Theboss 727 Posted November 7, 2017 (edited) Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here. It is detrimental to the majority of clubs as their promoters have no idea on how to capitalise on the TV time. So it will nearly always fall back to making a decision on basic economics. On that basis a club will probably host 2 live TV meetings at home in 2018 which is £20k of income (a significant lose on previous seasons), this will hardly touch the sides paying a GP rider to race over a season. Therefore I can not see a deal happening. Edited November 7, 2017 by jchapman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cowboy cookie returns? 747 Posted November 7, 2017 Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here The above taken from Philip Rising.....that just shows stupid some in the BSPA really are. Speedway must be the only sport that hasn't managed to harness tv for the good of the sport. Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here The above taken from Philip Rising.....that just shows stupid some in the BSPA really are. Speedway must be the only sport that hasn't managed to harness tv for the good of the sport. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CookieIpswich 249 Posted November 7, 2017 Why can't bspa negotiate or attempt to get bt to sponsor the league then get the coverage for free? BT Broadband Premiership or similar or BT Mobile Premiership Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flagrag 704 Posted November 7, 2017 (edited) Well I have had a meeting today with some of the rights acquisition team today on another matter and have had a positive chat about Speedway on Sky. I am not saying that it will be back but have made them aware fully of facts on the basis that BT covered it and on the costings & budgets they would have worked to. They were very interested to know that BT saw improvements in viewing figures in 2017 and that they want it back but are at present not offering any money. It may well be that nothing happens from the Sky side but just wanted them to have the full facts and the product has improved and will be even better in 2018. Edited November 7, 2017 by flagrag 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theboss 727 Posted November 7, 2017 I have just read with interest about the following BT sport pricing increase.... BT Sport for customers with BT broadband will rise to £10 a month from £7.50, the biggest increase at 33 per cent. Non-BT broadband customers who watch BT Sport with a Sky box will see prices rise by £3 to £25.99 a month. Bt Sport via app will rise from £5 to £7 a month, but BT Sport for BT TV customers is staying at £3.50 a month. Will this extra income be used to make a significant bid for the 2018 speedway TV rights? It may well be that nothing happens from the Sky side but just wanted them to have the full facts and the product has improved and will be even better in 2018. I would be interested to hear what facts you shared on how the product had improved in 2017 and what plans are in place to continue these improvements in 2018? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flagrag 704 Posted November 7, 2017 (edited) The facts I shared Mr Chapman were that in 2017 the racing was better,Crowd numbers were significantly higher for TV matches, Promotors were in general more supportive of TV. There has also been more large National companies getting involved with Sponsorship like at Leicester with JCB & Arriva bus and Premier Inn at Wolves For 2018 I have been told on good authority that there will be at least 7 GP riders appearing in the top league in the UK. This is to add to the regular race nights that's been agreed so wont have so many guests due to doubling up as won't be clashes. Edited November 7, 2017 by flagrag 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theboss 727 Posted November 7, 2017 The facts I shared Mr Chapman were that in 2017 the racing was better,Crowd numbers were significantly higher for TV matches, Promotors were in general more supportive of TV. For 2018 I have been told on good authority that there will be at least 7 GP riders appearing in the top league in the UK. This is to add to the regular race nights that's been agreed so wont have so many guests due to doubling up as won't be clashes. It all sounds rather promising, let's just hope either sky or BT pay up enough money for the TV rights to keep the bank balances of the clubs employing the 7 GP riders above water. Fine balance between sanity and vanity. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PHILIPRISING 7,298 Posted November 7, 2017 It is detrimental to the majority of clubs as their promoters have no idea on how to capitalise on the TV time. So it will nearly always fall back to making a decision on basic economics. On that basis a club will probably host 2 live TV meetings at home in 2018 which is £20k of income (a significant lose on previous seasons), this will hardly touch the sides paying a GP rider to race over a season. Therefore I can not see a deal happening. SURELY 20 grand is better than nothing plus there is always the opportunity to glean additional revenue by working hard to bring sponsors on board on the back of TV coverage. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theboss 727 Posted November 7, 2017 SURELY 20 grand is better than nothing plus there is always the opportunity to glean additional revenue by working hard to bring sponsors on board on the back of TV coverage. I agree with you Phil, however how many of the premiership promoters can you honestly say will see this the same way? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RobMcCaffery 2,752 Posted November 8, 2017 Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here. Time to repeat my personal experience from years back, for the benefit of those who haven't heard it before. From 1984 to early 1986 I presented a weekly news review on the old Screen Sport TV channel which was transmitted about 5 pm on Saturday evenings. One of the areas that had a large cluster of towns carrying the service on cable was Kent so when I always finished the programme with a look at the week's fixtures (a personal choice to get the message out when viewers could watch the sport live for themselves), I always emphasised that there was a meeting at Canterbury at 7 pm. We had weekly speedway then. How quaint, eh? We received feedback that the then Canterbury promoter was objecting to our programme harming his crowds. How anyone could think half an hour of me talking to camera unscripted with a couple of interviews and a preview of a race from that week' recorded match was preferable to going to Kingsmead was way beyond me. After all this time you do hope that things have changed. Clearly not. Looking on thankfully from the sidelines now it does seem that speedway gets far better coverage than those running it deserve. Look at how shabbily the excellent BBC Radio WM service has been treated by certain tracks when they wanted to cover away matches. Yes, there is a local BBC that not only gives full match commentary when they can on Wolverhampton and Birmingham matches but are also keen to cover the away fixtures! Somehow they still bother although the service has been relegated to the BBC website only now. Re the 2017 BT coverage, I thought with the exception of the ill-advised coverage of the promotion/relegation matches the televised meetings managed to avoid most of the vices of the sport this year - mass rider absenteeism, multiple guests, rider walk-outs and races to just get 10 heats run and finish for the night. Perhaps the lack of clashing fixtures elsewhere on Mondays helped? Despite some dodgy camerawork the whole feel of BT's coverage felt a step up from Sky despite what appears to be a very limited budget. The role of Natalie Quirk in achieving this, along with Steve Brandon cannot be praised enough. If you just watched the BT coverage and ignored all other matches, speedway news and social media you'd think you were looking at a pretty healthy product. That was a pretty skilled job, climaxed by the ability to ignore the obvious yawning gaps in logic of the relegation play-off where true discretion was used in not saying why key parts of the Leicester team were missing ;-) I hope they're back next year. 10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Whisperer 276 Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) SURELY 20 grand is better than nothing plus there is always the opportunity to glean additional revenue by working hard to bring sponsors on board on the back of TV coverage. There's plenty of Deja Vu as far as TV and Speedway are concerned, let's be honest the BSPA had it all and abused it with petty breaches of the agreements. Duct tape numbers, missing race suits, no Sky Sports banner advertising, filthy air fences and banners before racing commenced, uncut grass on centre greens, I even remember ground level shots at Kirky Lane that featured the weeds growing all along the kickboards. Terry introduced the TV meeting presentation audit document as part of the contract to assist clubs to identify the standards required and help them prepare for a TV meeting - they saw that as outrageous and completely ignored it - they couldn't even see it as an aide memoir ! I still can't believe the shock revelation that the members of the Management Committee were all senior officers on the SS Titanic ! "Flick the icebergs full speed ahead" Edited November 8, 2017 by Whisperer 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waytogo28 2,054 Posted November 8, 2017 ccr? said" Speedway must be the only sport that hasn't managed to harness tv for the good of the sport. Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here" Which shows that the dinosaurs are comfortably ensconced at the BSPA! A GP rider is going to cost each club £3k to £5k per match. And it can only be vanity that makes promoters who employ them for 2018 believe they will add even enough fans to cover the basic cost of their wages ( without the add ons ) i.e. around at least 250 new or woo'ed back customers. Seems very unlikely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest GiveusaB Posted November 8, 2017 I'm not a fan of watching league matches 'live' on Tv......I dont think its a great advert for the sport when we have to put up with re-run after re-run, due to the 'stupid' start gate rules. I'm more inclined to record the match and fast forward the mind numbing bits in between. I'd be gutted if we lost the Gp coverage, but not too bothered about the league stuff! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,636 Posted November 8, 2017 (edited) Matt Ford in the local paper today reckons that confirmation of a TV deal (together with what's happening in other European countries at the moment) will precede the arrival of several 'GP level' riders to British Speedway - some returning and others new to British league racing!! Whatever people think of MF, he knows full well how valuable a TV coverage deal is to get corporate sponsors for both clubs and riders. I can't imagine there is a current Premiership promoter who would be against it?! If a deal is forthcoming - aside from any direct financial incentives to clubs - then the basis to attract/maintain sponsorship for the clubs and ultimately the riders is very strong and positive. Edited November 8, 2017 by Skidder1 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,362 Posted November 8, 2017 ccr? said" Speedway must be the only sport that hasn't managed to harness tv for the good of the sport. Take it or leave it could be right but there are those in the BSPA who believe that televised speedway is actually detrimental to the sport here" Which shows that the dinosaurs are comfortably ensconced at the BSPA! A GP rider is going to cost each club £3k to £5k per match. And it can only be vanity that makes promoters who employ them for 2018 believe they will add even enough fans to cover the basic cost of their wages ( without the add ons ) i.e. around at least 250 new or woo'ed back customers. Seems very unlikely. Or, to look at it another way. Keeping Jason Doyle at Swindon might not add 250 to the gate at Swindon, but getting rid of him might lose 250. Also, look at Swindon and Wolves last year. They had GP riders, and reaped the benefits of that with bigger crowds and a play-off final due to having a winning side. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
