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HGould

Whats actually going on?

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9 hours ago, Hawk127 said:

It is disappointing that the current trustees of the sport are so insular and rarely listen or take on board the wider comments or views of the punters who cross the threshold to be entertained weekly.

Some clubs simply lay on fifteen heats of gate and go and as such simply go through the motions while others attempt an evening of entertainment. In terms of running this sport the powers that be have created a public image that appears to be do as I say or sod off but that is not the answer if the sport is to prosper.

Whether it is an accurate portrayal but for example the Scunthorpe leadership seem to have the ear of the board and have been allowed to be in the enviable position over the last few seasons when the sport has been operational, to dictate what other clubs can or cannot do. Rider usage and race nights are seemingly two examples where some influence appears to have been exerted

Surely with the sport on its knees those with the business acumen such as the IOW should be allowed to prosper and encouraged to think outside the box based not least on their locality particular if this means that the model leads to the introduction of  new fans to the sport. As is mentioned often it is not the supporters money at risk apart from the gamble of the weekly entrance fee yet promotions like the Islanders are putting hard earned cash on the line and are trying to operate a business that provides above all else, entertainment.  

First and foremost speedway is a form of entertainment and given all the issues over riders access to funds and it is down to those riders who have sponsors with deep pockets, speedway does not operate on a level playing field and all the nonsense about rising stars etc still depends on those riders having access to what in effect is a bottomless pit of money in order to compete. Unless and until bikes are standardised, riders use bike handling skills rather than gate and go on over powered machines and those like the IOW are permitted to judge the local business case with risk and reward, then the sport has little credibility and the guarantee that the punters will be entertained is falling well short of fulfilment. I would rather see the IOW entertain than watch fifteen run of the mill heats and disappointed that the current incumbents of the BSPL have so little regard for anyone but their own little enclave.

I am not sure if you are aware but Rob Godfrey, promoter of Scunthorpe, is also the Chairman of the Board of the BSPL. So that would suggest that they do have their ear to the board because he is in charge of it...

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3 hours ago, barrybishop said:

I am not sure if you are aware but Rob Godfrey, promoter of Scunthorpe, is also the Chairman of the Board of the BSPL. So that would suggest that they do have their ear to the board because he is in charge of it...

Which proves that the sport should be run by an independent authority

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5 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

Which proves that the sport should be run by an independent authority

Which the current Chairman has stated he is against.

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19 hours ago, Triple.H. said:

Which proves that the sport should be run by an independent authority

Perhaps surprisingly, I don't agree.  What's to stop an independent authority acting in exactly the same way as the BSPL have done here ? 

The answer is a simple one : Let the teams in competing in each league control their own destiny without outside interference but place adjudication of disputes and decisions under independent control.  

That means that those ploughing time, money and effort into our sport have the final say on operations within their sphere but that the abuse, corruption and self interest we have seen countless times as interested parties determine the outcome of matters relating to the sports regulations ceases. 

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3 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

Perhaps surprisingly, I don't agree.  What's to stop an independent authority acting in exactly the same way as the BSPL have done here ? 

The answer is a simple one : Let the teams in competing in each league control their own destiny without outside interference but place adjudication of disputes and decisions under independent control.  

That means that those ploughing time, money and effort into our sport have the final say on operations within their sphere but that the abuse, corruption and self interest we have seen countless times as interested parties determine the outcome of matters relating to the sports regulations ceases. 

Agreed, you're idea is far better

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The biggest missed opportunity British Speedway had was when Sky got involved in 1999.  They had the perfect opportunity to put together a proper business plan to invest the money into a proper structure to give it a solid foundation to build on and take the sport forward.  But sadly, self interest got in the way.

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2 hours ago, MattB said:

The biggest missed opportunity British Speedway had was when Sky got involved in 1999.  They had the perfect opportunity to put together a proper business plan to invest the money into a proper structure to give it a solid foundation to build on and take the sport forward.  But sadly, self interest got in the way.

Matt B. That's the most honest post I've seen on the forum.  I've said in the past they should have bought Coventry for the sport and had all big meetings there, and used it for the development of young riders ect. 

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12 minutes ago, Trackerman48 said:

Matt B. That's the most honest post I've seen on the forum.  I've said in the past they should have bought Coventry for the sport and had all big meetings there, and used it for the development of young riders ect. 

But now thats why we have a National Stadium

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44 minutes ago, topsoil said:

But now thats why we have a National Stadium

That's true but unlike Coventry which could be used 7 days a week the NSS cannot and if it had of been done back then it could of had a track the same .

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9 minutes ago, Trackerman48 said:

That's true but unlike Coventry which could be used 7 days a week the NSS cannot and if it had of been done back then it could of had a track the same .

The NSS seems to be a National Stadium in name only. What is going on there in terms of training the next generation, as was supposedly one of the aims of the original promotion? There was also a lot of talk of speedway apprenticeships, like the Poultec initiative. But there is nothing (even before Covid obviously). The biggest missed opportunity at the NSS was the lack of an incorporated training track within the development, which could have been located in the area beyond the third and fourth bends.

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1 hour ago, TheWatcher said:

The NSS seems to be a National Stadium in name only. What is going on there in terms of training the next generation, as was supposedly one of the aims of the original promotion? There was also a lot of talk of speedway apprenticeships, like the Poultec initiative. But there is nothing (even before Covid obviously). The biggest missed opportunity at the NSS was the lack of an incorporated training track within the development, which could have been located in the area beyond the third and fourth bends.

I am pretty sure there has been quite a bit of training going on at the NSS...

Haven't Woofy, Rory Schlein and Jason Crump all been there doing some work with some of the 'next generation' over the past couple of years.?

I would think that the issue with a training track on those bends would be that the concept of the stadium included the capability to put extra seating in to host 'big events', (like they did at the SWC a few years ago), which I presume is still one of their main aims..

"Bringing more World Class Sport to Manchester" was one of the most pushed selling points to get it built...

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5 hours ago, topsoil said:

But now thats why we have a National Stadium

We do.  And it's fantastic.  But it's a case of slamming the stable door shut after the horse has bolted.

I've watched some meetings from that 1999-2000 period over the last year.  The buzz and the atmosphere around the sport then was huge.  Big crowds, terrific action.  It was a perfect base on which the sport could have kicked on.  A bit of vision and joined up thinking by the promoters?  Nope, just go for the quick fix and short term boom.  

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1 hour ago, MattB said:

We do.  And it's fantastic.  But it's a case of slamming the stable door shut after the horse has bolted.

I've watched some meetings from that 1999-2000 period over the last year.  The buzz and the atmosphere around the sport then was huge.  Big crowds, terrific action.  It was a perfect base on which the sport could have kicked on.  A bit of vision and joined up thinking by the promoters?  Nope, just go for the quick fix and short term boom.  

The SKY money we received was quickly consumed by greedy and demanding top riders headed by the Yanks. It was never available to expand the facilities and the sport. 

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1 hour ago, Tsunami said:

The SKY money we received was quickly consumed by greedy and demanding top riders headed by the Yanks. It was never available to expand the facilities and the sport. 

Yes.  It's why I say self interest won at the end of the day.  The riders saw pound signs and the promoters did not stand up to them.  While clearly a portion of the money had to go to the riders, part should have been set aside to lay some foundations in place for long term reward.

So many other sports reaped the benefits of TV money because they had vision over a 5-10 year period.  Speedway was happy to hop on the gravy train until the novelty (and the cash) ran dry.

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1 hour ago, Tsunami said:

The SKY money we received was quickly consumed by greedy and demanding top riders headed by the Yanks. It was never available to expand the facilities and the sport. 

Wasn't it part of the contract that Sky demanded that the "top riders" had to ride over here?

Speaking to one now ex promoter at the time, a rather large portion of the "Sky money" pretty much got swallowed up by his "World Class" top rider..

So much money dripped through so many fingers, with the end result?

The World Class riders 'effed off' to more lucrative pastures new, and the huge Sky investment left zero legacy for the sport from which to grow..

Amazingly ludicrous really....

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