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Behind closed doors?

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4 hours ago, iainb said:

Hasn't RobGod already said that Speedway behind door is a non starter?

And didn't Speedway dabble with the betting companies in the past? I don't know why it wasn't sustained... maybe Speedway was just too predictable :rofl:

You could have a "first out of the gate wins" in running cash out?;)

 

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Surely with the size of most speedway crowds if people stayed 2 metres apart at the venues maybe everyone could still attend..I’m pretty certain with scunny’s attendances everyone could still watch speedway with plenty of space around them. 

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Here's some reasons why speedway should not run , particularly behind closed doors.

We are supposed to be avoiding putting any excess pressure on our NHS. Most tracks medical cover are usually NHS employees ( Doctors and paramedics ) doing a second job for extra money. They should not be asked to cover ANY form of Motorsport events whilst we are in the current pandemic situation. Sports injuries are classed as ' self inflicted ' by the NHS for a reason, let's not add to their stress.

Money : no crowd means no income. One track I know of needs to find in excess of £35,000 annually just to keep the stadium running even without holding an event with rent, bills and maintenance costs . Then you need to find riders wages which are usually covered by turnstyle income, no crowd equals yet another financial loss. 

Sponsors want coverage, they get it via programme adverts, mentions on the track announcements and rider sponsorships, they won't be getting that sort of coverage with no crowd as there will be none of that. Most large sponsorship deals are paid in instalments. I doubt most clubs have been able to gather in their full quota of sponsors money.

The majority of speedway crowds are elderly. They are the most vulnerable and should not be expected to attend any event whilst the threat of Covid is still around. They are also the least likely to have access to watch ' streamed ' speedway meetings or pay to watch such an event.

Travel. Putting on events means adding to traffic on the roads again putting added pressure on our NHS with the increased possibility of traffic accidents. About 25-35% of riders are currently out of the country so are faced with not only the travelling issue they then face added lockdown isolation periods .

I could add more but I think I've said enough. In my opinion NO SPORT should take place till this is all over even if that means we lose clubs through it then sorry but lives are more important than entertainment.

 

 

 

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The Swedish league due to start in June will now start in July due to current corona virus restrictions banning mass gatherings. They cannot afford to race behind closed doors

This means they will race in front of spectators.

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14 minutes ago, DBP said:

The Swedish league due to start in June will now start in July due to current corona virus restrictions banning mass gatherings. They cannot afford to race behind closed doors

This means they will race in front of spectators.

That`s not what`s been said in Sweden- our Swedish correspondent Ghostie has said that the  start date for the season has been postponed indefinitely.

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12 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

The majority of speedway crowds are elderly. They are the most vulnerable and should not be expected to attend any event whilst the threat of Covid is still around. They are also the least likely to have access to watch ' streamed ' speedway meetings or pay to watch such an event.

 

They are indeed mostly in one of the very vulnerable groups but I ( as one of them ) know that a huge proportion of them could and likely will take and pay for streaming match services. I have been urging for it for three years at least. Bring it on - but please BSPA in an effective reasonable quality manner. And not just as a way out of Covid 19 problems. I would happily take a seaon from the NSS ( at a reasonable cost ). But I am never going to travel there now.

Edited by waytogo28
correction

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14 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

We are supposed to be avoiding putting any excess pressure on our NHS. Most tracks medical cover are usually NHS employees ( Doctors and paramedics ) doing a second job for extra money. They should not be asked to cover ANY form of Motorsport events whilst we are in the current pandemic situation. Sports injuries are classed as ' self inflicted ' by the NHS for a reason, let's not add to their stress.

 

 

 

I think that crisis is well over now... in fact the way things look at the moment the NHS will be taking the summer off (along with the teachers). There's only 10% of critical care beds in use and A&E's are like ghost towns. The death rate at the end of April was actually below the 5 year average

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37 minutes ago, iainb said:

I think that crisis is well over now... in fact the way things look at the moment the NHS will be taking the summer off (along with the teachers). There's only 10% of critical care beds in use and A&E's are like ghost towns. The death rate at the end of April was actually below the 5 year average

The crisis is nowhere near over. R date is rising again in most parts of the Country.

A + E is quiet as many are avoiding due to fear and many who use it because of day to day accidents are not getting hurt as locked down. Don't even start on the drinks and druggies

 

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10 minutes ago, HGould said:

The crisis is nowhere near over. R date is rising again in most parts of the Country.

A + E is quiet as many are avoiding due to fear and many who use it because of day to day accidents are not getting hurt as locked down. Don't even start on the drinks and druggies

 

I thought the R level went up because of care homes which don’t really affect the general public. Most hospitals are quite quiet at the moment.

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16 minutes ago, iainb said:

I think that crisis is well over now... in fact the way things look at the moment the NHS will be taking the summer off (along with the teachers). There's only 10% of critical care beds in use and A&E's are like ghost towns. The death rate at the end of April was actually below the 5 year average

Whilst the demand on the NHS has been avoided (largely thanks to people who don't actually need it not turning up and, sadly, likewise people who do need it not turning up) the virus is still an unknown quantity. However, I don't think running speedway would place any significant pressure on the NHS. Indeed I suspect many of the Medics might welcome the escape?

But given the hysteria surrounding and lack of verified information on the virus it's hard to see how sporting events can go ahead with spectators present. I agree that most speedway crowds could social distance but you have to ask would you want to? Any night out is supposed to be enjoyable, not a test of your health and safety risk assessment skills or standard of your PPE. Socially distanced events just don't sound like any fun at all to me. The point about the age profile of speedway fans is important as many may still be required to stay indoors for a longer period.  Could any promotion afford to run with even lower crowds?

Then factor in the lack of riders? There's probably only about 20 Championship standard heat leaders available plus another 40 youngsters so running credible leagues looks impossible.

This and the fact that standard of streaming service individual promotions could offer would probably be sub standard and the revenues less than gate receipts, kind of leads you to a less is more scenario.  Pool the resources together get a weekly pay per view event with a decent standard of coverage for streaming. Spread the riders across teams and maybe run pairs, 4TT, individual championships (even a mini league) over the shorter season. Hopefully you get subscriptions from across the country. If say the average normal attendance at the 22 tracks is 800 and you attract 50% of them (factoring in families would only need one subscription) to the weekly pay per view for a standard £15 per event that's a decent income stream and should make it sustainable for the promoters and riders and affordable for the public. 

It should be relatively easy to set up although I'm not sure what the Eurosport position would be. Maybe they'd even fund it for some much needed live content for their channel?

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I do think that there needs to be some kind of grip on reality...

Go to the vast majority of supermarkets and you will see no social distancing whatsoever....

My store has had over 200000 visits over the past seven weeks, all within a confined space of less that 15,000 Sq ft..

We let a max 70 in at a time and I can guarantee within one aisle, social distancing goes out of the window..

Some customers do the 'social distancing dance' where they go left, then right, then left again as two people try to avoid each other, but many just walk past others almost touching..

Going to a sporting event in the outdoors, with controls as to who can come in, and when and how many, and only standing or sitting where clearly shown, would be infinitely less risky than going doing your shopping..

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Going off topic Devon live has a story of the Falcons plenty of pictures have a look

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On 5/16/2020 at 12:15 PM, mikebv said:

I do think that there needs to be some kind of grip on reality...

Go to the vast majority of supermarkets and you will see no social distancing whatsoever....

My store has had over 200000 visits over the past seven weeks, all within a confined space of less that 15,000 Sq ft..

We let a max 70 in at a time and I can guarantee within one aisle, social distancing goes out of the window..

Some customers do the 'social distancing dance' where they go left, then right, then left again as two people try to avoid each other, but many just walk past others almost touching..

Going to a sporting event in the outdoors, with controls as to who can come in, and when and how many, and only standing or sitting where clearly shown, would be infinitely less risky than going doing your shopping..

 

What a load of gibberish (again). 

If crowds could be allowed to attend events with limited numbers the EPL could restrict attendances and allow fans in, they aren't - talking about shopping and sport side by side at the moment is moronic. 

Edited by Hacksaw Jim Duggan
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On 5/16/2020 at 12:15 PM, mikebv said:

Going to a sporting event in the outdoors, with controls as to who can come in, and when and how many, and only standing or sitting where clearly shown, would be infinitely less risky than going doing your shopping..

 

Agreed.

If everyone stands two metres apart inside the stadium and queuing to get in, there should be no problem.

Just as there’s no problem doing the same in a park.

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