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THINGS DON'T CHANGE

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20 minutes ago, Halifaxtiger said:

When Belle Vue dropped the piece to £10 for the TV match against Wolverhampton last year they got one of their biggest attendance of the season - the grandstand was packed.

However, that doesn't mean it would happen every week and experience suggests that you are absolutely right - the price drop isn't compensated for by the increase in attendances.

 

Agree with this. But I also think part of the sports problem is there too much of it in the UK. Less meetings, at less tracks and people will have less to pick and choose from meaning the meeting that do happen will have bigger crowds. It's why I don't get this pandering to struggling clubs, let them go, close down. Also why second clubs at tracks like Coventry at Leciester is not good. But British Speedway (and it's fans) have this odd believe that "the more speedway  the better".

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Out of interest anyone know how much I would have paid to get in as a 14 year old for my first meeting in 1975 at Dudley Wood

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16 minutes ago, SCB said:

Agree with this. But I also think part of the sports problem is there too much of it in the UK. Less meetings, at less tracks and people will have less to pick and choose from meaning the meeting that do happen will have bigger crowds. It's why I don't get this pandering to struggling clubs, let them go, close down. Also why second clubs at tracks like Coventry at Leciester is not good. But British Speedway (and it's fans) have this odd believe that "the more speedway  the better".

Don't agree, usually when a track closes the majority of its fans are lost, when Sheffield closed I stopped going altogether as did most of the Sheffield fans I knew at the time

All less tracks with less meetings will mean is less fans

 

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Did any Coventry fans go to watch at wolves or Leicester or Peterborough last season??? Surely some did which would have boosted the crowds at those tracks

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25 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Did any Coventry fans go to watch at wolves or Leicester or Peterborough last season??? Surely some did which would have boosted the crowds at those tracks

The Massif is one short tonight Baldy :(

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1 hour ago, Baldyman said:

Did any Coventry fans go to watch at wolves or Leicester or Peterborough last season??? Surely some did which would have boosted the crowds at those tracks

And how many didn't go anywhere, or how many of the ones who went every week to Coventry went every week to another track?

Far more fans will have been lost forever or hopefully only lost until Coventry return home, soon hopefully

Edited by The Third Man

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3 hours ago, Baldyman said:

Did any Coventry fans go to watch at wolves or Leicester or Peterborough last season??? Surely some did which would have boosted the crowds at those tracks

I went to all the Leicester matches and Sunday ones at Peterborough.

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On 1/8/2018 at 9:27 AM, mikebv said:

Certain Sporting entertainment....

Like everything else you can purchase, 'supply and demand' will play a huge part on the development of a 'price point'...

Football (at Premier League level) appears to be 'bomb proof' due to all the TV money and coverage creating huge public interest.  Which in turn garners enormous Sponsorship from global brands..  

Domestic Rugby Union has dragged itself from being on TV on a Sunday with an hours highlights, (sometimes playing on pitches with one stand and a rope running around the other three sides for the supporters to stand behind) in the Seventies and early Eighties, to become the second highest attended Sport in the Country, played out in modern fit for purpose stadia. Again now attracting global brand Sponsorship..

Both Sports can now charge inflation busting admission fees because...

Well, simply..

They can!!...

Speedway sadly cannot as quite clearly and evidently, the demand blatantly isn't there..

If it cannot cut its costs to be able to significantly cut its current 'price point' then it has major, major problems going forward, as an ever dwindling fan base means even higher admission costs for those who still attend, all to just (at best) 'stand still'....

Good points, although I wonder if the bit I've highlighted should be the other way round. Higher admission costs = a dwindling fan base.

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On 1/8/2018 at 9:34 PM, mikebv said:

As we know through it happening several times before at a good few tracks, dropping the price significantly will deliver a crowd usually in high double digit percentage growth from the norm, (sometimes much more than that when done for free!)...

The issue lies in getting them to come back and pay full price...

It shows the demand can still be there though for Speedway to attract a decent crowd, just not at full price...

If demand isn't there for the full price, then the full price is too high. Simple as that. A lower price needs to be applied on a regular basis, not just as a one-off.

The aim of a promoter, from a business point of view, is surely to maximise the gate receipts? Not just to keep blindly charging the same as last year + £1 (not counting increases for parking and programmes).

Unfortunately, in the manner of HM Government wrestling with the Laffer curve, this would require some testing at different prices, and for different periods of time, to see what would happen, and I can't imagine any clubs would bother to try this.

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I can't imagine any clubs can afford to try that!

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3 minutes ago, Vince said:

I can't imagine any clubs can afford to try that!

How can they afford NOT to try?

When Swindon did entry for a tenner and there was a very strong crowd (maybe 50% up). The following week there was no meeting and the week after it was back to £17 and regular crowd levels.

This would suggest there is a sweet point, somewhere between £10 and £17 which would maximise revenue. £10 is too cheap (the rise in attendance didn't make up for the drop in income) however £17 seemed to put off many from returning.

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5 minutes ago, MattK said:

How can they afford NOT to try?

When Swindon did entry for a tenner and there was a very strong crowd (maybe 50% up). The following week there was no meeting and the week after it was back to £17 and regular crowd levels.

This would suggest there is a sweet point, somewhere between £10 and £17 which would maximise revenue. £10 is too cheap (the rise in attendance didn't make up for the drop in income) however £17 seemed to put off many from returning.

That may possibly be true but far more likely is that a price of say £13 may result in a small increase that will then drop back to your hardcore support in a couple of months. Then in order to get income back to where you started from you put the price back to £17 only to find you have alienated some of them too.

It doesn't seem likely to me that £13 instead of £17 entry will make much difference to many peoples attendance although continual small rises I think do bite.

I believe that the price isn't the major issue, the value for money is. Even if you drop the price you have to increase the entertainment and improve the atmosphere to bring the crowd to a level that sees income improve.

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From my perspective its all about value for money and being entertained. Even following NL at the cheaper end of the scale i picked my meetings this year at Kent as i was becoming bored of big home wins with limited entertainment. Im not going to visit every week just because a meeting is on i want to be entertained. Its also down to false economy as i didn't think twice about the fuel in the car going to Peterborough just the entry fee but i did receive good entertainment with the racing in return however i couldn't justify it every week.

Speedway fans are no longer happy to blindly hand over money whenever any team visits they want a two sides of equal quality on a track that can produce decent racing and they will be happy. The formula is simple and yet its still often messed up.

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25 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

Does anybody believe Cardiff would be an almost sell out if it wasn't on live TV?

Yes. In fact I'd suggest that the crowd might be slightly higher if it wasn't on TV, as a few armchair fans might be tempted into attending. The big difference with Cardiff though is that the meeting is almost a side attraction for the whole day (or weekend in some people's cases). Everything about attending Cardiff is an experience completely unique to anything else in the British speedway calendar.

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