Skid Sprocket
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Posts posted by Skid Sprocket
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Better live IMO. The smell and the noise all add to the experience.
The live atmosphere, pie and peas, interaction with fellow supporters, being out in the open air (summer time), and one off's like the G.P just being part of it. Any more?
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I've said same many times. £15 - £18 for fifteen (?) races just doesn't offer good value for money especially when one has to find petrol money on top. Either extra races should be included in the package (would be my preferred choice) or pay the riders less and if that means that the 'stars' no longer find it viable competing in Britain then so be it.
I gave some promotional talks at some schools some 14 or so years ago but unfortunately got very little input from the promotion at the time and it proved a bit of a damp squibb. I was promised a bike that never materialised and other incentives and it was hard work trying to sound enthusiastic.
Lets hope that alongside a new generation of supporters there are also a new generation of promoters coming through with more forward thinking, I believe we have one at Redcar.
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Many things need looking at but one priority must be publicity.
Yesterday I rang the reception of 39 local schools to get contact details to inform them of a local competition and when I asked have you heard of our local speedway team? only 3 had. One glimmer of hope was that one of the three said that a rider and bike had visited the school and the students were really exited by the experience. So with a bit of thought and effort there is a new audience out there ready to be informed.
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I think that comes from the perception that stock cars ruin the speedway track rather than any problem with the sport per se.
Don't know much about stock cars but I would have thought there was always the danger of car parts being left/buried in the track.
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The answer to the question is 'Yes'. People were talking about it dying 30 years ago and more but its still here.
I hate to bang on about Isle of Wight (and apologise for doing so) but to me they set a standard that others should at least consider. I have been to every British track in the last two seasons and did 80 meetings at 23 last year, so I think I have some qualification to make a fair comparison.
First of all, its about making sure people know about the existence of a speedway track. Their efforts have been amazing - posters, leaflets, flyers, adverts, shows, stands - you name it, they do it.
Anyone seen an advert at Eastbourne ? Thought not.
The cost for two adults and two children is £22, comparable with any other evening entertainment and about 30% cheaper than a visit to the cinema.
Poole can set you back nearer £50.
They have two of the best presenters in the game - Bryn Williams & Tim Allan. Compare that with star of the show Peter York at Coventry, that annoying bloke in the middle at Plymouth, the unbelievably dreary chap in the box at Glasgow (I was told - as a joke - that he worked for an undertaker and for a moment believed it) or the centre green man at Birmingham, who has the charisma of a moose.
Then there's the racing. Pretty good, in fact. The tracks that could learn a lesson from this are numerous but lets name Sheffield, Kent & Leicester for a start.
There's also what they put on over and above that, particularly for the youngsters (who, of course, bring their parents). Face painting, bike racing, meetings with riders, centre green visits. When I was there last season, a group of away fans were taken into the middle. That's unheard of.
Finally there's the attitude of the promotion. Pretty incredible by speedway standards, I'd say. For a start, they are highly visible on race nights. Fair criticism is not met by abuse, aggression and hostility, but by someone actually listening, taking on board what you say and giving you feedback even if that is to say that they disagree. Then there's the story of young Callum Gouldbourne, who I don't think it is an exaggeration to say has literally had his life changed by the promotion and riders at the club.
Buxton or Redcar could learn a few lessons from this, and we won't even go near Stoke.
What is amazing (and indeed infuriating) is that none of the above is difficult, time consuming, expensive (aside from the initial outlay,the advertising is met by sponsors) or even inobvious. Its all just about a bit more care and effort for the needs of customers, both individually and collectively. As such, any promotion could do exactly the same.
The pay off ? When I went to Isle of Wight in 2012 the gate at bank holiday time was about 300. This year, it had probably doubled.
A lot of good observations except that Redcar will be a whole different ball game in 2017
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I'm all for thinking of new things that may or may not work...far better discussing them, than just rubbishing them, and letting things stay as they are. I feel that's the problem with speedway and some of it's supporters and those who run it. Set in its ways in many respects, and not willing to change...often with the most important aspects....yet they chop and change pretty much every year, with the things that aren't really that important.
Re....admission. Nice idea, but in all honesty, I really don't think the public would get their money back. Once it was in the Speedway coffers it would be gone, never to be seen again. Harsh...but you've only got to see how hard it is at some clubs to get admission back if there's a problem, like at Bell Vue this past season.
Speedway is teetering on a financial knife edge...I'd never trust my money with a speedway promotor.
I would personally trust our promoters but the cash could be held by an independent trustee and only payed out when justified and not just for a night out for the directors!
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Definitely agree that admission prices have become a major issue and has been debated many times previously. I personally would love to see Speedway as a set day sport, 1 league per day over a Fri,Sat & Sunday however UK speedway does not have the unlimited use of Stadiums and therefore the single day approach is simply not feasible.
I do feel that there does need to be greater value for money and there are loads of possibilities for after meeting entertainment. Bigger 2nd halves, sidecar racing the list could go on and these competitors would race for very little/free just for the additional track time.
It seems to be unanimous that the main problem is thought to be admission prices. Our season ticket prices work out at around £10 per meeting for a full season. When I asked one of our directors how they could make such a discount he said it was to get as much cash in up front when it was needed at the beginning of the season.
If that's the case then are there a few supporters at every club that could cover this start of season shortfall and be reimbursed at the end of season so that all of us could enjoy £10 admission? The extra supporters it would attract should guarantee the good Samaritans get their cash back. i know any accountant would tell you to run a mile from such an idea, you're not going to get rich financially but the satisfaction would be priceless.
Shoot me down if you will but before you do just think about it for a minute.
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I also started that way. My best friends father was an ex rider...so I'd go with my friend, his brother and father and my father. Got hooked at a very young age. Can still remember the very first race. Took my breath away....the noise, the speed, the smell, the roar of the crowd. Frightened me senseless...but the rush of adrenalin got me hooked. Spent the next day sliding my push bike in the style of my new hero's.
It still happens...there is a family that comes every week to my local track. The little en brings his bike and wears a replica race jacket. Bombs around the open spaces between heats, then watches avidly the racing. Reminds me so much of how I was...a joy to see. In fact there are quite a few young families who come to my local track. More oldies...but there is a good sprinkling.
It sounds like you are exactly the type of fan that the promotors need to listen too. Something must have really irked you after 30 years being so loyal.
Good to hear a positive post, I've seen the same myself, so I hope the doom and gloom merchants will also take this as a positive. I know it could be better but not all is lost.
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Whatever happened to talking / chatting with your mates / family about how good the heat was that you have just seen and whats coming up next. That's what we used to do ! What with fetching a drink or food, a visit to the track shop or using the facilities there always seemed to be something to do between heats , it used to be a rush back before the next heat started.Unfortunately the racing isn't much to talk about these days and most of the friends have stopped going for this reason, League champions or not !
As for youngsters I was hooked at an early age by the speed, the smell and the noise. Unfortunately only the speed remains as it was, so If I had my time again I probably wouldn't be hooked for the last 30 years, Although in my 30th season of watching speedway I have watched less this year domestically then any of the last 29.
And the fact that you can talk to the away supporters next to you. I mentioned in another post that the younger generation wouldn't go where their dads go, 30 years ago did you go because of your dad/family or did you discover speedway for yourself?
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If the stereotyping of the younger generation is correct then you are never going to persuade your offspring, " I'm not going to be seen where my dad goes"
The younger generation have to be reached out to so that they discover it for themselves. as for condition of facilities etc that doesn't affect the likes of Glastonbury, it seems the rougher the better.
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That's the problem. The 5yo pays no admission and the 95yo gets in on a concession. The promoters aren't getting the income that they need to take things further. I'm told that at some venues over 70% of the revenue is "concessionary". People talk about speedway being only worth £10 in admission value, well at some places thats more than the average take per head.
We need to move away from being family friendly and move to an audience that you can concentrate your efforts on. Focus on "Club 18-35" if you like. At least they will be full fare payers, with disposable income to spend on other things. Make the whole experience youth-friendly and you may succeed in getting a new audience. If that sounds harsh on the oldies, well I'm sorry, but sometimes you have to crack some eggs to make an omlette. Right now the sport has as much life left in it as have the pensioners watching it. For there to be a long term future, the youth of today need to be attracted in.
You are totally missing my point, while the 5 yr and 95 yr old may be a slightly stretching it, my point is there is something for everyone. I should have added male and female alike. The original example (5 and 95) is not so wrong because who is going to take them and usually be paying full price.
Speedway cant afford to ignore any age group or gender, focus on Club 18-35 if you will but that will not stop other age groups getting something out of the sport.
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looking at the redca team , it looks a great side and should be ok in the coming season . it looks a side to fear , both home and away .
its been a long time coming and i hope the bears fans will support it in the coming season . it would be nice if the fans that stay away would return to redca again .
you have the team , now give the guys the track to ply their trade .
we haven't been over there for a few years now, maybe the season coming will see a few worky fans return to see speedway at redca !
I hope the fans and the"r" return to Redcar
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Concentrating every bit of each promotions efforts on attracting new fans is the most important thing between now and the next season. The "bring a friend" marketing technique worked a bit in 1965 and cannot do much to revive the sport at the moment. Encouraging all sports fans to take a look at speedway racing on YouTube if they have never been before, would be a great start. As would be the sale of a DVD for £1 ( or whatever the production costs currently are ) of The Best of 2016 races. This may be possible in partnership with a newspaper or broadcaster and then even may be a free giveaway. For those who have never seen speedway racing before it could bring them in for a first visit. Then it is essential that the live experience in the stadium is as crisp and exciting as possible and not a long, dreary stand in the cold!
There is too much of a mentality among promoters ( seemingly ) that having had a major re-vamp and a re-branding all is well and new fans will pour in or even pop in. Outside of current speedway areas no-one noticed it! The sport will not reach it's centenary without serious attention to selling it's best points to the wider world and making sure that the "on the night" experience is worth repeating. Selling a double sided A4 racecard for a £1 would be a positive thing. This might mean a loss of some local advertising revenue but would make a night at the speedway much better value.
Its often said that everything has been tried before but in your post, Waytogo, there are a couple of brilliant ideas that could not have been tried until recent years as the technology was just not available. I am trying to get an Idea off the ground to encourage the younger generation to take an interest involving reasonably modern technology but getting the go ahead from the powers that be is another story.
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What exactly makes speedway not "family friendly"? You could take a 5 year old and a 95 year old and they would both get something from their experience.
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I know its easy for seasoned supporters to come on here and want changes in the way the sport is run and rightly so, changes are needed. The biggest problem is getting new faces through the turnstiles and a new face is going to see what must be one of the most action packed sports in the country and not be bothered about the backstage problems, at least not for the first few meetings.
Our new promoter at Redcar said recently in his first statement that all supporters are promoters and can do their bit by spreading the word and bringing family and friends along. Bringing in new supporters is something we can all do alongside lobbying for changes.
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I was not advocating rushing a meeting through but pointing out that the actual racing and necessary preparation took so little actual time. If the presentation was too slick it would be over and done in a very short time. This has been proved in some of the televised Swedish edited matches even when they do manage to fit all the heats in. The punters need more than just this for the admission that is charged and that does not necessarily mean wasting time, but providing some sort of entertainment, maybe a few heats after the main meeting showing junior and reserve riders. Another idea is a lap or honour by the winning rider round the whole track not a rush shortcut back to the pits. I also notice that in Swedish meetings the centre green is filled up with advertising boards but our tracks appear to do very little like that whatever income they brought in would help
You could always revert to that old, almost lost, art of conversation when there is a moment to spare. One thing speedway is good at is the friendly banter between opposing supporters, not found in all sports. The opposing supporter stood/sat next to you could be the friend you just haven't met yet!!
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Maybe we can hope for a bit more 'meat on the bones' in this week's Speedway Star?!
Although I'm fairly sure after previous AGMs the promoters have had a 2-3 week window to fully consider all the proposed new rules and consider any major issues - ie look at a number of scenarios that they couldn't do in depth at the 2-day AGM and reconsider those proposals before they are rubberstamped by the MC and SCB?!
Maybe even trawled through these pages to see where they went wrong
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Going on the title of the thread, it's clear most parents won't take there kids on school nights to watch speedway, also meetings drawn out is hard to take for the older fan but young newbies would soon be bored.
I don't hear anything that will bring young fans to speedway in large numbers.
I understand what you are saying but if we don't try we will never know.
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I have an idea that might encourage the younger generation to take an interest in the sport through a project in schools, colleges etc. To see if it would work within a school timetable/curiculum I am looking for a school teacher, lecturer etc who can advise on the inner workings of education today and so if you are that person or know of one please p.m. me.
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In that case I apologise for my own reply.
You shouldn't need to apologise some of us take these posts seriously. There is a seperate thread for jokes and the like.
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One possible revenue driver for me is NOT to sell season tickets..
They sell so few anyway that it cannot make a huge difference in providing cash up front pre season and all it does then is prevent 'special offers' being run through the rest of the year as it will p1ss off the ST holders.
(And don't forget by definition your ST buyers are your most loyal so will attend anyway!)
For me, much better to do individual meeting 'specials' or say blocks of four matches for say £50 in the top league, or even better maybe use a loyalty system where you get tokens in the programme and for every four you collect you get a half price ticket,(or even FREE ENTRY) for the fifth meeting?
MUFC used to do tokens in programmes in the seventies and eighties which you collected to be eligible for Cup Final tickets etc. If people bought extra programmes for their mates the programme got opened and the token marked through so couldn't be used!
Programme sales were much higher in those days than today as we simply HAD to buy one so Speedway would also benefit from increased programme sales I would suggest..
Doing a loyalty scheme will also maybe encourage people to attend matches that currently they wouldn't due to opposition/TV etc...?
Maybe also teams should raffle season tickets instead?
Say ten tickets released one at a time over the first ten matches?
£2 a ticket (or 3 for a fiver?) would generate well over what they would get selling them individually.
Last year if BV had done this with an opening night crowd of 2000 and more I would have thought at least half would have bought at least one ticket at £2..
An easy £2k for ONE season ticket and probably a much, much more...
Another revenue driver is maybe buying a Speedway bike and raffling that all through the year?
I went to a Supercross event where on the night you texted in your number (for a Fiver) to win a kids MX machine hanging down on display from the ceiling.
The machine was approx worth £1k. They must have had at least 3000 entries looking at how many of the 7000 of us in attendance were texting in at the given moment to do so during the interval...
One lucky Dad walked off with a great Xmas present for his lad who he had took with him.
And the promoters walked off with a very conservative 10-15k profit I would suggest...!
There are lots of revenue drivers if promotions were bothered to work them.
Or pay someone on commission to drive them...
This must be the best practical forward looking post I have ever seen on these pages.
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One change that, although mentioned in posts, hasn't really been challenged and that is why change the names of the two leagues? how is it going to help? I see it as a poor unnecessary change.
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Up to you "skid
How is it up to me?
Does British Speedway Have Future?
in Speedway News and Discussions
Posted
That's the big dilemma; we want it on t.v. for publicity so that we get the terraces full to make it pay so that we have speedway to show on t.v.