Is British Speedway A Dying Sport? If So, Why? And What Can Be Done To Save It?

[ch958 2,395]

Once SKY bail out a lot of teams are going to have to cut their cloth drastically and we may lose tracks.

The sad part is speedway lives in a different era to the majority of the population here in the UK.

 

 

a comma after the word 'out' changes the whole meaning of this post and i think conveys what the poster means!!!

[Vince 9,458]

Speedway has supposedly been a dying sport on and off since the 30's yet somehow it's still here. I think it will survive even if at a reduced level for a while and then who knows maybe there will be another revival like in many of the previous decades. Maybe not and it will become a mainly amateur sport with a thriving World Championship like most motor sports but it will still be here.

 

It's easy to have all the answers in theory and to blame the promoters for everything but in the main they are succesful businessmen with an enthusiasm for the sport and therefore far better qualified for the job than the majority of us on here. They are also far better informed than we are about the actual income and expenditure of the sport and as it's their money I find it difficult to argue that they shouldn't spend it as they see fit. I might think that I have some ideas that would help the sport but the fact is that if they are tried and don't work I lose nothing, very easy to be sure of oneself in that situation.

 

I do think that there is a real danger of talking Speedway into it's grave by always emphasising the negative. It is still a great sport, it's still fast, dangerous and very often exciting and perhaps if people were told that rather than how silly some of the rules are they might give it a go. I keep saying it but I have been going to Speedway since either 1967 or 68 and I honestly believe that the racing and the riders are at least as good now as I have ever seen in that time.

[stratton 1,491]

I do think we still have a good product, i think most people's bug bearer is the stupid rules when really the sport is simple to follow.Once the sky money has gone then i think then the purse string,s will have to be reigned in.The worrying thing is from the outside looking in from the GP Series everything looks rosy but in reality it is far from that.

Edited March 31, 2013 by sidney

[moxey63 1,785]

Yes, indeed, one poster stated that speedway has been a dying since the 30s... but is still going.

 

They said the same about Ronnie Biggs a year or two back... but even that's only a matter of time.

Edited March 31, 2013 by moxey63

[25yearfan 476]

The British speedways dying theme has ongoing since the early 80's yet here we still are with many new tracks having opened since then, others trying to reopen and most tracks that have closed in that time have only done so cause of other reasons than poor crowds, losing money etc!

 

Indeed in my early years watching the sport in the 50's the sport very nearly died and it was only the mid 60's onwards that it recovered!

 

We all know theres problems but speedway can still hold its own with most other sports and while I think it may have to sink lower in order to get better things aren't as terminal as we're led to believe. End of the day if all sports in this Country were required to be proftable in order to keep going we wouldn't have hardly any sport at all!

 

The obvious problem is the cost which puts of potential riders, supporters, promotors and sponsors. I've always maintained one of the biggest mistakes ever in speedway was the move from 2valve to 4 valve engines becauses the costs exploded and the racing has got worse with it!

 

Another problem is we have too much speedway in this Country so we all get saturated with it and sick of it. Speedways a summer sport so should only take place from April to September. Its no coincidence that crowds in Poland and Sweden are much higher than ours and they on average have just over half the meetings we do. My local NL team Mildenhall are another example of how having less meetings can result in bigger crowds cause supporters can't pick amd choose and stay hunger to go to speedway. On the other hand my local PL team Ipswich have definately suffered from having too many home meetings which dilutes the crowds. In the latter EL seasons at Ipswich many supporters wanted regular weekly action so welcomed the PL move. When it happened and more home meetings were staged many found it too saturated and subsequently many Ipswich fans pick and choose their meetings!

Edited March 31, 2013 by 25yearfan

[Leicester Lion 274]

Easter Monday, and there certainly isn't too much speedway going on in the UK today. A day when you'd think the promoters would want to fill their boots and capitalise on the available audience. But then speedway isn't run for the spectators.

[Trees 2,814]

Easter Monday, and there certainly isn't too much speedway going on in the UK today. A day when you'd think the promoters would want to fill their boots and capitalise on the available audience. But then speedway isn't run for the spectators.

Buster has an array of banger races going on at the NA today so that's why we have no meeting no doubt! Together with the fact that we had a meeting on Friday, fans would have been moaning about 2 meetings in 4 days!!

Edited April 1, 2013 by Trees

[SCB 0]

Easter Monday, and there certainly isn't too much speedway going on in the UK today. A day when you'd think the promoters would want to fill their boots and capitalise on the available audience. But then speedway isn't run for the spectators.

At EL level it's because the Poles have Easter Monday and the EL gets Good Friday. No idea about the PL.

[John Ernest Holland 2]

AS MANY POSTS HAVE STATED PICK ANY 3 FROM A HUNDRED REASONS THE REASON WHY I ONLY WATCH 1 X MEETING A MONTH IS SIMPLE ITS ALL I CAN AFFORD

[The White Knight 9,039]

At EL level it's because the Poles have Easter Monday and the EL gets Good Friday. No idea about the PL.

 

It seems like an opportunity missed to me. There will be some reason no doubt - but - I can't think what.

[foamfence 2,917]

Easter Monday, and there certainly isn't too much speedway going on in the UK today. A day when you'd think the promoters would want to fill their boots and capitalise on the available audience. But then speedway isn't run for the spectators.

Imagine having paid to go into Rye House this afternoon, it's bound to put people off. For those who say "we've had slumps before" yes we did, but we never had crowds this low.