SteelShoe 497 Posted November 13, 2018 8 hours ago, kevcfc said: Workington lost a similar amount by all accounts. Success on track didn't generally lead to the required increase in attendances, coupled to more outlay (points money) and no prize money the losses soon mount up. Although with losses at these sort of levels it does beg the question of how much tracks really can afford to pay riders? I've also heard this figure its eye watering, whatever happened to realistic budgets based on previous season average attendance. It could be argued riders are pricing themselves out of a job and promotions out of business. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotallyHonestJohn 3,078 Posted November 13, 2018 1 minute ago, SteelShoe said: I've also heard this figure its eye watering, whatever happened to realistic budgets based on previous season average attendance. It could be argued riders are pricing themselves out of a job and promotions out of business. Well that's why Workington picked a rubbish team by all accounts, with the aim to "just win" their home meetings and get to the end of the season, hopefully somewhere around the mid point, you know just don't get the "wooden spoon", Mid Table!!! Everyone wrote them off at the start of the season, a 16 year old kid with no big league experience; one heat leader; and not a very good one at that; and five second strings that quite frankly no one wanted. I blame them stupid riders for winning everything its their fault, what a bloody cheek turning the form book on its head and delivering a fantastic treble, no mean feat that and you can get lucky by winning one competition but all three that was some achievement. However on a more serious note how ironic is it that when you are successful in Speedway it costs you more money, how crazy is that, success should reap the rewards surely, shouldn't it? nope!!! success gets you a bigger wage bill, more stadium costs and more indirect costs. Yet every promotion chases the dream how bonkers is that. I cant honestly weigh it up. Be near the bottom and lose fans as your team is getting beat or win everything and near bankrupt yourself. So I think I have sorted the problem finish 5th every year and hope all your meetings are 49 - 41 home and away. Sorted If it were only that simple eh! Who would be a promoter? Regards THJ 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,243 Posted November 13, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said: Well that's why Workington picked a rubbish team by all accounts, with the aim to "just win" their home meetings and get to the end of the season, hopefully somewhere around the mid point, you know just don't get the "wooden spoon", Mid Table!!! Everyone wrote them off at the start of the season, a 16 year old kid with no big league experience; one heat leader; and not a very good one at that; and five second strings that quite frankly no one wanted. I blame them stupid riders for winning everything its their fault, what a bloody cheek turning the form book on its head and delivering a fantastic treble, no mean feat that and you can get lucky by winning one competition but all three that was some achievement. However on a more serious note how ironic is it that when you are successful in Speedway it costs you more money, how crazy is that, success should reap the rewards surely, shouldn't it? nope!!! success gets you a bigger wage bill, more stadium costs and more indirect costs. Yet every promotion chases the dream how bonkers is that. I cant honestly weigh it up. Be near the bottom and lose fans as your team is getting beat or win everything and near bankrupt yourself. So I think I have sorted the problem finish 5th every year and hope all your meetings are 49 - 41 home and away. Sorted If it were only that simple eh! Who would be a promoter? Regards THJ It is ludicrous isn't it? Winning can actually close a club down.. And one of the reasons is that the club doesn't get the chance to make more of its success financially due to the ridiculous fixture list... Winning three titles is a fantastic achievement but doing it all in a fortnight costs the fans a fortune, the clubs a fortune and has finals ran in the worst weather month of the season meaning fans could end up picking and choosing which final to attend!! Two of the Comps start months and months earlier in the season so surely it would be more beneficial for clubs to spread out that success across the season..? Having a trophy to be won in say June, one in August, and one in October would keep the interest going through the whole season and mean if one club dominates they get the chance to maximise each final to deliver the best returns, and if three separate clubs win the trophies it shares the opportunity to have 'bumper crowds' across the league... So many simple easy to do improvements can be made to this sport, many not needing any money spent, it just doesn't seem they can see them.. Edited November 13, 2018 by mikebv 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hodgy 976 Posted November 13, 2018 1 hour ago, mikebv said: It is ludicrous isn't it? Winning can actually close a club down.. And one of the reasons is that the club doesn't get the chance to make more of its success financially due to the ridiculous fixture list... Winning three titles is a fantastic achievement but doing it all in a fortnight costs the fans a fortune, the clubs a fortune and has finals ran in the worst weather month of the season meaning fans could end up picking and choosing which final to attend!! Two of the Comps start months and months earlier in the season so surely it would be more beneficial for clubs to spread out that success across the season..? Having a trophy to be won in say June, one in August, and one in October would keep the interest going through the whole season and mean if one club dominates they get the chance to maximise each final to deliver the best returns, and if three separate clubs win the trophies it shares the opportunity to have 'bumper crowds' across the league... So many simple easy to do improvements can be made to this sport, many not needing any money spent, it just doesn't seem they can see them.. The fixture list F-Up’s, and those responsible, must have lost Workington much needed income and possibly their future - after the clubs most successful season ever. As you say, ludicrous. Totally unnecessary and avoidable. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,243 Posted November 13, 2018 16 minutes ago, Hodgy said: The fixture list F-Up’s, and those responsible, must have lost Workington much needed income and possibly their future - after the clubs most successful season ever. As you say, ludicrous. Totally unnecessary and avoidable. I don't know how many attended the last few meetings but if say Worky had picked up to two trophies by the end of August I am sure the attendances would have been very good from then to the end of the season as they could have marketed a potential 'treble' each week to the local population.. By the play offs time I am sure the whole town would have been acutely aware of the importance and size of the achievement that potentially lay ahead... They would have had weeks of hype and advertising rather than just a few days in which to generate interest which I am sure would have delivered several hundred more fans over the period that they actually got cramming in meetings at the end of the year... Speedway really hasn't a clue about marketing itself has it? 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevehone 3,425 Posted November 13, 2018 maybe whatever TV money comes in should be used as prize money? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD 1,305 Posted November 13, 2018 Just now, stevehone said: maybe whatever TV money comes in should be used as prize money? Aren't BT Sport showing it for nothing and actually doing speedway the favour? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cinderfella 865 Posted November 13, 2018 9 minutes ago, MD said: Aren't BT Sport showing it for nothing and actually doing speedway the favour? If that is the case then questions must surely be asked of the BSPA/SCB of themselves as to why a lucrative contract with Sky was not renegotiated. I'm sure Sky would have handed out warning stating things such as lack of teams in the so called top league and lack of big GP names wasn't helping any. Broadcaster know what they want and it has to be said they know more about a lot of sports and attracting new customers than many sporting ruling bodies. I know when i worked at Sky they requested the green helmet colours because the Sky remote has 4 buttons and the plan was to actually have each rider wear a camera and the viewer could then pick which riders view he could watch from during a race. Sadly the support for the idea never came to fruition from within the sport and I'm sure that didn't endear the bosses at Sky. Sadly these days domestic speedway on television is limited to PL meeting and both the broadcaster and speedway authorities both failed to realise that the majority of both teams and fans are in the CL and I'm sure if they had shown some CL matches (which let's face it feature about 95% of the same riders as PL matches anyway) they would have had a bigger following. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scaramanga 895 Posted November 13, 2018 On 11/12/2018 at 1:44 PM, ruckerroo said: Don't keep paying over the odds to riders , it effects every team when you do that and pushes then nearer the mire as well while I agree in theory my first passion is road racing the guys who race the roads are hero's and just like speedway when it goes wrong the can get seriously hurt very easily so if you compare the risks with speedway and road racing not 1 of them is over payed unlike the footballers who roll round in agony getting thousands a week for no reason at all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Byker Biker 468 Posted November 13, 2018 28 minutes ago, stevehone said: maybe whatever TV money comes in should be used as prize money? Think you'll find you're mate Robin has his eyes on some of that Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Byker Biker 468 Posted November 13, 2018 10 minutes ago, cinderfella said: If that is the case then questions must surely be asked of the BSPA/SCB of themselves as to why a lucrative contract with Sky was not renegotiated. I'm sure Sky would have handed out warning stating things such as lack of teams in the so called top league and lack of big GP names wasn't helping any. Broadcaster know what they want and it has to be said they know more about a lot of sports and attracting new customers than many sporting ruling bodies. I know when i worked at Sky they requested the green helmet colours because the Sky remote has 4 buttons and the plan was to actually have each rider wear a camera and the viewer could then pick which riders view he could watch from during a race. Sadly the support for the idea never came to fruition from within the sport and I'm sure that didn't endear the bosses at Sky. Sadly these days domestic speedway on television is limited to PL meeting and both the broadcaster and speedway authorities both failed to realise that the majority of both teams and fans are in the CL and I'm sure if they had shown some CL matches (which let's face it feature about 95% of the same riders as PL matches anyway) they would have had a bigger following. and I'm sure you're not sure which is why you aren't certain. The Speedway contract was paid up because Sky had committed themselves to significant expense with Football, by paying the contract up they saved the production costs for the outstanding term 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD 1,305 Posted November 13, 2018 6 minutes ago, cinderfella said: If that is the case then questions must surely be asked of the BSPA/SCB of themselves as to why a lucrative contract with Sky was not renegotiated. I'm sure Sky would have handed out warning stating things such as lack of teams in the so called top league and lack of big GP names wasn't helping any. Broadcaster know what they want and it has to be said they know more about a lot of sports and attracting new customers than many sporting ruling bodies. I know when i worked at Sky they requested the green helmet colours because the Sky remote has 4 buttons and the plan was to actually have each rider wear a camera and the viewer could then pick which riders view he could watch from during a race. Sadly the support for the idea never came to fruition from within the sport and I'm sure that didn't endear the bosses at Sky. Sadly these days domestic speedway on television is limited to PL meeting and both the broadcaster and speedway authorities both failed to realise that the majority of both teams and fans are in the CL and I'm sure if they had shown some CL matches (which let's face it feature about 95% of the same riders as PL matches anyway) they would have had a bigger following. Sky ditched speedway along with a few other minority sports when they chucked mega money at a new EPL football rights deal a few years ago and had to save money elsewhere. Other broadcasters werent exactly lining up to take it on, far less pay for the rights. Other than Poole or Belle Vue I wouldnt go out of my way to watch it. You can also watch Polish speedway highlights or occasionally live on FreeSports and its much more exciting. Swedish speedway on the other hand is an utter borefest, even makes Leicester look interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hodgy 976 Posted November 13, 2018 21 minutes ago, mikebv said: I don't know how many attended the last few meetings but if say Worky had picked up to two trophies by the end of August I am sure the attendances would have been very good from then to the end of the season as they could have marketed a potential 'treble' each week to the local population.. By the play offs time I am sure the whole town would have been acutely aware of the importance and size of the achievement that potentially lay ahead... They would have had weeks of hype and advertising rather than just a few days in which to generate interest which I am sure would have delivered several hundred more fans over the period that they actually got cramming in meetings at the end of the year... Speedway really hasn't a clue about marketing itself has it? Agree, Worky were left with no time to promote / market major meetings they have craved for years. As you say, semi finals and finals crammed into the last two weeks, incorporating double headers and consecutive nightly meetings, must have had a serious impact on much needed potential attendees and revenue. Such a sad, lost opportunity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tsunami 10,219 Posted November 13, 2018 32 minutes ago, cinderfella said: If that is the case then questions must surely be asked of the BSPA/SCB of themselves as to why a lucrative contract with Sky was not renegotiated. I'm sure Sky would have handed out warning stating things such as lack of teams in the so called top league and lack of big GP names wasn't helping any. Broadcaster know what they want and it has to be said they know more about a lot of sports and attracting new customers than many sporting ruling bodies.I know when i worked at Sky they requested the green helmet colours because the Sky remote has 4 buttons and the plan was to actually have each rider wear a camera and the viewer could then pick which riders view he could watch from during a race. Sadly the support for the idea never came to fruition from within the sport and I'm sure that didn't endear the bosses at Sky. Sadly these days domestic speedway on television is limited to PL meeting and both the broadcaster and speedway authorities both failed to realise that the majority of both teams and fans are in the CL and I'm sure if they had shown some CL matches (which let's face it feature about 95% of the same riders as PL matches anyway) they would have had a bigger following. The green button was to facilitate betting in the Far East, along with transponders on the bikes, which showed a virtual race in the betting shops. I was at the presentations in London in the early 00's, but the idea didn't go forward. We were not working it through SKY, but a separate specialist company. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevehone 3,425 Posted November 13, 2018 32 minutes ago, Byker Biker said: Think you'll find you're mate Robin has his eyes on some of that ???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
