Cardiff G.P. Publicity

[binthere 1]

Reading the sports section of the Sunday Mirror I noticed that once again the calendar for the year's sporting fixtures omitted the British Grand Prix whilst mentioning other poxy non events. We have known the Cardiff date for weeks now. I wonder if this omission was just confined to that particular "newspaper" or has anyone else bought a quality paper with such a calendar but showing the G.P. date?

It is sickening to see "The World Darts Championship" darts from a place named Frimley Park being given a full page spread in some dailies perhaps mainly due to some fat bellied participants having a strop and calling each other names. If you can't beat 'em then let's join 'em with stories of riders doing handbags at five paces. Bad publicity seems to be the only way we'll attract press interest.

Going off at a tangent the Sky Reality T.V. Channel broadcast a prgramme about the most dangerous sports and seemed to concentrate on racing cars doing 360deg turns, rodeos, trotting collisions and falling racehorses! The mind boggles when you see the kinds of smashes our lads have been involved in. Whilst I'd prefer that there are no speedway crashes our lads ought to be given credit where it's due for the guts and determination that they show.

[Guest BilaHora]

Mr binthere

 

I do not think speedway in this country has seen an opportunity it did not manage to miss.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

[binthere 1]

Thanks for your reply BH.

I just wondered if BSI overlooked the opportunity or whether or not is is blatant bias by a newspaper which once was happy to have its name linked with speedway back in the 70's and before. By the way, Mr binthere doesn't sit well with me anymore since I gave up my collar and tie job. Alan's the name Andrew

[Mr S Bear 10]

The Sunday Mirror is not the only newspaper, which omits the date of the British Grand Prix from its calendar of 2005 sporting fixtures.

Both the Sunday Times and the Daily Mail miss the biggest date in British speedway, along with all other SGP and SWC details. This does seem strange bearing in mind that in the past the Daily Mail sponsored British speedways major domestic cup competition and the Sunday Times shares the same owners as Sky TV who televise both competitions.

Of course the problem may not lie with the newspapers but rather with the promoters of the competitions. The only information on fixtures on BSI’s web site,

www.benfieldsports.com are details of the 2003 competitions yet the same web site states that “Benfield Sports International is a highly successful sports marketing consultancy that focuses on maximising valve for its clients, sponsors and right holders”.

It appears that SGP/SWC has a marketing company that does not appear to understand the meaning of marketing, which is not unusual seeing that British speedway has a management committee that bases its decisions on an unwritten rulebook.

[shazzybird 10]

When I was a kid the Mirror Group was the best newspaper to get for the best results.

[Jay 1]

Jeez, that must have been a few years ago Shazzy!

 

It might be though that the press didn't think Speedway warranted a mention? The Coventry Evening Telegraph ran a similar thing over Christmas and I don't think it was in their event calendar either! Strange when you consider that apart from some poor performances by the Sky Blues, Speedway normally gets quite a bit of coverage in that paper!