Why speedway is failing

[mikebv 10,235]

6 minutes ago, iainb said:

The race format was changed a few years back where all of the top riders used to meet each other more often, I really liked this and found the racing generally to be a lot closer, as with a lot of things in Speedway it only lasted 1 season before being changed again. Personally I still think you need 7 man teams to bring on the yoof.

We, at Leicester, won the Championship league in 2019 and are current reigning champions... you wouldn't know it though, it's not been mentioned since October 2019

Used to love the Easter Triangle at Oxford on a Good Friday morning, happy days 

Ultimately Ian who cares who the champions are?

It really doesn't matter...

And that is THE No1 issue the sport faces...

No2 is its Mickey Mouse operating model that allows the No1 issue to exist...

Some say "we need to attract new fans" and of course the sport does, however, just getting back one half of those who "used to go" but got pissed off watching "their riders" ride for all and sundry (to the detriment of their own team), or becoming slowly disillusioned by the application of make it up on the spot nonsense rules, whilst facing inflation busting price increases to pay for rising rider wages, would be far of an easier challenge to undertake..

Running a dual league system with barely any demarcation from each other is not much short of utter madness, and can only be done to ensure enough rides for far too many professional competitors for a sport with such few followers..

The operating model simply does not work so to keep churning it out annually (with a cost saving tweak here and there), expecting it to miraculously sort things out is crackers...

When teams can dip in and dip out of any league with such regularity it says everything about the level of "kudos" even the clubs recognise in their very own competitions...

When they don't see any merit in winning any particular league (and could even go bust by doing so), why should the fans take it seriously?

[topaz325 1,853]

So.......we really need the promoters to revamp the sport at the next AGM (?) instead of dabbling with rules within rules but will they want to have a major different operating model from the rest of Europe but I suppose we need to really get back to basics and try and build for the future.

[ch958 2,393]

talk of 13 heats and a second half just reminds me of half the crowd filing out after ht13

[iainb 4,962]

3 minutes ago, ch958 said:

talk of 13 heats and a second half just reminds me of half the crowd filing out after ht13

but a few newcomers were going in the opposite direction to see what all the noise and crowd was about

[Sings4Speedway 3,246]

Throwing more gloom on the doom but with Brum and Newcastle is precarious situations is it simply a case of who's next rather than if? There are plenty of question marks that could hang over many tracks with attendance figures and that's ignoring the threat of re-development of the venues. In 10 years time will there be 10 tracks left running and is that in any way a sustainable operating model?

[Sotonian 609]

29 minutes ago, ch958 said:

talk of 13 heats and a second half just reminds me of half the crowd filing out after ht13

Made exiting easier for those of us who stayed on though. Made a difference with the crowd sizes back then of course.

[Pinny 2,536]

I find it baffling how the Birmingham and Newcastle promotions have got the begging bowls out and expect it to work. I remember the Mallett's done it at Newport and were slaughtered for it. I never agreed with it and always thought there were other ways to try and get fans through the gate.

I read somewhere that Newcastle raised 10000 quid which kept them afloat for a couple of meetings. Surely the promotion there would of known the costs involved before committing to the venture?

In a time where the whole world has been rocked financially, demanding fans turn up and threatening with closure if not is appalling. Especially with the prices still the same.

[Ray Stadia 1,064]

8 minutes ago, Pinny said:

I find it baffling how the Birmingham and Newcastle promotions have got the begging bowls out and expect it to work. I remember the Mallett's done it at Newport and were slaughtered for it. I never agreed with it and always thought there were other ways to try and get fans through the gate.

I read somewhere that Newcastle raised 10000 quid which kept them afloat for a couple of meetings. Surely the promotion there would of known the costs involved before committing to the venture?

In a time where the whole world has been rocked financially, demanding fans turn up and threatening with closure if not is appalling. Especially with the prices still the same.

Maybe speedway could try and register itself as a charity? 

[CountArthur 74]

It made me smile when I read in the Newcastle press release that speedway is not a charity - after raising over £10,000 of the speedway public's money - after holding the grand total of (correct me if I am wrong) - one meeting.

[cowboy cookie returns? 746]

The ironic thing is all these rule changes, manipulation of the rules the guest fest and doubling up and down are all done "in the interest of speedway" couldn't make it up!!

The short answer is the product is not worth the admission charge and the rules governing the product are rubbishe. 

 

[mikebv 10,235]

17 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

The ironic thing is all these rule changes, manipulation of the rules the guest fest and doubling up and down are all done "in the interest of speedway" couldn't make it up!!

The short answer is the product is not worth the admission charge and the rules governing the product are rubbishe. 

 

It truly is akin to "Turkeys voting for Xmas" the way they just set themselves up from season to season to fail ad infinitum isn't it?

I am though always amazed that no one within the sport ever comes out publicly to say "This simply does not work"..

Riders, who should be earning much more for what they do, seem to have no issues (presumably because they get to ride for anyone they can night after night)..

Promoters, who see stadiums much less than half full and have to set up funding pages to stay afloat, never seem to come out and question "Just why the 'hell' are we doing it like this"?..

The Speedway Star (a truly excellent publication which any sport so small is so lucky to have) seems to have had a fair few editorials and comments published around much of what we all collectively discuss on here so 'within the sport' there must be at least some tacit understanding that the operating model simply isn't fit for purpose..

Yet each AGM ends with "we have a great plan and look forward to another excellent season of speedway"...

Whilst each season ends with less paying customers than the year before.....

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by mikebv

[heathen52 383]

Even Wolves have had the help of supporters http://www.wolverhampton-speedway.com/news.php?extend.3377  though it says a supporter led Go fund me page, it begs  the question  how long can Speedway survive in its present format with Fans average age getting older and older, and fewer and fewer and those that remain reluctant to see any change to the tried and failed format of this century. 

With a 6 Team Premiership and diminishing Championship there is not much further british Speedway can sink, cost is a big factor for a lot of fans yes its probably affordable for the majority of concessionares but for the family man its not so, riders riding for any number of teams has helped riders but the bond between a team and its riders has been lost, the BSPL has failed to recognise this and now they cant go back because we dont have enough riders, its a never ending race to the bottom.

[Humphrey Appleby 13,934]

4 hours ago, Pinny said:

I find it baffling how the Birmingham and Newcastle promotions have got the begging bowls out and expect it to work. I remember the Mallett's done it at Newport and were slaughtered for it. I never agreed with it and always thought there were other ways to try and get fans through the gate.

If your enterprise is already a marginal existence then an expectedly bad run of weather, England going on a good run in a major football tournament, or any number of other unexpected phenomena (e.g. COVID) will put your cashflow in jeopardy. I suppose a good businessperson should factor some of these things into their calculations, and obviously if you're able to run long enough you'd probably have a good idea of the ups-and-downs. But I doubt many going into speedway have a lot of experience with sports and/or events promotion and get caught out.

It's all very well saying that clueless promoters shouldn't really get involved in the sport, but the returns are so abysmal that there's not exactly a long queue of people lining up to take over. So it may well be the case of them or no speedway at all. 

Of course, few if any sports are run on sensible economic lines anyway. Otherwise successful businesspeople seem to take leave of their senses when getting involved in sport, not least committing to particular costs that they have little say or control over.

Begging bowls are commonplace in all sports though, it's just that it's usually done in a more disguised and classy way for the likes of football, cricket and rugby... 

[Sings4Speedway 3,246]

Looking across the leagues already this year there have been calls for higher attendances at Kings Lynn and Wolves in the Prem. At CL level Eastbourne, Kent and Leicester have made comments on crowd levels plus obviously Birmingham and Newcastle's recent pleas. Somerset has already gone, Swindon hardly sounds promising and there are plenty of question marks that could be applied to multiple clubs short term futures. The writing is on the wall and yet there are still those in charge who refuse to read it.

[steve roberts 9,242]

5 hours ago, Sotonian said:

Made exiting easier for those of us who stayed on though. Made a difference with the crowd sizes back then of course.

Personally I had no problem with people leaving if that was their desire? Afterall the promotion already has their money irrespective of whether they stayed on or not but personally I always stayed on after the main event and saw some cracking races involving not only the main riders but the novices as well.