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Eastbourne 2020

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I hope the writing is not on the wall for Eastbourne or any team as the sport struggles now with fewer clubs and so the adage of a track near you to watch it live becomes less and less of a true marketing statement.

I am sure many supporters would rather have a competitive team at a lower level which can wash its face cost wise through the season than have no team at all. Covid is not to blame for the state of speedway, it may be a minor factor in terms of cross border rider availability but the flaws in the finances of the clubs are down to the club owners where for some it is a hobby and not a business.

Riders, owners and supporters need to accept that the money is not around for a sport like speedway and so it needs to operate at a level that is realistically affordable. The governing body also needs to get its head out of the sand and allow various operating models in order to keep tracks open such as open licences and allow other ‘IOW’ projects to run without threats to riders livelihoods.

It is the self interest of a few promoters that are bringing the sport to its knees and with outside pressures such as the demand for house building etc. tracks become targets for development so the need to keep them operating cannot be understated yet the few on the top table seem plough a furrow that suits their patch rather than work for the collective good of all tracks.

The BSPL had a chance to reinvent the sport this year and offer something different given all the likely issues with riders etc but instead they ran with an outdated boring business model, insisted on race nights when it really made no difference due to overseas travel restrictions and seemingly failed to understand why it might be necessary to carry out a SWOT analysis. Had they even thought about this then you would have a very different outcome and just maybe a few tracks could have opted to do something different rather than be coerced into doing something that benefits only a few operators. 

Let’s hope some sense prevails before we have nothing left.

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1 hour ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Mikebv posted

“Every track should be made to present its business plan to a group of people who represent the BSPL..

They then sign it off as acceptable after reviewing historical crowd data..”

Maybe they all ought to feature on an episode of “The Apprentice” and see how many Sir Alan Sugar would back.

Sadly I fear if your idea were to be implemented, very very few clubs would pass muster as viable businesses .......

Absolutely 100%. 

Few would..

So stop them before they do...

Its brand damaging having so many clubs putting begging bowls out, peeing fans off by changing fixtures on an ad hoc basis just so they can "survive"..

Given Speedway has lost so many fans year on year historically, if you had 900 the year previous, I would budget for 800 this if that is how the historical run rate data flows..

And "Moving Up" has zero Wow Factor so why do it? 

Time was the 2nd Division was the best ran by a mile, using "decent No1's" who were very much semi pro, and had jobs, but were happy to be a "big fish in a small pond" and actually brought in local punters based on their commitment to the team..

And during the 90's it became the top league that was "overheating" and paying out far more than was coming in so then needed the 2nd Div to amalgamate with them..

Only to not amalgamate fairly and leave several 2nd tier tracks bereft of the required level of riders..

Now it's the 2nd tier that is "overheating", all to ensure riders who cannot race in other overseas leagues get paid their required money..

Required money needed to pay for their expensive equipment and to earn enough to remain as "professional sportsmen"..

Equipment standards and professionalism that is demanded by promoters so they can challenge for league titles.. 

League titles that have very little kudos, financial reward, or publicity, in winning, which doesnt engage enough fans to part with the admission fee that many see as too expensive and non value for money.. 

An expensive and non value for money admission fee, set up to pay for the wages that the riders need, to afford the equipment and remain professional sportsmen, to keep the promoters happy, to try and win the leagues, that hardly anyone cares who wins..!!

And on we go again..

Racing to the bottom.. 

Who will be first?

Three strong contenders it seems at present...

But could some come up on the rails..?

Edited by mikebv
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Am sure workington got fined for missing the last 5 races at the end of  there title winning season, any fines for missing whole meetings? Dont want to rub salt in the wound but surely something needs to be done to stop this.

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5 minutes ago, iainb said:

form is temporary, class is permanent, well perhaps that's not the correct phrase to use in this situation :rofl:, but the Josh's were injured at the time of being dropped, these types of rider are the life blood of the sport in this country. Just look at the riders competing in the NDL 10 years ago and look at where they are now. Many of them are lost to the sport, where they should be solid 2nd strings in the sport instead we're relying on doubling up riders.

True the Josh's were injured by one was on his backside all the time and the other couldn't adapt to a new tyre type. The NDL class of 2011 supplied a heck of a lot of riders that went on to compete at a higher level (rough count around 50%) with 12/13 from the 70ish used still racing at CL level or higher today.  Id be delighted if those kind of numbers were achieved by the class of 2021. 10 years is a long time in both Speedway and young individuals lives so there will obviously be attrition for a number of reasons why riders step away from the sport. The bigger issue is that there is so little being done to ensure their replacements come through and are ready.

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17 hours ago, Toto said:

Its quite clear that Eastbourne buiness model is not working .

So it now seems sadly

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13 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

The NDL class of 2011 supplied a heck of a lot of riders that went on to compete at a higher level (rough count around 50%) with 12/13 from the 70ish used still racing at CL level or higher today.  Id be delighted if those kind of numbers were achieved by the class of 2021. 10 years is a long time in both Speedway and young individuals lives so there will obviously be attrition for a number of reasons why riders step away from the sport. The bigger issue is that there is so little being done to ensure their replacements come through and are ready.

I've added to my original post I think since you replied... your 50% is actually nearer to 20% look at the riders lost to the sport! Those that went on to make any kind of career out of the sport:

Kyle Howarth
Jason Garrity*
Steve Worrall
Paul Starke
Stefan Nielsen
Tom Perry
Ashley Morris
Adam Roynon
Lewis Kerr
Todd Kurtz

I've not done a deep analysis, just looked at who was riding in the 1st match of the season for each NDL home team. But as a DEVELOPMENT league that return is a disaster!

Edited by iainb

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1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

they were all dropped because they were shi....under-performing compared to the standard expected of them.

I’m sorry but that is why speedway is in the mess it is with promotions sacking riders and then bringing in another rider probably costing the club more money.

Its one thing to have ‘competitive’ team in normal times but we have currently a season of make or break for many clubs.

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15 hours ago, Fromafar said:

You must be joking.! Blind they have had white sticks for years.You cannot seriously think your crowds are going to double because of COVID.Knowing the BSPA they probably did.!!:rolleyes:

Absolutely.  It really does feel as though the promoters thought the sport could just pick up where it left off at the end of 2019.  Typical short-sightedness 

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1 hour ago, iainb said:

I've added to my original post I think since you replied... your 50% is actually nearer to 20% look at the riders lost to the sport! Those that went on to make any kind of career out of the sport:

Kyle Howarth
Jason Garrity*
Steve Worrall
Paul Starke
Stefan Nielsen
Tom Perry
Ashley Morris
Adam Roynon
Lewis Kerr
Todd Kurtz

I've not done a deep analysis, just looked at who was riding in the 1st match of the season for each NDL home team. But as a DEVELOPMENT league that return is a disaster!

If you have followed speedway for years as I have then you will find that the 20% is pretty much the norm. Injury accounts for about 50% and then lack of good equipment or just lack of ability accounts for the rest.

Speedway is an elite sport and we want good riders who can adapt to all conditions any many just can’t.

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15 hours ago, Marshall07 said:

Everyone's going on about high wages and over budget.

Eastbourne have a full British team. No flights in and out, no paying for riders accomm or bike storage!

They could all live in the stadium car park.  If they're paying riders beyond their means, then it's the same outcome.

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2 minutes ago, GWC said:

If you have followed speedway for years as I have then you will find that the 20% is pretty much the norm. Injury accounts for about 50% and then lack of good equipment or just lack of ability accounts for the rest.

Speedway is an elite sport and we want good riders who can adapt to all conditions any many just can’t.

I have followed speedway for over 40 years and 20% back in the day from 2nd half's and the odd junior meeting may have been acceptable but from a league that has been designed and setup to develop new riding talent 20% to even just make it to an average level is a total disaster. You can't run a successful NDL without team spots being available in the higher leagues for those riders to progress into. And all these team spots are being taken by riders doubling down. 

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7 minutes ago, MattB said:

They could all live in the stadium car park.  If they're paying riders beyond their means, then it's the same outcome.

Don't forget vans and rider insurance.

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4 minutes ago, iainb said:

I have followed speedway for over 40 years and 20% back in the day from 2nd half's and the odd junior meeting may have been acceptable but from a league that has been designed and setup to develop new riding talent 20% to even just make it to an average level is a total disaster. You can't run a successful NDL without team spots being available in the higher leagues for those riders to progress into. And all these team spots are being taken by riders doubling down. 

But I think it goes back to what standard of league do you want and clearly the CL wants a league that is too strong for the ability of many riders that would have been available.

This has been born out by some teams in the middle league employing overseas riders and outnumbering U.K. riders. 

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You get promoters with megabucks that bust the bank to get who they perceive is the best side money can buy, it then spirals from there, i suppose, its ok if you got more coming in than going out, but it aint, sadly in lots of cases .

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