Will British Speedway Survive ?

[Warriors 83]

On 4/13/2020 at 9:59 AM, MattK said:

This could be a blessing in disguise. Instead of being sponsored by the local builders merchant or industrial filter manufacturer, use this as an opportunity.

Find eight companies who target the same market as speedway attracts, the over 50s. So Jaguar, Daily Telegraph, Fat Face, Saga and so on. Seven of the companies get assigned a team to sponsor and one sponsors the league. In turn, each sponsor brings a "roadshow" to every club twice in the season - which means 16 roadshows per club, per season.

Speedway benefits from the credibility of recognisable brands and a small mention on each of the brand's websites/social media. In turn, the brands get to put themselves in front of their target audience. After one season if brands see value in this approach, they can be asked for a small contribution for sponsorship going forwards.

You've got to hope's one them is BOB.

[Ben91 1,743]

23 hours ago, MattK said:

That's another thing speedway desperately needs to do - a thorough demographic survey. When I look around the car park at Swindon it's all Audis, BMWs, etc. my old Passat looks decidedly poor. I'd love to know whether speedway's "working class" image is still representative of today's supporters.

Anyone can have an Audi, BMW, Mercedes etc. these days if they’re willing to pay monthly and never own the vehicle. Doesn’t mean the fans are affluent, just that they might not have their priorities in the right place. Speedway fans, Speedway mindset. 

[DBP 66]

News from poland, no mass gatherings for the rest of the year.  looks like racing behind closed doors without spectators June or July being mentioned

and thats only if the TV company comes up with sufficient cash.

So I can't see speedway in the UK starting this season.

[BWitcher 12,453]

38 minutes ago, DBP said:

News from poland, no mass gatherings for the rest of the year.  looks like racing behind closed doors without spectators June or July being mentioned

and thats only if the TV company comes up with sufficient cash.

So I can't see speedway in the UK starting this season.

Of course not, soon everyone will be expected to get back to work, kids back to school... but have no sport, no cinema, no pubs, no restaurants, no beach, no holidays.

For the 'rest of the year'...  oh.. and it's winter again then you know.. where thousands die from viruses passed from human to human.

[DC2 11,150]

2 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

Of course not, soon everyone will be expected to get back to work, kids back to school... but have no sport, no cinema, no pubs, no restaurants, no beach, no holidays.

For the 'rest of the year'...  oh.. and it's winter again then you know.. where thousands die from viruses passed from human to human.

 

Is it not feasible that there will be some sport behind closed doors?

Will not some TV and betting companies be keen to fund it?

Maybe not speedway, but Champions League football, Indian League cricket and some international matches in football, rugby and cricket? Oh, and horse racing.

And possibly some cycling, such as the TDF (although strangely rearranged to clash with the second biggest race, the Vuelta), due to being outdoors rather than in the confined space of a stadium.

In fact, less coverage could wet some new appetites.

[BWitcher 12,453]

1 minute ago, DC2 said:

 

Is it not feasible that there will be some sport behind closed doors?

Will not some TV and betting companies be keen to fund it?

Maybe not speedway, but Champions League football, Indian League cricket and some international matches in football, rugby and cricket? Oh, and horse racing.

And possibly some cycling, such as the TDF (although strangely rearranged to clash with the second biggest race, the Vuelta), due to being outdoors rather than in the confined space of a stadium.

In fact, less coverage could wet some new appetites.

Sport behind closed doors is absolutely awful.

Even from my own teams (Wolves) point of view. We played Olympiakos away in the Europa League. An absolutely massive game for the club, one of the biggest in recent history. However, it was played behind closed doors and it was awful viewing. I don't know of a single fan who enjoyed the game (and that's including thousands in social media groups).

It simply wouldn't last.

[DC2 11,150]

Just now, BWitcher said:

Sport behind closed doors is absolutely awful.

Even from my own teams (Wolves) point of view. We played Olympiakos away in the Europa League. An absolutely massive game for the club, one of the biggest in recent history. However, it was played behind closed doors and it was awful viewing. I don't know of a single fan who enjoyed the game (and that's including thousands in social media groups).

It simply wouldn't last.

 

Yes, I can see that there would be a complete lack of atmosphere in the stadium, but TV companies have a way of recreating that for the viewer, like canned laughter for comedy programmes.  It would be pretty easy to match previous soundtracks to the live sport on screen.

 

[BWitcher 12,453]

11 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

Yes, I can see that there would be a complete lack of atmosphere in the stadium, but TV companies have a way of recreating that for the viewer, like canned laughter for comedy programmes.  It would be pretty easy to match previous soundtracks to the live sport on screen.

 

Possibly.. they would need to do something. 

[Falcon1983 557]

They are talking about the champions league final being in august 

[cityrebel 2,960]

1 hour ago, Falcon1983 said:

They are talking about the champions league final being in august 

Probably behind closed doors. My bank balance is going to be a lot healthier with no live sport to pay for. Apart from bills, I'm spending nothing on recreational activities.

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

1 hour ago, cityrebel said:

Probably behind closed doors. My bank balance is going to be a lot healthier with no live sport to pay for. Apart from bills, I'm spending nothing on recreational activities.

How is your racejacket collection coming on? One of the best hope you are well City forget Arsenal eh!! 

[cityrebel 2,960]

5 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said:

How is your racejacket collection coming on? One of the best hope you are well City forget Arsenal eh!! 

Not a lot happening on the race jacket front Sid. I'm still buying and selling a few bits on ebay to keep me sane.

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

16 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

Not a lot happening on the race jacket front Sid. I'm still buying and selling a few bits on ebay to keep me sane.

No speedway City until 2021 if we are lucky,really crap anyway be good keep supporting the Gunners.!!!! 

[arnieg 3,643]

On 4/14/2020 at 12:46 PM, MattK said:

That's another thing speedway desperately needs to do - a thorough demographic survey. When I look around the car park at Swindon it's all Audis, BMWs, etc. my old Passat looks decidedly poor. I'd love to know whether speedway's "working class" image is still representative of today's supporters.

I knew I had this info somewhere - just come across this.

[NOTE - it is 15 years old but given the high proportion of long term fans it seems unlikely to have changed much]

 

70% of people who attend speedway meetings are male and 30% female. 20% bring their children

 

81% attend 10 or more meetings per season confirming that the sport is down to its hard core fans.

 

Speedway fans are not particularly high earners with 31% earning below £20k and 39% earning between £21k – 40k. Their relatively low socio-demographics are also confirmed by the fact that 63% read The Star, The Sun or The Mirror.

 

Also 31% have no qualifications and another 45% are educated to GCSE/O Level. Only 9% hold a university degree.

 

17% are 19-24 years old, 21% 25-34 years old and 23% 35-49 years old.

 

All in all, this does represent a segment of society which is not particularly interesting to sponsors.

 

Around 20% of people attend meetings with their kids, 63% with family adults and 72% attend with 1-3 other people.

 

What is interesting is the response the respondents gave when asked why attended speedway meetings:

 

Support the home team 30%

The atmosphere 23%

A good night out 20%

Quality of the teams 10%

Family night out 6%

Other 11%

Total 100%

 

source : 2007 Marketing Report commissioned by BSPA

[greyhoundp 990]

Thanks for those figures arnieg, I suspect the age range of supporters attending meetings now has got considerably older since 2007.