bluebee 199 Posted June 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Haywood said: So how does Speedway promote itself? To me part of sports is engaging in the local community and that is part of promoting. It is difficult to know where to draw the line. Should they not get involved in local charities in case they are deemed to be controversial? It is a genuine question. Definitely a genuine and pertinent question. I think Ray Stadia's response is a very accurate summary of the situation. There are limited funds for promotion and it's up to the promoters to use them wisely. Local and social media are obviously important and they can engage with the current fans. They are not all old despite current views on that subject - my 25 year old daughter enjoys going to speedway and her older sister would attend if she was in the country! As for local charities certainly care needs to be taken in that direction. The first question must be : would the time be well spent for speedway to get involved? Organized charity is not always considered as such a virtuous institution. Look at the National Trust. In fact the whole charity sector is increasingly seen as bloated and self-serving with many of the directors paid extravagant sums. I could imagine the response of older supporters who see the endless emotive adverts on daytime TV saying 'Not again!' when faced with a charity fund raiser at a speedway meeting. The Ben Fund is, of course, an honourable exception as it directly relates to speedway. I personally think there needs to be a significant shift in thinking at the BSPA. It is a promoter's forum and considers the sport with these people in mind. It would do speedway some good to have some independent supervisory body which takes into consideration the fan's experience. Unfortunately this idea was shot down some time ago. And I won't venture into that controversy. Anyway, good night! I'm still looking forward to my first meeting this season after a Leicester rain off after traveling for over an hour to the stadium. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Haywood 30 Posted June 4, 2021 7 hours ago, bluebee said: Anyway, good night! I'm still looking forward to my first meeting this season after a Leicester rain off after traveling for over an hour to the stadium. Thanks for your responses. Very considered and thoughtful and highlighting some of the nuances. Hopefully with this improved weather you'll have better luck next time. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 4,863 Posted June 4, 2021 (edited) I wouldn't worry about it too much as there are no gays in Speedway... much like Football. I don't think there are any gays at all in motorsport is there? There's only 1 in Rugby. Edited June 4, 2021 by iainb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,062 Posted June 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Haywood said: Thanks for your responses. Very considered and thoughtful and highlighting some of the nuances. Hopefully with this improved weather you'll have better luck next time. So, from your comment above, are we to assume you are on this forum as an interloper and have no interest in speedway? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marko 952 Posted June 4, 2021 Would Pride bring new fans in? Would it alienate most of the current age range which lets face it is quite old with maybe old fashioned views? Two things to unpack there, speedway isn’t trendy enough but you can’t just go changing everything and risk losing the few fans you have left with no certainly you will get the numbers in to replace them yet along build on. Most clubs seem to be reporting good crowd numbers early on, classic novelty factor, but many will not come back once they are reminded of some of the reasons why they stopped going in the first place, we all know those. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Haywood 30 Posted June 4, 2021 1 minute ago, Ray Stadia said: So, from your comment above, are we to assume you are on this forum as an interloper and have no interest in speedway? I do have an interest in Speedway and I apologise if this was not clear. The last meeting I went to was Kent in June 2019. Unfortunately, living in Guildford there are no tracks nearby. But I have previously held season tickets at both Reading and Wimbledon (obviously quite some years ago in both cases). I do watch all the TV meetings but don't have Eurosport so will have to make do with highlights on Quest for the league meetings. I have subscribed to Speedway Star since 1995. Hopefully I can make a meeting later in the year but I don't know right now. I know I don't have many posts on here but I do regular come on here and sometimes just browse, catch up on the gossip etc. I am quite a shy person so don't always 'take the plunge' and post stuff. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E I Addio 15,819 Posted June 4, 2021 21 hours ago, HackneyHawk said: See this is the average intellect of the Speedway fan and I have to say organisers/promoters too. Speedway is dying out and a large part of the reason is that many people involved in the sport are as thick as sh*t By that befuddled logic football must be successful because many people involved with it are highly intelligent. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wasp 31 Posted June 4, 2021 On 6/3/2021 at 6:25 AM, Lefty said: I used to like Mothers Pride but prefer Warburtons now. Like it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFCB Wildcat 1,362 Posted June 4, 2021 On 6/3/2021 at 10:29 AM, Grachan said: 1 - So that's descrimination then. 2 - Where does it say that there's not allowed to be a straight pride? While there's nothing to say it's not allowed, it would be seen as a homophobic slur against gay pride and anyone involved would vilified as haters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,062 Posted June 4, 2021 23 minutes ago, AFCB Wildcat said: While there's nothing to say it's not allowed, it would be seen as a homophobic slur against gay pride and anyone involved would vilified as haters. I suppose there could be a 'proud to be human' event. However, am I proud to be human? No I'm not! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,314 Posted June 4, 2021 1 hour ago, AFCB Wildcat said: While there's nothing to say it's not allowed, it would be seen as a homophobic slur against gay pride and anyone involved would vilified as haters. That, presumably, would depend how it was done and who decided to do it. For example, if, say, Tommy Robinson decided to run a "Straight Pride" event, it would quite obviously be seen as provocative because it would be. If it was fully inclusive - as Gay Pride is - then it wouldn't be seen that way. I wouldn't mind betting, though, that if a "Straight Pride" event did take place it would be some form of far-right thing. Because nobody else really gives a toss. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Smith 5,645 Posted June 4, 2021 #WhiteLivesStraightPrideMatters Covers it all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFCB Wildcat 1,362 Posted June 4, 2021 43 minutes ago, Grachan said: That, presumably, would depend how it was done and who decided to do it. For example, if, say, Tommy Robinson decided to run a "Straight Pride" event, it would quite obviously be seen as provocative because it would be. If it was fully inclusive - as Gay Pride is - then it wouldn't be seen that way. I wouldn't mind betting, though, that if a "Straight Pride" event did take place it would be some form of far-right thing. Because nobody else really gives a toss. Exactly my point. That would be the perception so although there is nothing to say it isn't allowed it would be vilified. I don't give a toss about anybody's sexuality, why do I even want to know? Just seems odd to me that anyone needs to celebrate their sexuality anyway but anyone 'straight' would be by default 'right wing' for doing so. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonny the spud 2,281 Posted June 4, 2021 6 hours ago, Daniel Smith said: #WhiteLivesStraightPrideMatters Covers it all Jeez. There’s so many issues there I don’t know where to start. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mucklechavvych 124 Posted June 4, 2021 Why would anyone feel the need to have a "Straight Pride"? really sad "what about me" garbage .. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites