Bagpuss 10,780 Posted December 5, 2019 You are right but that has been talked about for over twenty years and nothing has happened. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iwright71 206 Posted December 5, 2019 I always worry when the incoming chairman of the BSPA states " I believe in the product " " We have a great product " AKA Keith Chapman and now his successor Mr Godfrey . Unless someone realises that the Premiership is not a great product, Belle Vue and now Swindon aside,and that's the reason people are not turning up to watch week in week out then the malaise and general decline will continue. Watch all BT live matches broadcast last year and its not great watching compared to other sports competing for the consumers pound ! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted December 5, 2019 4 minutes ago, iwright71 said: I always worry when the incoming chairman of the BSPA states " I believe in the product " " We have a great product " AKA Keith Chapman and now his successor Mr Godfrey . Unless someone realises that the Premiership is not a great product, Belle Vue and now Swindon aside,and that's the reason people are not turning up to watch week in week out then the malaise and general decline will continue. Watch all BT live matches broadcast last year and its not great watching compared to other sports competing for the consumers pound ! Agree about the tv meetings, I only watched a few as many of them were not worth the effort, the same with the GPs. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,141 Posted December 5, 2019 Ooh, Orlov, might agree British meetings on TV is not good, but I disagree with you re the GP’s. The majority of the 10 GPs are very good, couple Okish, and a couple mediocre. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted December 6, 2019 1 hour ago, OveFundinFan said: Ooh, Orlov, might agree British meetings on TV is not good, but I disagree with you re the GP’s. The majority of the 10 GPs are very good, couple Okish, and a couple mediocre. The main lack of interest in the GPs was because there was no real chance of any Brit or a Swindon rider doing well after the first few rounds. Jason picked up towards the end. I tend to watch the GPs on utube so that if the meeting is not good I can just cancel it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,274 Posted December 6, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, iwright71 said: I always worry when the incoming chairman of the BSPA states " I believe in the product " " We have a great product " AKA Keith Chapman and now his successor Mr Godfrey . Unless someone realises that the Premiership is not a great product, Belle Vue and now Swindon aside,and that's the reason people are not turning up to watch week in week out then the malaise and general decline will continue. Watch all BT live matches broadcast last year and its not great watching compared to other sports competing for the consumers pound ! I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks.. Edited December 6, 2019 by mikebv 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hyderd 1,216 Posted December 21, 2019 On 12/6/2019 at 3:45 AM, mikebv said: I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks.. most sports are the same, take football, the most watched sport on TV, Keeper passes the ball to one of his defenders then the ball is passed across the field, then back, then back across again eventually arriving back at the keeper who passed it out in the first place. If and when a goal is scored that's what it's all about, so a 1-0 win gives seconds of excitement the rest is expectation and boredom. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
foreverblue 6,096 Posted December 21, 2019 7 minutes ago, hyderd said: most sports are the same, take football, the most watched sport on TV, Keeper passes the ball to one of his defenders then the ball is passed across the field, then back, then back across again eventually arriving back at the keeper who passed it out in the first place. If and when a goal is scored that's what it's all about, so a 1-0 win gives seconds of excitement the rest is expectation and boredom. You are watching the wrong matches!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theblueboy 960 Posted December 21, 2019 3 hours ago, hyderd said: most sports are the same, take football, the most watched sport on TV, Keeper passes the ball to one of his defenders then the ball is passed across the field, then back, then back across again eventually arriving back at the keeper who passed it out in the first place. If and when a goal is scored that's what it's all about, so a 1-0 win gives seconds of excitement the rest is expectation and boredom. I’m guessing this is MUTV? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DC2 11,150 Posted December 21, 2019 3 hours ago, hyderd said: most sports are the same, take football, the most watched sport on TV, Keeper passes the ball to one of his defenders then the ball is passed across the field, then back, then back across again eventually arriving back at the keeper who passed it out in the first place. If and when a goal is scored that's what it's all about, so a 1-0 win gives seconds of excitement the rest is expectation and boredom. League speedway produces at least fifteen moments of excitement in the starts and maybe another six on track. Most football matches provide fewer. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waytogo28 2,054 Posted December 23, 2019 So, which UK stadium can you shoehorn 50 - 75,000 fans in for a match? Is it 6,000 at the NSS and they can't even fill that, or 2,500 at Glasgow where ditto. There is no punter demand for speedway matches on a regular basis above 1,000 to 1,500. And Ahem many below 1,000. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tellboy 3,662 Posted December 23, 2019 On 12/6/2019 at 3:45 AM, mikebv said: I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks.. I have put similar things on King's Lynn threads,mainly in response to people that keep harping on about "the good old days".I agree totally with you the racing was barely any different back then.It's really only things outside of speedway that has seen the gradual decline in speedway crowds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,362 Posted December 23, 2019 I actually think that if you get the track right, then racing today is better than it used to be. Old shaped tracks don't seem to work so well with the modern bikes. Swindon is a good example of how reshaping and shortening a track can improve things. Belle Vue, as an example of a modern track, can provide better racing than I remember in the past. That race where Fricke was in last place for much of the race then went round everyone on the final lap, for example. You never saw races like that in the 1970s. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss 10,780 Posted December 23, 2019 I’m sure speedway seemed better back in the day because the crowds were bigger and the atmosphere better. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 10,362 Posted December 23, 2019 24 minutes ago, Bagpuss said: I’m sure speedway seemed better back in the day because the crowds were bigger and the atmosphere better. Possibly, but you have to ask why crowds were bigger surely.Maybe some thing to do with entertainment factor.! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites