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When the sport was "successful" it had only the top riders as fully pro... The rest rode part time for very, very decent money when compared to their other job... With second strings earning more in one night than they earned in a week in their "main job"... Now we have pro juniors.... But we also have crowds one tenth of the days of when the sport was successful... And we also have promoters quite happy to indulge Poland and have their leagues lack credibility due to playing second fiddle to them.. We also have promoters happy to indulge riders when it comes to their own individual ambitions by simply running a meeting anyway and borrowing from elsewhere when these riders are unavailable... They even sign riders from Denmark who cannot race on Wednesdays..... For me, all the things many of us have regularly said as being ridiculous on here, have been allowed to actually become part of the fabric of the operating model, so I truly cannot see a way out in all honesty... It has been a slow inexorable death by a thousand (self inflicted) cuts... Three times major radical changes should have been made... 1. When the GP's started to impact domestic Speedway... 2. When Poland started to impact domestic Speedway... The sport should have built its own destiny, instead it fudged and appeased other organisations and riders, meaning the fans got pi$$ed off watching guestfesf after guestfest and voted with their feet... And the third time? Covid... What a chance for a reset, thousands of die hards and thousands of even more lapsed fans eager for the sport to start up again... And what did we get? Well, the current situation clearly shows the answer ..

But you haven’t offered examples of how to reduce the costs for riders promoters and fans, saying standardising engines isn’t really a workable solution which is a common theme and what does that even mean ? there are things that can be done to reduce costs to engines but there is no will to do it, I (blowing my own trumpet here ) have suggested more than most in the sport about ways to reduce bike costs but nobody listens and I also get stick for it from the current clique in the sport which is fine,I speak to tuners, riders,ex riders and put my thoughts to them, some agree some don’t but nothing changes, bigger ex riders than me know you face a brick wall to get change and don’t bother .promoters just cutting the wages again isn’t going to wash,there has to be a trade off, we have all been saying it for years but nobody ever really comes up with a workable solution, me included

If it's gate and go as usual, tiggers won't like it, they could not handle worky on Saturday 🙂 saying that neither cud the pilots the other week 😁

If it's only one league, why is there a question of Oxford running either Prem or Champ?

The simple fact, which I have banged on about for years and have received much criticism against my views, is the costs for the riders, promoters and spectators, needs to greatly reduce. Some of the people who criticised my comments, their tracks have long gone! No names, no pack drill, but Newcastle springs to mind!

Next week: Tisdag 2 September Indianerna - Västervik Smederna - Lejonen

No one has the answers,but for me the riders are dictating the sport with their wage demands and the moaning that they can’t make it pay unless they ride in both leagues . The fans are fed up seeing the same riders every week riding for different Clubs.Its just not a credible sport. eg Your rider helping other Teams ,comprising your Teams chances.(just one).Thete are many more examples.

Ok thanks

Västervik - Indianerna is the semifinal however it's automatically the 1st placed team vs the 4th placed team in the table as well as the 2nd vs the 3rd in the other semi

I also assume SCB will be sending a fine the way of the BSPL for sharing the footage????

Vatcher seems to be the one that replies to any emails sent to the BSPL. Why is that

Vastervik i think have 1st choice and will surely pick Indianerna.

It should be a way forward and it might take some investment but hell, give it a go and with that set up, you would have weekly speedway throughout the season. It really needs something different and if you are a speedway fan and not just a team supporter you would not object to a track share on this basis. Not a BS idea at all. The sport needs riders competing at all levels to re establish itself and start out on that journey of getting to the level that the Poles aspire to and U K riders should be aiming for and eventually becoming a force in the international stage at every level.

Semi final teams will be Västervik and Lejonen as top 2 vs Smederna and Indianerna.

Tungate's does....

While all your points are valid, they are under the current system of running the sport, which doesn’t work anymore,if things were to change within the current financial structure of the sport and from what I believe they are changing (I hope they are )then the changes needed may work, I understand it’s not going to be popular and I can see some kicking and screaming but what’s the alternative? The alternative is the end and that suits nobody, I had a long chat with someone at Birmingham last night (not connected to Bham)about finances and although I sort of already knew but it was quite staggering to hear just how far from the point which imo we should be operating at we have gone as a sport and it goes right from top to bottom and it’s unsustainable

Agree.Back to basics has to be the answer.

We can all see the problems but no one, myself included, has the answers. Let me give you just a couple of examples that will have to be faced. Say I run a team in a rented stadium, the landlord wants to increase the rent. My crowd is decreasing by 10%-15% or thereabouts every season but the fans want a reduction in admittance charges. How do I balance the books? My imaginary no.1 is on points money in my championship league and typically picks up between £900-£1200 on a good night. He also rides in the Premiership and is paid a ‘guarantee’ of around £2,000 ( or more in certain clubs) a meeting. The fans want the sport to go ‘ one league ‘, you think the rider wants that and cut his earnings by half ? Then theres the matter of which team he wants to ride for as he is always going to pick the clubs who pay best leaving half the ‘one league’ with the riders who aren't in demand elsewhere. I could go on but wont, the problems are massive. There are only a handful of clubs who can balance the books , the rest rely on generous sponsors or rich owners, one league would kill the smaller clubs without major changes on how the sport is run. You think those that are choking the sport at the moment have the brains to make dramatic changes ? I fear not.

Only if BSN cover it.

Foreverblue yawn yawn 🥱 😴

No chance

Edit

I hope we prepare the track to suit our own riders.

I visited Perry Barr earlier in the season to watch the Lions and paid by card for me and the missus at the entrance. I say ‘paid’, but to this day no money has left my account. This could be a blip, but may have happened to others (who are hardly going to shout up are they?…..although they can now!). Whilst this isn’t the straw that breaks the camel’s back, it does imply sloppiness of a club needing to seemingly count every penny.

Totally untrue.