waytogo28

Buster and the BSPA are now truly going to stand or fall by their - shortly due out - Big Marketing UK Wide push for new fans. If this fails to fill the yawning gaps on terraces then the entire basis of professional speedway will come to an end in the UK. The back to basics of racing ( on simpler, cheaper bikes and that one bike on the back of your car ) will be all that the sport can afford from turnstile incomes.

Mistakes all round then as we suspected. But as DG/CM went against legal advice and signed on accepting the stadium that is the weak point in their argument about who was really responsible overall. Rock and a hard place because if they didn't accept the stadium they could not have had a chance to run the NSS as speedway promoters. And once they did sign to accept the stadium it was down to them to make it work. Inexperience? Commercial naivety? One they let the relationship between them and the MCC deteriorate so badly, so quickly it was game over. The BSPA and the SCB do not cover themselves in glory if we are to accept what is in this leaked report. In fact they seem all too eager to oust DG?CM. Reflects badly on them all ISG / DG&CM / MCC / BSPA and the SCB. Same old, same old speedway. And it shows why the declared new promoters ay BV are pausing on their takeover of the NSS - very sensible and professional!

Indeed it is Gemini. And that is what concerns me about how speedway is run ( has been run for the last 15 years or so ). The "outside" people who we needed as positive sources of ideas that might contribute to positive change have been edged out / pushed out and in some cases taken a long look at themselves and their chances of dragging the BSPA forward. And taken their own choice to walk away. If those two prospective promoters at BV for 2017 fail to complete the deal ( perhaps because it makes running BV even more difficult ) we will be in even more of a pickle!

And if they don't get those assurances will they walk away? It is suspicious (?) that Kirky Lane as a fall back option may be being actively explored. I think if we do not get the NSS back as a speedway stadium we may never will. Lets hope that a workable compromise is worked out ASAP.

It is far from over, the BV fallout from 2016 - whoever you choose to blame and the new Promoters have not yet been accepted ( nor accepted what MCC expect of them ) it is not yet cut and dried that we will see speedway at the NSS in 2017. Hold your breath and cross your fingers.

The decline really began when promoters raked in profits from the well filled terraces days and failed to invest any of it the sport in any way. Marketing ( they deemed it unnecessary ) building up the stadiums they promoted in ( most were rented anyway) and finding young British riders ( they didn't bother ). Then when the Sky money rolled in most of that went to pay huge sums to the biggest stars and crumbs & leavings ( at the most were put back into the sport ). Now the BSPA is desperately trying to seek a remedy for falling attendances. Their much vaunted 2017 marketing - spoken of by Buster in his 'state of the nation" address - is what we should be most concerned about because if it fails to attract new fans, the slow decline will gather speed.

MF does not like the direction that speedway is heading in? There is a downward spiral that will affect even strong, well run clubs like Poole because if more clubs fold due to economic factors the whole sport will shrink further.

Matt Ford is the cryptic reference. I made no mention of his decision (?) to ease down his interest in speedway because I feel that the other points I made dwarfed the loss of someone who has hugely contributed to boosting speedway in his area at least and by building teams which have dominated the sport so far this century. I suspect that his announcement about partially withdrawing - in some way- is about how he does not like the direction the sport is currently heading in. Nor do i!

What does seem clear ( if anything is!) is that DG &CM did not have much of a contract for what they were taking over i.e. what must be completed within the stadium that was in writing. The new owners are unlikely to make the same mistake. From the facts so far known it is unlikely the DG&CM would win any court case even if they did decide that was their best way forward. It looks as if DG &CM paid none of their "within speedway" debts and that is why other promoters took away their licence. Fair enough if that is the case.

Three things in this weeks speedway star make me even more concerned for the health of speedway as a whole . 1) The in depth article about the resurgence of Glasgow under the Facenna brothers. We probably all applaud them ( as I do ) and wish that there were more promoters like them ( i.e. with huge resources and belief in the sport ). However they are aiming for a regular crowd pf around 1,200 this year ( and ultimately around 2,000 ). That figure of 1,200 is even after putting in a multi million pound investment. And in a major UK city with a 1,00,000 plus catchment area. That tells you a lot about the realistic hopes inside speedway even for those with money to put where their mouth is ( i.e. 1% perhaps 2% of the potential ), 2) If we believe all that we read in the 2016 Leicester Lions review ( and I do ) it is a terrible tale of the other kind of promoter. Worst of all in that that it is quite possible that some riders are still unpaid for 2016 and maybe even 2015. Horrific! I applaud them for riding week after week in those circumstances. And that is after the initial saviour for 2017 was paraded larger than life in the SS a month ago, who assured us all publicly that all debts to riders ,would be cleared. He is now a minority interest in the Lions latest incarnation - but - have those riders been fully paid and will they ever be? 3) In passing one of the more recent legends, forced from the sport by awful injuries says that he hopes in the long run that he sport keeps going. Me too Darcy! But the underlying stability of too many clubs is precarious to say the least and if clubs are desperate to average 1,000 or so every week ( even after spending hugely which few other clubs are never going to be able to copy ) their economic stability in the long term must be in doubt. The arguments over which engine etc etc will lower overall costs are not at all important if we can't attract 25% ( at least ) more regular fans than currently watch speedway.

Horton never was any kind of "saviour" ( remember Peterborough ) he is and always has been a chancer - as he is now with the "temporary" move to track share with Leicester. When it turns out he can't get back to Brandon ( as is very likely ) he will pull the shutters down on a loss making run in Leicester.

The number of teams operating in speedway is irrelevant to the decline of the sport. The only number to be compared is the number of people attending matches for each team. Do statistics exist comparing crowd levels from 1958 to 2016? That figure is the only one you can use to work out a decline of any kind. One look around the terraces of the team I support over the last three years says it all locally. Much bigger gaps and lots of empty areas around the stadium. Because speedway promoters do not publish attendance figures, we can only judge visually.

I think it is not any weaker as that depends on what you mean by "weaker". If it means less attractive, without some top stars - yes it is. But I think the riders listed so far means that it may well be better / closer racing and that is what speedway desperately needs if it is ever going to attract and hold onto new supporters. Fingers crossed.

Thank goodness RS is wealthy as the old maxim definitely still applies to speedway. If you want to make a million out of speedway - start with five million.

Colin Cook round Blackbird was so exciting to watch and one of the best of the truly " never give up" brigade! But remember that Blackbird Rd was a vastly superior track to BP newly built one for real racers to have a go.

I am not a betting man but I would put a tenner on Coventry not completing the season's fixtures. It has just been a makeover to keep up the necessary numbers for the Sky contract. What odds can I get?

Does anyone know how much per season Sky pay the BSPA for broadcasting speedway? And how much commission RR takes out of it or on top of it? Why the secrecy?

No big hitter for sure. Lebedev should prove entertaining IF he lasts the course of the season. It does look like a struggling team and the major question is will it attract enough of a crowd?

I think Buster has done very well with developing KL but I feel he is out of his depth with the necessary "political" business strategies over Leicester / Coventry/Belle Vue. He is a sincere well intentioned and honest man - straight talking - which many don't like even within the BSPA . However the BSPA are so desperate to stop the rot in speedway with falling interest and attendances, that they gave him the chance to try to do it his way. The Sky contract needed all three of those tracks to be operating in the Premiership. One problem is that there are always polarised views on every topic and in speedway the Gerhardt engine may be an expensive dead end if substantial numbers of riders do not start using them ( and continue using them ). Or will it be brought in in 2018 as the only engine acceptable for UK racing?That would be so divisive among riders and would likely be legally challenged if it was attempted. I am concerned about what is the new BSPA marketing spin Buster announced as being planned for this season because I feel Buster will stand or fall on wether this publicity does attract, in reasonable numbers, new fans. And speedway in it's present form will likely stand or fall on this one issue.

Sadly Philip Rising, how wonderful it would be if we could get the true facts given to supporters. The SS either has factually correct information it can prove OR it hasn't. I don't think that the truth will ever be known. Whatever the real reasons for the first night / first few weeks debacle at the NSS - Gordon & Morton failed to pay the rent ( we are assured this a fact) and that was never going to be acceptable in the modern business world. It was not the MCC who took away the promoters licence, it was the consortium of other promoters who make up the BSPA. There has to be some serious reason for that to have happened.

Reading that 2015 story over TV rights does help speedway fans to get it into perspective that speedway is very much a tiny minority niche sport as it just crept in before darts and snooker ( both of which generate more money as a "sport" than speedway ). I will be amazed and pleased if there is Sky coverage of the 2017 speedway season but doubt very much if a renewal of the contract beyond then is being seriously considered by Sky or BT!

Inevitably in landlord / tenant disputes the tenant who refuses to pay their rent as due will be kicked out after a legal process ( sometimes lengthy sometimes not ) butt he end result is always the same. The tenant is kicked out. In this case the tenants own association stepped in promptly in order that the sport didn't lose the use of the stadium. Ergo Gordon and Morton failed in their obligations as tenants. I don't believe that G&M had absolutely no say in the design and building of the track - how else would Bob the Builder know what to do? They might haver watched videos of Kirky Lane and then what would you have ended up with as a supposed NSS?

Will there be far fewer of those pop-up brothels in Swindon after Brexit is completed? Will all the young ladies and their eer "organisers" have returned to Eastern Europe? If so won't they have too many in places like Poland?

Is it a "farewell tour" then this year with Pearson & Tatum going round various clubs doing their stuff but with no Sky broadcasting for the 2017 season? When will we get to know?

Brandon Estates IS Sandhu ( or is controlled by his family ) It sounds like Good cop / Bad cop to me, as if Mr Sandhu is as kindly disposed as he says he is and IF Brandon Estates is owned by his family then it's all a smokescreen re non access.