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Yer buy 10, Yer get none free!!!

Sheffield are “freezing” their admission price of £25. So a book of 10 meetings totals a grand old saving of, ZERO pounds! Yes, you get a few little bits and bobs thrown in, team photo, birthday card etc, but who on earth is going to lump up £250 in one hit rather than “pay as you go” for the same price?

Maybe they may do it for the best interests of the sport 😝

Was that number when the stocks returned and approaching similar numbers for big meetings, don't follow stocks, but most seem to get good crowds with fans paying to get in, also the drivers pay to enter, so it's a win win for stock promotions and another win if they own the stadium, like mildenhall and Ipswich and possibly others

The trouble is what’s the hit they need to take? The state of uk speedway a £10 hit of last season prices & I don’t think you’d get anymore through the door.

Likewise, hardly missed a new era Newport meeting, went to a few at Somerset, ( awful drive down a regularly jammed M5) standing on a cold slippery bank and a circuit that was basically a big doughnut, never compared favourably to Newport, went to a few at Swindon as well, poor atmosphere looking through wire fencing across a dog track did not compare favourably either, once your team is gone it is hard to switch allegiance. I would rather attend a grass track now, slick operation, lots of good close races, but if Newport was to return I would be back in a heartbeat /

Pray do tell....

.. and cost an absolute fortune !!

Is there a possibility that having 6 teams could salvage a tv deal (albeit a limited one) in 2026, thus providing a contribution towards the setting-up costs? But as well as the question of lack of support base and lead-up promotion & marketing, theres also the question of product quality. Whilst the sub-surface of the track should be fine (no hidden nappies), the first season at a new track is notorious for revealing previously unforseen problems. So many new tracks throughout speedway's history have failed due to such problems being insurmountable. And whereas Ipswich should be okay once their supporters get dialled into their new-look team, you do wonder about the possible quality of a 6th team, after the recent experiences of Birmingham, Kings Lynn and Oxford coming to mind. A 6-team league that features a lame duck side is asking for big trouble, not just for that club

I would imagine £26 will be there or thereabouts for the top tier this season... A hard sell if so.... Maybe some strong promotion will take place across the country if no TV deal to fall back on?

Nicki P & Rene Bach...would put bums on seats & probably bums in the fence

so must be more if you turn up on the day. not good.

So how have they survived ?. Even getting back into 'Superleague' ?....It must make the Halifax Panthers and Featherstone Rovers fans livid. But maybe Halifax can revive speedway to counteract the loss of their RL club?.

so Sheffield have come out with 10 meetings for £250. £25 a meeting in an even worse league. Surely take a hit on price and try get more through the door?

Birmingham, with Cradley, Coventry and Wolverhampton, (and even Stoke), within reasonable commutable distance, certainly would back up that opinion... Getting a new track should be something to celebrate, but you do feel that there is a certain amount of desperation with this venture, with allowing riders to double up (as we know how important that is), being the main reason for another top tier team... Let's hope whoever takes over can truly promote a high octane, adrenaline fuelled, exciting and dangerous sport, which brings in plenty of fans who then become regulars... If they can, then maybe it can become a template for others to do the same...?

I agree. We would pick and choose meetings at Somerset and Swindon after Newport closed down but it never felt the same. Probably 5 a year at Somerset and even less at Swindon. I actually think we went to Somerset more when Newport were running than after

I think regularly attracting any worthwhile amount of supporters from defunct tracks is a myth...

YOUNG STARS 2026: Simon Lambert 9.20, Jake Mulford 8.67, Mickie Simpson 8.42, Jacob Clouting 7.03, Connor King 3.39, Kenzie Cossey 3.25, Ollie Binns 2.00. Total 41.96. this is from the kings lynn press release, although i havent checked if the averages are correct.

It's such a big stadium that it's hard to estimate, but 10k is very ambitious. I would say the average attendance for an F1 meeting would be around 3-5k. Bigger meetings obviously drag a few more, maybe 6-7k, but the only time it might have reached 10k since the reopening would have been the 2021 World Final. Sadly for the promoters, it was their turn to host the WF again this season, but instead of having the opportunity for a big payday in the best stadium they have now had to hire Northampton for the weekend instead.

Its about the same distance for me as Ipswich so I'll certainly be attending a few at both

Without disrespecting the other second half/MDL riders you can only beat whats in front of you and the level in those meetings is way down on previous years. Eli is a steady rider, he gets round and a lot of his points last year were picked up when others fell (not his fault). He has improved his gating and knows how to be a road block which helps a lot of slick tracks. That said there aren't really any riders missing out by him taking the team place so i hope he makes a go of it.

I know last winter it was said he asked for more than Louis was willing to pay him and hence we stuck with king over him instead. No idea if that figure was more than Doyle was getting, that to me sounds somewhat exaggerated and most likely hyperbole but as I say no idea on the actual numbers. he rode well for brummies for the most part last year, was decent in the grand final second leg too guesting for Ellis, solid in the Aussie champs and a decent year on the continent last year, for me he’s a rider who’s career is on a decent upwards trajectory and one id have liked to see back with plenty of room for average improvement.

Why is that? Meadows was impressive riding in second halves at Birmingham last season.

Well, when I was involved in it 10 years ago, there were plenty of riders taking part in a dozen MDL teams. Any shortage of riders now is the result of the complete indifference shown by the BSPL or whoever is in charge. No effort has been made to encourage new riders, so what do they expect?

Good post. Promoters are always bleating about the lack of punters coming through the gate despite their (apparent) efforts to promote the sport, yet here we are with a team supposedly ready to compete in the next few weeks and nobody in the area is aware of what is going on! If this was a business venture, you'd expect the owner to at least make the public aware of their intent and efforts to be up and running this season, with a back up scenario of being ready for the following season if time runs out. This happened when Leicester returned, with the initial intention of running in 2010, but did not come to tapes (can't remember the reason) until 2011. The difference here though is that Leicester had a fan base in place because their campaign to brought the sport back to the City. The situation is being totally driven by the BSPA. My glass remains half empty, but like everyone else on the forum, I'd love to see it work.