Bt Sport Coverage

[Daniel Smith 5,645]

Speedway would be far better on the TV as a highlights package. 

Stick on a "match of the week" with full 15 heats, all done in about 30mins then review the other match taken place that week.

Just have the Play-Offs and Final live as these become the least affected feom live TV.

[someone 50]

21 hours ago, East End Fan said:

As a general principle, why on earth should any TV company get any watchable material for nothing ?

As a general principle because they are still having to pay for the production so it does not cost them nothing.  They are still having to spend something to get something watchable.  But the sport gets the exposure for itself and its sponsors making such an arrangement valuable to them.  As a general principle.

The most popular sports attract so many viewers they are more valuable to the broadcaster, so the sport can demand fees be paid in addition to the production costs.

The least popular sports do not get enough viewers to justify the costs, so the sport has to pay the broadcast to be televised or produce their own coverage which they can give to a broadcaster for free.

And those in between are popular enough that broadcasters want to show them, but not popular enough they are willing to pay extra.

I have no interest in motorsports and never knew about speedway until looking at what was on TV one night and came across it.  If you do not come from a family who already follow the sport or live in a town with a team that gets covered by the local paper and radio stations and talked about by school friends or colleagues then how would you discover it?

Sports need exposure.  Hence also the question even amongst the more popular sports over whether to receive more in rights from Sky and BT, or to accept less money in return for greater exposure from the BBC and ITV.

Cricket is the  second biggest sport in the country, has just earned £1.1bn (over five years) for its television coverage from 2020, yet for over a decade has seen constant criticism about declining interest because being on Sky has limited its exposure.  And that still with extensive radio and press coverage and highlights on Channel 5.

Do you really think British speedway would grow if it had no TV coverage at all?  Or that it is powerful currently to dictate its own terms?

Unfortunately I cannot use BT broadband, nor justify the full cost of BT Sport only for speedway, so I have pretty much stopped following British speedway.  Instead I watched the Elitserien as I had Premier Sports anyway, on a deal, and was able to watch the SGP and SWC through the world feed.

I accept it was not the BSPA choosing to leave Sky, but I have no local team so I am just not exposed to British speedway any more.  They will have at least been discovered by some new viewers on BT to replace those they lost like me.  That is more than they would have done had they shunned TV altogether.

[Grand Central 2,654]

13 hours ago, PHILIPRISING said:

DO you seriously think that the reason attendances have dropped is solely because of television coverage?

No I do not think it is solely because of TV coverage.

But I do think it is a big reason.

And for me, personally, definitely THE biggest reason for the overall number of meetings I attend being significantly reduced.

On a side note .. I gave up Sky Sports when GPs left them and went without the Eite League coverage for the time they retained the UK rights. I never felt it worth continuing the subs for that alone. Until it went to BTSport when I got GB Speedway 'free' with my Virgin deal and then I watched every Monday meeting.

Speedway fan for 40 years, attended probably 2000 plus meetings in that time ... But having it regularly on TV and I really do stay home more often. And every time I do the promoters lose the best part of £20.

They are right to be more worried about this aspect than people here give them credit for.

 

Edited February 27, 2018 by Grand Central

[woodenspoon 157]

Having attended several meetings at BV when the meeting was on TV, it was not an enjoyable experience, as there were far too many holdups whilst the TV did interviews and adds. You always felt the TV were in control of the meeting and not BV.

If the weather looks inclement a lot of fans will stay in and watch the TV meeting.

For BV this winter has seen them get a real stuffing from the BSPA as they did not get a vote. We lost our Friday night speedway, and will now loose quite a few fans, as Mondays are followed by a school day, and some parents will not take their children if so. Also we lost any chance of re-signing Kenneth Bjerre, with the alternate night being Wednesday

If the TV is live on a Monday it will mean that BV run home matches on the same night.

So all in all BV have nothing to gain from live TV of speedway, unless there is a considerable compensation package.

[BWitcher 12,453]

5 hours ago, Midland Red said:

Not the ONLY cause, granted, but definitely A cause - and I have proof from friends and acquaintances who no longer attend, at all or as much, because it's on tv so much

Not proof at all, highly likely they wouldn't be going as much anyway. Simple iceberg theory.

 

 

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

3 hours ago, woodenspoon said:

Having attended several meetings at BV when the meeting was on TV, it was not an enjoyable experience, as there were far too many holdups whilst the TV did interviews and adds. You always felt the TV were in control of the meeting and not BV.

If the weather looks inclement a lot of fans will stay in and watch the TV meeting.

For BV this winter has seen them get a real stuffing from the BSPA as they did not get a vote. We lost our Friday night speedway, and will now loose quite a few fans, as Mondays are followed by a school day, and some parents will not take their children if so. Also we lost any chance of re-signing Kenneth Bjerre, with the alternate night being Wednesday

If the TV is live on a Monday it will mean that BV run home matches on the same night.

So all in all BV have nothing to gain from live TV of speedway, unless there is a considerable compensation package.

NO team is likely to run every week, too few fixtures, so clashes can and should be avoided.

[Midland Red 2,383]

4 hours ago, BWitcher said:

Not proof at all, highly likely they wouldn't be going as much anyway. Simple iceberg theory.

 

 

You obviously know more about my friends and acquaintances than I do 

[BWitcher 12,453]

42 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

You obviously know more about my friends and acquaintances than I do 

No, I just know about general human nature. TV may have given them an excuse to stop going, but the reasons they stopped going lie elsewhere. Those reasons would have stopped them going altogether at some point.. tv is simply keeping their interest alive.

[Grachan 7,314]

On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way.

There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

[BWitcher 12,453]

32 minutes ago, Grachan said:

On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way.

There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

FA Cup crowds have been way down for a long time, regardless of TV.

[ray c 2,299]

6 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

FA Cup crowds have been way down for a long time, regardless of TV.

I think that's because he club's don't take the fa cup serious any more so why should the supporters ?

[Midland Red 2,383]

12 hours ago, BWitcher said:

No, I just know about general human nature. TV may have given them an excuse to stop going, but the reasons they stopped going lie elsewhere. Those reasons would have stopped them going altogether at some point.. tv is simply keeping their interest alive.

Gosh - such a highly qualified person on the BSF - who would have thought it! 

You may know about your own human nature - and that of your nearest and dearest - but the wider world, oh no you don't!

Seriously - you actually prove my point by saying "tv may have given them an excuse to stop going"

They definitely wouldn't have opted out of so many meetings had speedway not been televised - which is the whole point I make

 

 

 

[Midland Red 2,383]

11 hours ago, Grachan said:

On the night attendance is clearly affected by tv, but it's not just speedway that is affected in this way.

There is a Swansea v Sheff Wed football match live on BBC1 at the moment. Take a look at the crowd!

Have you tried getting a ticket for a Premier League fixture?  

[mikebv 10,238]

Most tiny, minority sports with crowd levels similar to Speedway would kill to get the coverage British Speedway has enjoyed over the years.

And given the opportunity you would also think that they would do a far better job in utilising this media vehicle to move their sport forwards..

I sometimes think those who run the sport in this country see it far differently than the general wider populace and in their eyes it is actually a bona fide 'proper' sport rather than a niche, cobbled together most nights, conduit, for riders to ride as many times as they can to earn enough money as possible to justify their outlay on machinery...

The emotional connection to 'their team' , for many fans, is simply long gone due to the farcical way most meetings are now participated in by a 'whoever is available select team'.

Therefore, not bothering to attend such a nonsense scenario, and keeping your hard earned in your pocket, is very much a distinct possibility (probability?) when you have an alternative to it by watching four lads in different coloured helmets compete in fifteen races on TV, regardless of whether 'your team' is being covered or not..

Watching racing on TV is now similar to watching it live when it comes to that emotional connection most weeks, therefore when you have paid for your subscription why pay more to attend something that isnt a true sporting contest and is also something you have very little emotional attachment too..?

TV coverage isn't helping to 'kill' British Speedway, in fact it should have made it a big player given the tens of millions it has provided it with and the thousands of hours of coverage over the years..

Unfortunately those in charge haven't had a clue how to use either the money or the coverage to build Speedway in this country, and instead of haggling for 'how much' they want given, they should be very grateful TV are still interested in their tiny,  insular, poorly ran Sport..

I attend Premier League football most weeks, with my team on live TV probably 80% of the time due to their pulling power in generating a TV audience. I pay a hell of lot more to watch them than I do BV...

If however, my team allowed David De Gea to play for Arsenal one week, Chelsea the next and Liverpool the week after, do you think I and thousands of others would continue to pay to attend such nonsense? Of course not... 

Sort out the Sport by running it with integrity and credibility..

Until then no one can blame TV for reducing crowd levels...

 

Edited February 28, 2018 by mikebv

[BWitcher 12,453]

1 hour ago, Midland Red said:

Gosh - such a highly qualified person on the BSF - who would have thought it! 

You may know about your own human nature - and that of your nearest and dearest - but the wider world, oh no you don't!

Seriously - you actually prove my point by saying "tv may have given them an excuse to stop going"

They definitely wouldn't have opted out of so many meetings had speedway not been televised - which is the whole point I make

 

 

 

Actually I do. 

Fortunately TV has kept the interest of these people for a longer period so they still attend occasionally. Without TV the actual issues that have caused them to skip meetings and watch 'other' clubs on TV would have simply meant they stopped going to the sport altogether.

TV is the tip of the iceberg you can see, it's not what sinks the ship. Dig deeper and you'll find the real reasons.