Reality Time For Speedway.

[Odds On 373]

after recent shenanigans in our beloved sport, it may be a good time for a reality check for the promoters, riders and supporters.

 

The whole sport revolves around one thing, money, whether its the promoters or riders they are all dependent on it!...

 

Surely the sport should be run like a business, if more is going out than coming in then you are living beyond your means and there is only one inevitable outcome, you wouldn't run a business for long running at a loss!

 

The sport needs to change and by that I mean radically, everyone knows the golden goose is laying its eggs over in Poland, good money on offer and all appears rosy in that garden.

 

Here's the radical part, these figures are hypothetical.

 

Promoter takes in £25,000 on a race night, after all his expenses(not including riders wages) he is left with £10,000,it is then that the riders and the promotor take their cut out of the profit, currently riders are either on a guarantee or pay per points, how this works over a season is beyond belief, hence why a lot of riders are chasing money towards the end of the season etc.

 

The onus is put on the promoter and the riders to find sponsors/additional income over the off season.

 

For a rider to moan about £200 for half a days work is in insult to those that are coming through the gate paying his wages, how many speedway fans are clearing that sort of money on a daily basis, yes I know they buy their own machinery etc and the risk is great, speedway riders only race 8 months of the year!

 

Speedway is not a sport for the vast majority to make a living out of, there's more to changing a hobby into a working career work for you than having two shiny bikes with the very latest go faster gadgets on, a new sign written van, paid mechanics etc etc...

 

 

The above will come in for ridicule from some but the crux of the matter is the sport is more of a hobby than a full time profit making business.

 

Will the above happen?..no, mainly because the tail is wagging the dog and not the other way around, the sooner a stiffer and more radical check is taken and imposed on the sport the sooner the better.

 

 

[Star Lady 5,400]

What the likes of Ccok and friends have to realise is many tracks are on a financial knife edge . The cut from BSPA events possibly are the only thing keeping them afloat. If they close that's less tracks for future riders to ply their trade on and for Cook et al to earn their normal money on.

Thankfully not all riders are selfish whinging gas bags. The likes of Bomber, Garrity, Barker, Doolan, Jacobsen (apologies to any I missed out) rode their hearts out yesterday presumably for the same money. My thanks to all of them for their efforts.

[THE DEAN MACHINE 4,736]

This is pretty much spot on , the tail is wagging the dog and has been for a while now but put this point to the riders and watch the abuse you get , fans are treated like an afterthought these days

[foamfence 2,917]

after recent shenanigans in our beloved sport, it may be a good time for a reality check for the promoters, riders and supporters.

 

The whole sport revolves around one thing, money, whether its the promoters or riders they are all dependent on it!...

 

Surely the sport should be run like a business, if more is going out than coming in then you are living beyond your means and there is only one inevitable outcome, you wouldn't run a business for long running at a loss!

 

The sport needs to change and by that I mean radically, everyone knows the golden goose is laying its eggs over in Poland, good money on offer and all appears rosy in that garden.

 

Here's the radical part, these figures are hypothetical.

 

Promoter takes in £25,000 on a race night, after all his expenses(not including riders wages) he is left with £10,000,it is then that the riders and the promotor take their cut out of the profit, currently riders are either on a guarantee or pay per points, how this works over a season is beyond belief, hence why a lot of riders are chasing money towards the end of the season etc.

 

The onus is put on the promoter and the riders to find sponsors/additional income over the off season.

 

For a rider to moan about £200 for half a days work is in insult to those that are coming through the gate paying his wages, how many speedway fans are clearing that sort of money on a daily basis, yes I know they buy their own machinery etc and the risk is great, speedway riders only race 8 months of the year!

 

Speedway is not a sport for the vast majority to make a living out of, there's more to changing a hobby into a working career work for you than having two shiny bikes with the very latest go faster gadgets on, a new sign written van, paid mechanics etc etc...

 

 

The above will come in for ridicule from some but the crux of the matter is the sport is more of a hobby than a full time profit making business.

 

Will the above happen?..no, mainly because the tail is wagging the dog and not the other way around, the sooner a stiffer and more radical check is taken and imposed on the sport the sooner the better.

 

 

I doubt many promoters take in £25,000 on a race night.

[Vince 9,454]

One problem is that treating Speedway like a hobby is incredibly difficult for the majority of riders. just how many jobs fit in with a Speedway career? Most work in some capacity at least in the off season.

 

Riding on weekday evenings when you throw in the travelling and short notice for re-arranged fixtures makes being employed in another job very difficult.

 

£200 for half a days work isn't exactly true either. That's half a day being at a meeting, there is still the time spent on the bikes to get them ready and the travelling time never mind the costs involved. If you leave out the best paid I bet that the fans on the terraces wouldn't be impressed by the hourly rate.

 

Very few sports would actually survive on gate receipts, most run on outside revenue from TV and or sponsorship.

 

I don't have the answers but if riders can't survive they'll have to retire and the fans are as reliant on them as vice versa.

[Odds On 373]

Vince, on 07 Aug 2017 - 11:19 AM, said:

£200 for half a days work isn't exactly true either. That's half a day being at a meeting, there is still the time spent on the bikes to get them ready and the travelling time never mind the costs involved. If you leave out the best paid I bet that the fans on the terraces wouldn't be impressed by the hourly rate.

 

the £200 was just a example of a rider in the news just lately, here's another example, a rider in the Elite scoring double figures in one match earning over a £1000.

The money riders are wanting just isn't viable, they along with everybody else involved with the sport need to realise just that for the long term future of the sport, the days of earning a living out of the sport for the majority has gone.

[THE DEAN MACHINE 4,736]

the £200 was just a example of a rider in the news just lately, here's another example, a rider in the Elite scoring double figures in one match earning over a £1000.

The money riders are wanting just isn't viable, they along with everybody else involved with the sport need to realise just that for the long term future of the sport, the days of earning a living out of the sport for the majority has gone.

it has but they don't want to see it , I don't like to go into detail about individual riders finances but some deals are truly eye opening for speedway , it's not that they don't deserve it but it's totally about speedway can't afford it Edited August 7, 2017 by THE DEAN MACHINE

[The Master 88 10]

You will have to ban Engine tuning to make it a sensible sport again, Money wise riders can spent silly money for one meeting hence what they demand, Did John Berry say a long time ago, Sealed engines no tuning will bring down the Costs, make racing closer and fairer.

[The White Knight 9,039]

You will have to ban Engine tuning to make it a sensible sport again, Money wise riders can spent silly money for one meeting hence what they demand, Did John Berry say a long time ago, Sealed engines no tuning will bring down the Costs, make racing closer and fairer.

John Berry said a lot of very sensible things. Would that he was around and involved in Speedway these days.

[SCB 0]

One problem is that treating Speedway like a hobby is incredibly difficult for the majority of riders. just how many jobs fit in with a Speedway career? Most work in some capacity at least in the off season.

 

Riding on weekday evenings when you throw in the travelling and short notice for re-arranged fixtures makes being employed in another job very difficult.

 

£200 for half a days work isn't exactly true either. That's half a day being at a meeting, there is still the time spent on the bikes to get them ready and the travelling time never mind the costs involved. If you leave out the best paid I bet that the fans on the terraces wouldn't be impressed by the hourly rate.

 

Very few sports would actually survive on gate receipts, most run on outside revenue from TV and or sponsorship.

 

I don't have the answers but if riders can't survive they'll have to retire and the fans are as reliant on them as vice versa.

Was discussing this last night. These days we seem to have a choice between the top guys turning up as and when Poland etc say they can or we can drop them, sign lower standard, more amateur teams and let riders get jobs in addition to their speedway but the compromise is they can miss re-arranged meetings and say 5 other meeting during the season. Or we have squads, maybe the extra riders would be foreign based riders who did the odd meeting as and when it suits both parties.

 

We need to be doing less for the top guys and more for the British (based) riders.

 

We also need a zero tolerance policy on riders missing meetings or Poland, the SEC etc. It shouldn't matter if a facility is used or not.

[Gresham 928]

after recent shenanigans in our beloved sport, it may be a good time for a reality check for the promoters, riders and supporters.

 

The whole sport revolves around one thing, money, whether its the promoters or riders they are all dependent on it!...

 

Surely the sport should be run like a business, if more is going out than coming in then you are living beyond your means and there is only one inevitable outcome, you wouldn't run a business for long running at a loss!

 

The sport needs to change and by that I mean radically, everyone knows the golden goose is laying its eggs over in Poland, good money on offer and all appears rosy in that garden.

 

Here's the radical part, these figures are hypothetical.

 

Promoter takes in £25,000 on a race night, after all his expenses(not including riders wages) he is left with £10,000,it is then that the riders and the promotor take their cut out of the profit, currently riders are either on a guarantee or pay per points, how this works over a season is beyond belief, hence why a lot of riders are chasing money towards the end of the season etc.

 

The onus is put on the promoter and the riders to find sponsors/additional income over the off season.

 

For a rider to moan about £200 for half a days work is in insult to those that are coming through the gate paying his wages, how many speedway fans are clearing that sort of money on a daily basis, yes I know they buy their own machinery etc and the risk is great, speedway riders only race 8 months of the year!

 

Speedway is not a sport for the vast majority to make a living out of, there's more to changing a hobby into a working career work for you than having two shiny bikes with the very latest go faster gadgets on, a new sign written van, paid mechanics etc etc...

 

 

The above will come in for ridicule from some but the crux of the matter is the sport is more of a hobby than a full time profit making business.

 

Will the above happen?..no, mainly because the tail is wagging the dog and not the other way around, the sooner a stiffer and more radical check is taken and imposed on the sport the sooner the better.

 

 

I agree...out of interest...how many Speedway Promotors have other businesses that they make their main income from?

 

It would help imo, if Speedway meetings were run on just one or two evenings a week, preferably a weekend.

 

At least the riders could work other jobs outside of Speedway if needs must.