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Midland Red

Odsal hopes

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12 hours ago, ch958 said:

not talking about the average fan, talking about the casual fan who might spend his 15/18 elsewhere

Very true, but £10 is not feasible with the current riders in Britain. Recent events may solve this problem, with lower standard riders our only option.

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51 minutes ago, proud panther said:

Very true, but £10 is not feasible with the current riders in Britain. Recent events may solve this problem, with lower standard riders our only option.

i've already said that

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1 hour ago, proud panther said:

Very true, but £10 is not feasible with the current riders in Britain. Recent events may solve this problem, with lower standard riders our only option.

A lower standard of riding does not ensure a lower standard of racing as any Championship or NL supporter will confirm - if anyone's listening.....

Edited by RobMcCaffery
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17 minutes ago, RobMcCaffery said:

A lower standard of riding does not ensure a lower standard of racing as any Championship or NL supporter will confirm - if anyone's listening.....

There is a lot of snobbery in speedway. When West Ham dropped down a league, it was like pulling teeth trying to get my old man to take me to Custom House.

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3 hours ago, iainb said:

The crowds at Belle Vue would suggest different

Maybe I'm forgetting the fact that long term speedway fans are getting older & are unable to attend, or passing away. Agree it's a mystery why Belle Vue isn't supported more. If I lived near there, I would go every week.

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5 hours ago, greyhoundp said:

The problem PP is the average number of fans has gone down to the point of no return, so its new fans that we need to attract and at £18 per meeting its not going to happen, £36 for me and the missus to watch 15 minutes of racing sometimes on a cold night doesnt appeal to me anymore, and im a life long speedway fan.. The sport has to be more fan friendly and it can begin by bringing the cost down, dont say it cant be done because it can but i rarely see any announcement from the BSPL saying they are looking at ways of doing it..

Agree with you, out of interest, what price would be acceptable to you ?

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1 hour ago, RobMcCaffery said:

A lower standard of riding does not ensure a lower standard of racing as any Championship or NL supporter will confirm - if anyone's listening.....

Watched NL for a couple of seasons, & always enjoyed it. Watching Adam Ellis come to Mildenhall & tear it up against a powerful Mildenhall top 3 was a brilliant afternoon. Would rather have that standard of speedway than none at all. Question is, would we have enough riders willing to ride part time, & also get a job ? 

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1 hour ago, cityrebel said:

There is a lot of snobbery in speedway. When West Ham dropped down a league, it was like pulling teeth trying to get my old man to take me to Custom House.

Try going to show jumping events if you want to see snobbery. My daughter competed for 7 years at local events, & the majority of the people were wanna be snobs.

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1 hour ago, cityrebel said:

There is a lot of snobbery in speedway. When West Ham dropped down a league, it was like pulling teeth trying to get my old man to take me to Custom House.

In fairness to your dad it wasn't West Ham moving down but Romford Bombers using the track as a stop gap. As a Bombers supporter I didn't enjoy going to Custom House either. Didn't feel the same.

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12 minutes ago, proud panther said:

Try going to show jumping events if you want to see snobbery. My daughter competed for 7 years at local events, & the majority of the people were wanna be snobs.

You can add cycle speedway, moto-x and karting to those sports; weren't we all there just to race and have fun, hmmm ?  My first ever speedway meeting; my parents weren't at all interested but one day in 1974 a relative said "I know where the Boulevard is I've watched rugby (Hull FC) there and I'll take you to speedway one nite, 'especially as Hull are now in the 1st division' "....

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17 minutes ago, martinmauger said:

You can add cycle speedway, moto-x and karting to those sports; weren't we all there just to race and have fun, hmmm ?  My first ever speedway meeting; my parents weren't at all interested but one day in 1974 a relative said "I know where the Boulevard is I've watched rugby (Hull FC) there and I'll take you to speedway one nite, 'especially as Hull are now in the 1st division' "....

And BMX racing, what a bunch of knobs at the top end of that amateur sport !!

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44 minutes ago, proud panther said:

And BMX racing, what a bunch of knobs at the top end of that amateur sport !!

I'd forgotten BMX which my brother rode.  I recall a big thing with cycle speedway used to be 'cotterless pedal cranks' and 'welled wheels'.  The cottterless cranks referred to the pedal cranks which attach the pedals to the front (bigger) chain wheel, apparently it was 'essential' to have alloy cranks which attached directly to the center axle in the frame, screwed on I think,  as opposed to steel / chrome cranks which were slotted on and held in place by cotter pins.  The welled wheels referred to the wheel rims which cross section were shaped like a bell as opposed to being squarish, also the centre hubs were bigger, so shorter spokes.  They were admittedly cool as and looked a lot like the front wheel on a proper speedway bike.  But we were talking about stripped down pushbikes which one pedalled as fast as one could, cool extras were nice to have and lightened the bike a bit , if one's mummy & daddy paid for such things as some did, but were hardly 'essential', though some riders considered they were....

Edited by martinmauger
spelling 2x, added peasantness

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7 hours ago, greyhoundp said:

The problem PP is the average number of fans has gone down to the point of no return, so its new fans that we need to attract and at £18 per meeting its not going to happen, £36 for me and the missus to watch 15 minutes of racing sometimes on a cold night doesnt appeal to me anymore, and im a life long speedway fan.. The sport has to be more fan friendly and it can begin by bringing the cost down, dont say it cant be done because it can but i rarely see any announcement from the BSPL saying they are looking at ways of doing it..

Graham Drury in the Speedway Star (another excellent issue), talks about how he loved his time promoting in the NL, "riders just rode, no flights, accommodation, or transport requests". 

And when he rode 2nd Division how it was mainly 'part time' with riders having jobs, unlike today where so many have salary expectations to allow them to be 'pro' speedway riders in that league...

So, we actually know 'what can work', and we also know 'what used to work' (pretty much the old 2nd Division NL)..

Therefore that surely has to be the target to get back too?

It does also make me wonder how much of my admission cost goes into the riders' own personal agendas through their salary from the clubs.  By that I mean their own individual aspirations...

I've said before, so much money comes into Speedway through fans attendance and individual sponsorship, yet so much of what gets paid out doesn't postively impact the domestic leagues in any way shape or form, but instead,  goes to fund riders wanting to be full time pros and help support their own ambitions on the wider global individual stage..

No disrespect but any current GB rider winning the World Individual title won't put bums on seats over here every week. This was a pipe dream mantra from a long time ago, ie a belief a GB World Champ would be like finding The Holy Grail for the sport in the UK..

Havelock, Loram and Woffy (3 times) subsequently proved that wasn't correct. (Even when Tai rode here)..

Therefore, the UK should just cut its cloth accordingly,  putting the clubs first...

In short, if charging £18 isn't bringing in enough punters through the doors as they tell you that you are too expensive, then listen to them and drop your prices...

And if you can't drop your prices as you say your costs won't allow it, then reduce your costs so you can...

I can guarantee that the many punters who no longer attend due to them not seeing £18-£20 as an acceptable or affordable price point, wont wake up one morning and suddenly then decide that it is and rock up in their droves..

And this absent, silent majority, are the ones that need 'listening' to..

 

 

 

 

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Spot on Mikebv.  Just add “take it off the tv” and you increase the chances of success

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