therefore is render Speedway 'an occasional treat' for many families rather than something they can afford to do regularly. You only have to see the demographic of the average Speedway fan who attends. Male, white, middle aged and above, attending invariably by himself where he meets up with like minded mates.. Getting two thousand a week paying £15 is equal to one thousand paying £30 in admission, however much more lucrative in the bars, car parks and programme sales... And much better also in generating the type of atmosphere that not only holds onto fans but attracts them too.. A self fulfilling prophecy... Get lots of families there and it becomes 'an event' which the kids will want to be going to again and again. Have the odd lonesome family there by themselves and the kids will think they are being punished by their parents making them attend...😕 Why is it you don't mention the car parking, programme or food and drink when calculating the cost when you go to Old Toilet? Presumably that's taking you way beyond sixty quid and it's more boring there these days than even the most processional speedway race. Twenty Four sniffs for two people to watch top league professional sport is a deal. I use the cost of admission as a plus point when persuading friends to come along to the NSS. "£17 for you and the kids come along for free" People are genuinely surprised at how reasonable it is. For what it's worth, I think the decrepit facilities at Speedway tracks are what put many people off. There are much higher expectations from paying supporters on that front than there was even twenty years ago. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Appleby 13,935 Posted April 6, 2017 While I'm not by any stretch of the imagination knocking their innovative marketing efforts it does suggest that the real reason for their "success" is owners with deep pockets. Rugby teams are owned by multi-millionaires and are generally followed by people with higher incomes, which is also why the sport gets better sponsorship and media coverage. The marketing is also better because people are already familiar with the sport, and the sport can also afford it. None of this applies in speedway and never has, even during the heyday of speedway and when top-flight rugby was played out with lagered-up players in front of a few hundred fans at best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) King's Lynn Kids are off school and opening night of the season so advertising should be maximised, so you would think anyway. The only thing being advertised around the town is Stock Cars for Bank Holiday weekend I think that is because 'stock cars' - and its other formats - markets itself much better. Spedeworth Motorsports especially - who also control the speedway tracks at Ipswich and Mildenhall - are especially proficient in this respect. They put around publicity like this. Is there a parallel for speedway? And Spedeworth do similar publicity for all their stadiums and events. Edited April 6, 2017 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IronScorpion 1,407 Posted April 6, 2017 King's Lynn Kids are off school and opening night of the season so advertising should be maximised, so you would think anyway. The only thing being advertised around the town is Stock Cars for Bank Holiday weekend It's exactly the same at Scunthorpe. Stock cars, circus, motor cycle display teams, fun fairs all have posters plastered around town before these events happen plus an advertisement in the telegraph. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted April 6, 2017 It's exactly the same at Scunthorpe. Stock cars, circus, motor cycle display teams, fun fairs all have posters plastered around town before these events happen plus an advertisement in the telegraph. :shock: I take it they haven't invented the Telephone in Scunny yet? :D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woz01 3,589 Posted April 6, 2017 (edited) Just one more thing to note on Wasps - according to their own website despite averaging 16,000 people per match and their payout from the Rugby Football Union rising by £1.2 million they LOST £3.8million in season 2015/16 - having lost £2.4 million the previous season. While I'm not by any stretch of the imagination knocking their innovative marketing efforts it does suggest that the real reason for their "success" is owners with deep pockets. Not doubt about it without the owners Wasps have they wouldn't exist now. Although it was a brave move they didn't really have a choice, it was either move or become extinct. The losses are not unexpected this early in the move and not helped due to improvements the the Ricoh, getting a temporary training base in Coventry and a few other things to do with the move. Revenues up 44% and revenues will continue to grow with the site being used more and more. Bspa have finally started doing something about marketing, they've a long way to go but at least they've finally started. They should ramp it up and work with BT Sport when there is finally some live action on tv. Edited April 6, 2017 by woz01 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Humphrey Appleby 13,935 Posted April 6, 2017 I take it they haven't invented the Telephone in Scunny yet? Who uses the telephone nowadays? It's all video chat, Internet messaging and social media these days, isn't it? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waytogo28 2,054 Posted April 7, 2017 Although the Sheffield V Somerset challenge - with free admission was not a BSPA initiative it is a pity to read on another thread that even this went awry! The report in this week's SS said "frustratingly the newbies had to put up with speedway 21st Century style. Lots of holdups, tapes malfunctions and too much processional racing The diet of the modern fan". And there you have it! Until and unless the presentation of The Product suits the taste of young people, the "diet of the modern fan" will result only in the slimming down of the fanbase even further. My waytogo28 tag was chosen because I believe we have a long way to go before speedway can celebrate it's centenary unless we suddenly discover it really started in 1918. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCB 0 Posted April 7, 2017 Although the Sheffield V Somerset challenge - with free admission was not a BSPA initiative it is a pity to read on another thread that even this went awry! The report in this week's SS said "frustratingly the newbies had to put up with speedway 21st Century style. Lots of holdups, tapes malfunctions and too much processional racing The diet of the modern fan". And there you have it! Until and unless the presentation of The Product suits the taste of young people, the "diet of the modern fan" will result only in the slimming down of the fanbase even further. My waytogo28 tag was chosen because I believe we have a long way to go before speedway can celebrate it's centenary unless we suddenly discover it really started in 1918. It comes back to my quoted post in the original post. It's no good getting loads of people in and then giving them a load of crap. When you get lots of people in you have to give them something they want more of. Over the years I'll be honest, Ive taken very few people to speedway because I know it's a bit crap, to some extent we like that crap and it is part of the charm. The one friend I took kind of liked it but found it all a bit slow. Admittedly this was back in about 2001/2002, Alan Mogridge was riding for Stoke. Other than facebook we've drifted apart over the years but he'll still mention the SGP on facebook and has been to more Cardiffs that he hasn't been to (he seems to go every year) so the basics of the sport, 4 riders doing 4 laps is clearly working but what doesn't is the crap surrounding it. Now if on your big day you mess up the 4 riders doing 4 laps thing then thats it, give up. You have done more harm than good because all those extra people you dragged in? They're not coming back next year even if you do the same and have fixed the problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Snackette 190 Posted April 7, 2017 (edited) Just one more thing to note on Wasps - according to their own website despite averaging 16,000 people per match and their payout from the Rugby Football Union rising by £1.2 million they LOST £3.8million in season 2015/16 - having lost £2.4 million the previous season. While I'm not by any stretch of the imagination knocking their innovative marketing efforts it does suggest that the real reason for their "success" is owners with deep pockets. That may well be the case....but that has little to do with what they do to market the sport. The undeniable fact is they persuade 20,000 people plus to turn up for their home games, paying up to £55 a time for the privilege!! Now compare that with speedway, which is considerably cheaper to watch, yet most promotions struggle to attract 5% of that figure to their home meetings. Further proof, if more was needed, that the cost of admission has little to do with the numbers that turn up. Edited April 7, 2017 by Mr Snackette 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midland Red 2,383 Posted April 7, 2017 In all honesty, how on earth can you market the sport when you have this situation? Tonight, there are two meetings involving Premiership clubs In one, Poole go to Belle Vue with six riders (one missing) ; in the other Leicester ride at Somerset also with six riders (two of their own missing, with a guest appearing in place of one of them) Why are these three riders missing? Well, they are riding for other teams in this country - what a nonsense There really has to be an answer to this - either do away with doubling up and down, or find some alternative We've always been plagued with guests and r/r for injured riders - but accepted those as part and parcel of the sport - but to create the need for such replacement facilities to also be necessary through dual team membership of riders is pure suicide, if one is trying to get the sport taken more seriously Where has all this doubling up and down come from? Poor national organisation, plus some amount of greed from riders, possibly Somehow, we need to reorganise so that there is enough racing in the UK for riders to be just allocated to one team and have sufficient meetings for them 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattK 3,447 Posted April 7, 2017 There really has to be an answer to this - either do away with doubling up and down, or find some alternative Like running the Premiership on Wednesday and Thursday and Championship on Friday and Saturday? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted April 7, 2017 Like running the Premiership on Wednesday and Thursday and Championship on Friday and Saturday? What about those Tracks using Greyhound Stadia where the Stadium may not be available on Fridays and Saturdays? Just close them down I suppose. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruffdiamond 6,115 Posted April 7, 2017 What about those Tracks using Greyhound Stadia where the Stadium may not be available on Fridays and Saturdays? Just close them down I suppose. Just get rid of greyhound racing, how boring is it and its not even a real rabbit,,, far better watching dogs chase cats over some gardens 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teaboy279 1,038 Posted April 7, 2017 What about those Tracks using Greyhound Stadia where the Stadium may not be available on Fridays and Saturdays? Just close them down I suppose. To be fair you will never find an answer to please everyone. But going to 1 or 2 nights is the only way to make it work.rIf you can't ride on the given nights then you have the option of the National League which should always be a 7 day league. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
