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mikebv

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Posts posted by mikebv

  1. Posted

    10 minutes ago, ray c said:

    Kasprzak not again 

    The Polish 'Bomber'....:D

    Crump, Zagar, Kasprzak..

    Riders who truly would 'howl' into the tight bends at Kirky Lane faster than anyone else I ever saw..

    Yet KK the night after could ride like it was his first week on a Speedway bike. .

    A superb rider when he feels like it..

    A dreadful one when he doesn't. .

    Not sure I've ever seen a rider with such a huge differential margin of capability depending on how he feels mentally on any given night..

     

    • Like 2

  7. Posted · Edited by mikebv

    1 hour ago, KingoftheTrack said:

    Saw this pic on twitter.

    Tweet said

    The inhabitants of Gorzów have proof that flooding the track in Częstochowa is a big fake. At eight o'clock in the morning the surface was muddy and the grasslands were dry. As evidence, a hole was dug in the turf. I wonder what the PGE Ekstraliga authorities will do with it. We are facing a major scandal

    Image

    Is that where Moley lIves that used to work Kelvin's Moleycam camera...

    Edit: Just been informed it's his East European cousin. ..

    'Poley'....

    I'll get me coat. .:D

    • Like 1
    • Haha 4

  9. Posted

    22 minutes ago, Ben91 said:

    It has always seemed widely accepted that when a club is on TV they will get a lower crowd because fans would rather sit at home because they don’t have to shell out their entrance fee. To me that screams out the lack of value for money there is in attending Speedway.

    I support Stevenage FC. If we are ever on TV (it has happened a few times) I don’t decide to sit at home and watch, if anything I’m more interested in going to the match live. I’m reluctant to draw comparisons to Premier League football as it is a completely different beast but the majority of games are covered live or given extensive highlights yet it is rare to see many empty seats at these games. 

    There is no substitute for attending a live sporting event, yet the numbers watching Speedway on TV don’t seem to correlate to the numbers who appear to walk through the gates to watch meetings in the flesh. I can’t see that being anything other than a promoting and cost to the punter issue. 

    WWE use a technique with their TV shows when they have empty seats in which they move as many people as possible to the seating that their hard (main) camera faces. This gives the impression of a packed arena. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Speedway tracks to do something similar when the TV cameras are in town. A track like Sheffield, or Wolves, where fans can’t stand on the back straight would surely be better served having the cameras set up facing the main stand where the crowds are packed in as opposed to in the main stand facing a desolate, empty area. 

    I attended the SWC at the NSS a few years ago and originally had standing tickets for the first bend, however, upon arrival at the turnstiles we were offered seats on the fourth turn..

    Me and many, many others took up the offer...

    The reason? Well it wasn't the organisers being charitable, it was simply that this section would be more in view than any other part of the stadium, as they showed every start from that camera (positioned directly above our original standing place focusing down the home straight)..

    They understood how important having a "full stadium" looks to the casual viewer, and the event's sponsors, if you want to grow your product in the ensuing years..

    Quite often when the Aces are at home the camera angle at the starting gate (hand held from the centre green just in front of the tapes), shows rows and rows of empty seats interspersed with the odd one or two fans..

    The circa 1800 seats are usually around 40 to 50% full on a TV match so there is still approx 700+ fans sat there, yet if you looked at the TV "plenty of empty red seats" would be your over riding view of the place..

    Putting these 700+ fans together (for one night only) in line with the camera angles would only improve the overall positive view of the sport from those watching at home..

    And any seats left empty would all be together so perfect for being totally covered with large advertising banners for their sponsors, or large adverts for the next meeting at the place with contact details etc..

    I am sure for the 'odd time' fans would understand getting moved 'a bit' for the good of their club's long term marketing plan..

    It doesnt take much to make something look far more popular than it actually is..

    It often just takes a little bit of positive creativity..

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, BWitcher said:

    Anyhow, I'm not disagreeing with speedways standing as a sport in the country... just wanted to mention that when it comes to viewing figures, it's 'boxed' weigh above it's weight and matched, if not beaten, some very heavy hitters over the years.

    Sky were always "very pleased" with the viewing figures they got, particularly in the first ten years or so..

    Often they would easily hit well over 100,000 for the GP's and high 80's and 90,000's (and more sometimes) for domestic racing..

    BT delivered circa 50 to 60000+ last time I looked at their figs on BARB which, for them, was also more than a reasonable return, and often would beat their round the world sports and non Premier League football..

    I think with Sky it was just the cost of the OB to show Speedway, especially at a time when they had paid out zillions for football,  that made them decide to pay up the contract and move on to other sports like Netball which I presume is cheaper to produce and definitely has no weather threats to it taking place..

    Speedway's following on the TV though certainly punches well above its weight in relation to its 'live' following I would suggest...

    Which does make it all the more frustrating to he honest when you see hardly any effort to sell itself when the TV cameras come to town.

    There is obviously an interested and curious market out there for the sport, sat in their armchairs, so maybe doing more to hide the huge swathes of empty stadia that take 'centre stage' most weeks at the live meeting, and fill the space with fans or advertising, would be worth considering..?

     

    • Like 5

  11. Posted · Edited by mikebv

    Maybe they could raffle off season tickets every month between now and the new season?

    At say £2.50 a ticket, (5 for a Tenner;)), surely most clubs could get 500 fans or so to spend a tenner a month on tickets?

    That would be £5k a month coming in and between now and March, start now and that's seven months worth of money..

    Clubs have their own websites and many have their own social media pages that have considerably  more than 500 followers, as well as many having unofficial fans pages set up by loyal supporters so getting the message out wouldn't be too difficult.. 

    And those who are forward thinking will already have plenty of email info of their fans to contact directly..

    Obviously there will need to be some elemant of trust and belief that next season takes place but if nothing else the clubs will be able to see if such a dynamic would work for other years even if they have to pay money back or offer a roll over of the tickets..

    It keeps the fans in regular contact with the club too so also affords the opportunity to sell merchandise direct etc..

    And with Xmas looming winning a season ticket could get a very healthy take up in Decenber as it would make a great present for the Speedway fan in your life!!!

  12. Posted

    4 hours ago, iris123 said:

    You seem to have missed the stats provided, but hey ho......

    Also just Wimbledon alone

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/957232/wimbledon-championships-aggregate-attendance/

    But I do remember a similar thread a few years back and it was claimed that Cowes week has around 100,000 but how do you count people just watching from a beach or as with cycling, just standing at the roadside ? 

    Ice Hockey at least the top league

    https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/article/748-attendances-up-over-2019-20-season

    Wow..

    An average of 3043 fans per league match.. 

    That's around double I would suggest that each top level Speedway meeting would average...

    And having been to a match there does appear to be a clear focus on attracting a younger demographic of fans...

    Admission costs similar to Speedway too..

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    48 minutes ago, uk_martin said:

    It's a funny feeling at my age...I'm under 60, so in Britain I leave a speedway stadium feeling like the new kid on the block. Yet when I leave a Polish stadium I feel like I'm the oldest swinger in town.

    When I was a regular at the tracks as a 40 something male, I was often the only one there who didnt "remember when this was all fields"....:D

  15. Posted

    6 hours ago, steve roberts said:

    Who could ever forget the run-off between Peter Collins (England) and Anders Michanek (Sweden) after the final finished in a draw at Wembley and Anders was excluded after Peter slid off? An incident that divided opinion then and still does for those who were around to remember it.

    And you had an amazing last heat decider at Sheffield with PC, Eric Boocock, Michanek and Tommy Jansson....

    Shown later the same evening on ITV..

    A race that never gets boring to watch given so much is going on..

    A true 'Festival of Speedway" with a big name sponsor and almost blanket TV coverage on one of only three channels you could watch at the time..

    A very different world than the one that exists today for Speedway in the UK..

     

     

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    12 minutes ago, KingoftheTrack said:

    Tbf Woffy has been gutless tonight. 

    Hasn't made an effort when trapping 4th just riding the inside line hoping somebody has a bike failure to gift him a point.

    Never been one to take any notice of the usual "could you ride a Speedway bike?" crap that many idiots come out with when their favourite gets criticised, however..

    Anyone who throws their leg over a Speedway bike, and races it, definitely can never be regarded as 'gutless'.. 

    • Like 3

  19. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

     

    Not many this season,even then a couple of points in Poland Is good money Compared to GB.

    And I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the "guest' system next year too as it gives sides greater flexibility and puts pressure on riders to perform..

    Obvously it's not the same blight on the sport as our guest system is as its really doubling up which will provide a fair few riders with dual income..

    Very good dual income..

     

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    9 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

    His gating has always been poor but he has the brain to pick his lines right in the first corner 

    He used to at least be around second at the first turn, now he is often third or fourth..

    That cut back he does in the first two turns has paid many a dividend over the years but you cant keep relying on it working.. 

    Expecting it to work against 3 top lads is a high risk strategy if you want success at a world level..

     

  24. Posted

    Woffy's gating has been truly appalling for the past season and a half at least..

    Miss gate, then blast around the boards is his regular tactic these days..

    Great to watch when it comes off, but against top riders regularly hitting the first turn third or fourth wont deliver much success..

    I would suggest he is maybe just still in the Top 10 in the world but not in the very top echelon anymore..

    Bikes and talent still good enough, but starting simply miles off..

    • Like 2

  25. Posted · Edited by mikebv

    1 hour ago, Dave Goddard said:

    That was flippin' awesome.  Loved every second and well done Lublin.

     

    Maybe the almost "we've got no chance" attitude when teams race Leszno is starting to unravel a bit?

    If you wrote that septet down on paper not many I would suggest would read it and think "Wow! They must be the best in the world"...

    They are though, it appears, "a team" which several of those with a higher proportion of "world class riders" dont always appear to be..

    The Smektala/Kubera combination at Junior level was always a strong plus for them which no longer exists, so who knows, maybe this year whoever they go head to head against in the play offs will fancy their chances..?

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