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The continuing decline of Speedway

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5 minutes ago, Chris116 said:

Sadly one factor in the decline of Speedway is that the younger generation think an evenings entertainment consists of watching TV, playing video games or chatting on social media. 

Many people only "go out" when they go to work or for weddings and funerals. Many have stopped going to the pub because it is a ten minute walk and they can't take the car. It is that sort of mentality that many sports like Speedway are fighting. Added to that is the very short attention span of many younger people and sport in general has a problem. 

..Unfortunately I see it at my place of work within the tourism industry. It's very difficult trying to engage with many youngsters although I have to say that some are very good and I draw a bit of strength from that. School parties are always a challenge...especially when the supervisors show little enthusiasm...and I'm constantly having to tell pupils to put their gizmos away as I give presentations!

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1 hour ago, orion said:

Yea but try make out it's not there  opinion that they just want  the rules back from the old days . But after the while the mask soon slips .

And yet there remain some posters who believe that older fans giving reasons why they stopped attending should just go and "do one" with the other thousands of old fans that just also wanted a voice. A ready-made promoter in the offing.

Edited by moxey63
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1 hour ago, Chris116 said:

Sadly one factor in the decline of Speedway is that the younger generation think an evenings entertainment consists of watching TV, playing video games or chatting on social media. 

Many people only "go out" when they go to work or for weddings and funerals. Many have stopped going to the pub because it is a ten minute walk and they can't take the car. It is that sort of mentality that many sports like Speedway are fighting. Added to that is the very short attention span of many younger people and sport in general has a problem. 

There's no point wringing one's hands about social changes and trying to turn back the clock - it's happened, and will continue to happen, and unless the entertainment adapts then it's not going to survive.

I think stopped going to pubs for a variety of reasons unrelated to laziness. The sad reality is that despite all the claims about pubs having to diversity with food and satellite television and the like, most pubs were sustained by a hardcore of regular drinkers who now prefer to buy cheaper supermarket booze and watch on Sky on their own big screen televisions where they can smoke as well. The trend was already happening, but the smoking ban was the final nail in the coffin for a lot of pubs. 

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4 minutes ago, Humphrey Appleby said:

There's no point wringing one's hands about social changes and trying to turn back the clock - it's happened, and will continue to happen, and unless the entertainment adapts then it's not going to survive.

I think stopped going to pubs for a variety of reasons unrelated to laziness. The sad reality is that despite all the claims about pubs having to diversity with food and satellite television and the like, most pubs were sustained by a hardcore of regular drinkers who now prefer to buy cheaper supermarket booze and watch on Sky on their own big screen televisions where they can smoke as well. The trend was already happening, but the smoking ban was the final nail in the coffin for a lot of pubs. 

Yes, the smoking ban was major in the downfall of pubs. Pubs that have survived seem to be those who have successfully adapted to a more food/family based business or managed to attract a "clubbing" crowd..

The old style "locals" in town centres seem to struggle, with perhaps one or two regaining clientele while others have shut down. Interestingly, like speedway, if you look in a regular pub these days most of the people in there tend to be over 50.

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22 hours ago, moxey63 said:

I always thought the last month or so of the season after the Play-Offs was sort of left in the air regarding fixture and there seemed nothing left to grab the fans. Also the story a few posts back of Belle Vue having to race six meetings in a two week period to meet the cut-offs was bad business as crowds dropped for those meetings as people couldn't afford it. But, eh, we had a bumper crowd in the Play-Off. 

Backlog of fixtures is not a new thing. I once bought the Speedway Stars for the 1967 season, and looking through them, Swindon had a massive backlog of fixtures, and had to add an extra double-header meeting on a Friday in August to try and catch up. Their season also extended into November due to incomplete fixtures.

Other notables from that year that would be seen as "Speedway RIP" now, included a Swindon meeting in pouring rain, with times of over 80 seconds, that was immediately called off after heat 6 (once there were no refunds). The match report commented that there could be no complaints from the fans, as the meeting should never really have started in the first place. Imagine that happening now.

Swindon had the re-run their match at King's Lynn as the first one was declared void because KL used an "illegal" side. Speedway RIP again?

It was also then decided that King's Lynn, despite being bottom of the league, were not allowed to sign Ove Fundin. Then Belle Vue - in contention for the title - were allowed to sign him to boost their title hopes. What? Teams at the top making changes and bringing in top riders to increase their title hopes? Surely that's just because of the play-offs? Speedway RIP again? If there was social media at the time there would have been uproar.

I guess people were more prepared to put up with stuff back then then they are now. That's probably the main difference.

Edited by Grachan
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1 minute ago, Grachan said:

Backlog of fixtures is not a new thing. I once bought the Speedway Stars for the 1967 season, and looking through them, Swindon had a massive backlog of furnitures, and had to add an extra double-header meeting on a Friday in August to try and catch up. Their season also extended into November due to incomplete fixtures.

 

3

Was that when they were best remembered for house clearances?

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1 minute ago, moxey63 said:

Was that when they were best remembered for house clearances? 

Well, I think you know what I meant :) Fixtures!

One notable thing from that year - Barry Briggs injured himself riding in Germany and was out for a few weeks. No guest. Swindon had to ride with their number 8 riding at number one. And they ended up winning the league.

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The young, as has been stated, are more interested in their own things. But, remember, folks...  don't use this as an excuse, what about other age groups? Think we've fallen into a trap in which it's the young we think will save speedway. Win back the oldies and even the new oldies.

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3 minutes ago, moxey63 said:

The young, as has been stated, are more interested in their own things. But, remember, folks...  don't use this as an excuse, what about other age groups? Think we've fallen into a trap in which it's the young we think will save speedway. Win back the oldies and even the new oldies.

Spot on...

Many comments are put forward about people not knowing about the sport but I would suggest there are literally tens of thousands of ex fans all within a close proximity to the tracks they used to frequent..

Get them back and don't make the same mistakes again that made them give up on the Sport in the first place..

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42 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Spot on...

Many comments are put forward about people not knowing about the sport but I would suggest there are literally tens of thousands of ex fans all within a close proximity to the tracks they used to frequent..

Get them back and don't make the same mistakes again that made them give up on the Sport in the first place..

Correct me if I'm wrong, mikebv, but was it you who posted the Play-Offs and the fact that Belle Vue lost them to Wolves and the recently introduced Tai Woffinden all but distinguished their returning interest when they tried the new track three years ago? It proves the POs can wipe out quite a sizeable group if so. I think the rules and set up have to be foolproof to keep any new or returning fans coming back. That is why it's good that old fans who no longer attend can still post why they stopped attending. Better than just vanishing and providing no feedback as to why. It would be nice to know, apart from popping their clogs of course, why fans stop coming.

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6 hours ago, mikebv said:

I would suggest the 'novelty value' was a big factor, as was the fact the meeting had credibility when so many don't...

The same as when a 'World Star' comes back to domestic racing. ie the crowds increase for the first few weeks but then drift back to normal as the season progresses and he starts to miss meetings through other commitments and the Guestfest merry go round starts..

Maybe that is the the way forward though? Less being more?...

Put on fewer meetings but give every one of them a meaning?

Run say once a month giving the promotion ample time to actually promote every event?

I never buy into the view that people stop going if there are long gaps between meetings, as if the meetings were promoted correctly the next one should be highly anticipated and deliver a good expectant crowd. And if the previous meeting was any good then surely that can only increase the anticipation for the next one? 

Cardiff runs just once a year, yet everyone knows when it is and therefore attends...

As with so much of British Speedway,  a huge amount of its problem is down to a lack of active ongoing promotion and of course trying to sell a product that simply often lacks credibility...

Maybe worth reflecting on that it sounds like this Test Match had both and a decent crowd duly arrived... (And at short notice too)..

My point (in a round about way as I was tired) was if folk don't rurn out to watch a special or at least different high-ish profile meetings then the sport is in a worse state than thought.  E.g. my first ever meeting was a World Champs Qualy at Hull in 1974, when I told regulars I was going that nite quite a few said they weren't going as it wouldn't be as good as a match but that I would still enjoy it.  I did !  It was the same when Hull staged England v Australasia or USA, some locals gave them a miss but more fans from out of town attended and so the crowds were bigger anyway.  The GB v Aussie match showed that folk ( more folk? ) will still attend such meetings if they feel they are worth watching & value for money, Cardiff GP being the most obvious example.  Seen that too....

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2 hours ago, Grachan said:

Backlog of fixtures is not a new thing. I once bought the Speedway Stars for the 1967 season, and looking through them, Swindon had a massive backlog of fixtures, and had to add an extra double-header meeting on a Friday in August to try and catch up. Their season also extended into November due to incomplete fixtures.

Other notables from that year that would be seen as "Speedway RIP" now, included a Swindon meeting in pouring rain, with times of over 80 seconds, that was immediately called off after heat 6 (once there were no refunds). The match report commented that there could be no complaints from the fans, as the meeting should never really have started in the first place. Imagine that happening now.

Swindon had the re-run their match at King's Lynn as the first one was declared void because KL used an "illegal" side. Speedway RIP again?

It was also then decided that King's Lynn, despite being bottom of the league, were not allowed to sign Ove Fundin. Then Belle Vue - in contention for the title - were allowed to sign him to boost their title hopes. What? Teams at the top making changes and bringing in top riders to increase their title hopes? Surely that's just because of the play-offs? Speedway RIP again? If there was social media at the time there would have been uproar.

I guess people were more prepared to put up with stuff back then then they are now. That's probably the main difference.

There you have it. Speedway has been making the same mistakes for the last 50 years and seems to have no interest or no idea on how to change. Back then maybe people were prepared to put up with it. Those who weren't walked away. Those that walked away didn't therfore bring their children along so the next generation of fans became smaller and so the trend carried on for 50 years until we reach the point we have today. Its sad that those in charge over all these years have done nothing to try and fix the known problems. Those that have tried and then given up have either concentrated on their own business ie Ford at Poole or walked away ie Berry at Ipswich in the 80s.

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2 hours ago, mikebv said:

Spot on...

Many comments are put forward about people not knowing about the sport but I would suggest there are literally tens of thousands of ex fans all within a close proximity to the tracks they used to frequent..

Get them back and don't make the same mistakes again that made them give up on the Sport in the first place..

I point I made some time ago but was told in no uncertain terms by an ex promoter on here that if I could just stop going for the reasons I did it was because I was never a fan in the first place. That despite having been to every track in the country, gone to most GP tracks, watched domestic speedway in Australia, Poland, Sweden, USA and New Zealand over a period of over forty years.

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3 hours ago, mikebv said:

Spot on...

Many comments are put forward about people not knowing about the sport but I would suggest there are literally tens of thousands of ex fans all within a close proximity to the tracks they used to frequent..

Get them back and don't make the same mistakes again that made them give up on the Sport in the first place..

Truly that would be problem solved but the promoters still seem unwilling to listen to the fans about what they want to buy. One of the reasons that so many shops close down. At least a few hundred, if not 1,000 ex-fans would return to King's Lynn if they liked what was on offer there now. Clearly, they don't and that is why attendances have more than halved in five years.

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On 8/19/2018 at 2:44 PM, Trees said:

If you were part of the Premiership what night would you run on? 

Thats a tough question because it is something we would only do if it was sustainable and there was a real hunger for it. But regardless of league we could only ride on the Tuesday or a Thursday under the current planning and other tenant restrictions we currently have.

Certainly food for thought for the future though  :)

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