Not Converted

[BWitcher 12,453]

What would be embarrassing about watching a speedway meeting in a massive crowd?

[Alpha 5]

And if they don't, the job is ******

 

If we can cut the riders expenses and if they agree to pass the savings onto the promoter then there is no risk to the club in reducing admission prices.

 

I agree that promoters should make SKY matches loads cheaper to attract the fans so it looks good on tv. I'm guessing that if they don't reduce the cost the amount of money they earn from fans attending and the SKY money covers their costs ok so they don't want to take the risk of reducing the price. Admittedly some do at different times.

 

At the end of the day it's all about covering their costs .................. perhaps they could speculate to accumulate but will those fans that got in cheap come back to a non-sky meeting paying full price .............. now if the racing was uber exciting they would eh???

 

Promoters must get across to the public just how easy the riders make a difficult and dangerous job look, how they have to make decisions in a split second, how they have no brakes etc We the fans shouldn't take what they are doing out there for granted but give them the respect and cheers/applause that is part and parcel of supporting a club!

 

Nevertheless speedway needs the riders to have great races because they can, what's the answer to making it happen though? Riders strive so hard to make the best gate but at the end of the day fans want to see the guys NOT make the gate and have to use their skills to pass ............... erm ................. handicap racing

 

Cheaper admission will increase the crowd figures, giving us the bigger crowds we want for the Sky coverage. I don't think you can make or force great racing but maybe it could be made closer with standardised engines. No matter how much we admire the skill and bravery of the riders, if it costs too much to go, we won't go. But I agree the promotion of the sport is a key ingredient to its success.

 

The key to this is all parties working together to reduce costs for the betterment of the sport. Trouble is the BSPA seem to have trouble making decisions between themselves without including riders/tuners etc.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Alpha

[Trees 2,814]

Gord knows enough FANS have put their ideas on here as to how speedway might attract more fans. The promoters do what they think is best within the confines of cost (which we are not privy to whatsoever!) . . . I'd like to know what riders think though . . . . it's their lives on the line/ar*** on the bikes, do they think they do all they can to improve the product, there's nothing more they can do, it's down to the promoters?

[ch958 2,395]

What would be embarrassing about watching a speedway meeting in a massive crowd?

 

the point i am trying to make is the sport is great for us - we love it - we wouldn't want too many gimmicks to take away what we love

 

i agree full stadiums wd be great

[SCB 0]

What would be embarrassing about watching a speedway meeting in a massive crowd?

To prove you point, my mother has been to about 15 speedway meetings in about 12 years. 12 of them at Cardiff (shes also been to Coventry and Somerset once each and possibly another I can't think of). Why? well 40,000+ people can't be wrong can they? She actually looks forward to the day in Cardiff and the GP. Newport never did that for her.

 

I also have another mate who I took to Newport 3 or 4 times many years ago, he was never that captivated - one thing he did love was when Stoke (I think) turned up and Moggo was unbeated but Stoke were struggling, in heat 8 they put Moggo off 15 metres, my mate through this was an amazing idea - the BSPA have sine scrapped the GDTS!! Anyway, he has been to over half the GPs in Cardiff and quite enjoys them but he doesn't like sitting and watching the speedway on the tele but does taking a passing interest.

[billybikespeedway 75]

Yes the racing is pretty much the same but two major things are missing now from when I first went to speedway as a kid in the 70s, The smell and the roar of the bikes seemed to make things much more exciting. Now days you are lucky to get that smell and the bikes are so quite. I know they have to be but that is still something that does make a difference for me.Lets face if you went to see a rock band with the sound turned low it just would not be the same.

 

have to Agree Went to Newport When it Openend 1964 The Smell the Sound ,I was Hooked from That moment ,also went to Newport From 1997 Onwards, More as a day out With Friends ,the Racing Became incidental, Would Still go Now if Newport Was Running , Not Likley, and Would not Go Elseware Somerset or Swindon as they are Not My team ,My Friends and The Smell and the Sound Have Gone .

[ch958 2,395]

what Alpha said a few posts back

theres your answer

[Henllys 9]

You can attend any sport Football,Rugby,F1 and you don't know how the game or race is going to turn out how many times have you seen football spectators walking out because they were fed up,watching F1 recently for two hours waiting for something to happen then the first four drivers are told to slow down save the engine fuel and tyres and the only overtaking is done in the pits.Speedway like all sports is exciting to watch when you get a good meeting and let's hope that speedway will return to better days at least you can say that speedway fans are true fans not like alot of sports today it's corporate and people who go along don't have a clue what's going on.

[bruno 1,790]

I don't think it matters very much at all how good the racing is. If your average punter doesn't believe its 'cool' or the 'in' thing to attend speedway, they won't. That's all there is to it.

 

The perception of the sport has to be changed before it has any chance to grow. This is why they have wasted the 10 years+ of Sky meetings. Every meeting they show in front of a half empty (and below) stadium re-enforces the perception that speedway is not the place 'to be'.

 

They should have been giving out tickets, reduced admission etc for TV meetings right from the off. Had they done so, the sport would be in a FAR healthier shape that it is now.

 

I always refer to the growth of the WWF/E under Vince McMahon, one of the most key things he achieved was a: obtain a National tv deal.. and then b: Ensure that the tv coverage showed a packed out crowd every time.. most of them in the early days were free tickets dished out to ensure it was full. The rest is history.

just read this post and an interesting point is I went to the raw show last year in Miami the day after Wrestlemania.watching it on tv you would think it was packed out but the seats behind the camera were only about three quarters full.apparently Vince McMahon insists tickets are sold first of all for seats in front of the cameras to give the impression of sold out arenas.good promoting eh

[cityrebel 2,960]

One thing we can all agree on is that ironically the presentation of speedway has definitely NOT changed in the last thirty years, which is why attending a speedway meeting is like stepping into a time warp.

 

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with presenting your product as if it's the 1970/80s, IF your target market is people in their 40s, 50s and upwards. The problem with speedway is that it doesn't know who its target market is, so tries to be all things to all people and ultimately fails to be anything to anyone.

 

Speedway needs to pick a target audience, like BWitcher said, your can make something "cool" just my marketing it properly. But it is very, very hard to be all things to all people, which is why every year speedway loses more fans that it gains.

a mate of mine at rye house last night said, going to a speedway meeting was like watching a vintage pathe news film!. harsh but true.

[Tsunami 10,219]

just read this post and an interesting point is I went to the raw show last year in Miami the day after Wrestlemania.watching it on tv you would think it was packed out but the seats behind the camera were only about three quarters full.apparently Vince McMahon insists tickets are sold first of all for seats in front of the cameras to give the impression of sold out arenas.good promoting eh

 

The same happens with televised snooker. The fans that are in are the ones that you see, with no one to the sides and beside the main camera.

[slickmick 11]

And that confirms the point I have been making for years, marketing a flawed product is an absolute no no. Despite your good intentions those people are now lost forever to the sport, I doubt any persuading will get them to go again, those potential customers now lost.

Over the years I have taken friends to meetings, at various tracks, and whether it was a meetings with lots of passing or processional and only interesting to us purists who go on a regular basis, but totally meaningless to first timers( I have only been rude to one person, but her criticism wasn't the racing but because the bar in the grandstand at wimbledon didn't serve her preferred spirit, she got told how to get to the nearest tube station, shame really the bloke was really getting into the speedway). Over the years various people have said to me when it was mentioned I go to Speedway, People say "bit boring isn't it they just go round in circles following each other". Trying to explain the fact that the bikes have no brakes and fixed gearing and do 4 laps in about a minute, will get a "oh really" response. Alternately they will think it is the same as motogp or motocross. So it is not just a new thing but ageless, People either love it, or find it boring, you will not convert them. Edited April 7, 2013 by slickmick

[BWitcher 12,453]

Over the years I have taken friends to meetings, at various tracks, and whether it was a meetings with lots of passing or processional and only interesting to us purists who go on a regular basis, but totally meaningless to first timers( I have only been rude to one person, but her criticism wasn't the racing but because the bar in the grandstand at wimbledon didn't serve her preferred spirit, she got told how to get to the nearest tube station, shame really the bloke was really getting into the speedway). Over the years various people have said to me when it was mentioned I go to Speedway, People say "bit boring isn't it they just go round in circles following each other". Trying to explain the fact that the bikes have no brakes and fixed gearing and do 4 laps in about a minute, will get a "oh really" response. Alternately they will think it is the same as motogp or motocross. So it is not just a new thing but ageless, People either love it, or find it boring, you will not convert them.

 

You are illustrating what I have been saying. Most people have pre conceived ideas. If the sport was marketed correctly you would be surprised how many can be converted.

 

Look at fashion.. Clothes, hairstyles etc. they change constantly, not because people suddenly don't like certain clothes anymore but because they are, to all intents and purposes, told they don't like them anymore as its not 'cool'.

 

Of course there will be folk who simply aren't going to be interested as its not their thing, but there are thousands who could be.

[Trees 2,814]

just read this post and an interesting point is I went to the raw show last year in Miami the day after Wrestlemania.watching it on tv you would think it was packed out but the seats behind the camera were only about three quarters full.apparently Vince McMahon insists tickets are sold first of all for seats in front of the cameras to give the impression of sold out arenas.good promoting eh

isn't that what BSI do at Cardiff?

 

a mate of mine at rye house last night said, going to a speedway meeting was like watching a vintage pathe news film!. harsh but true.

That might be the case at Rye, horrible place!!!

[Grachan 7,362]

isn't that what BSI do at Cardiff?

 

It's nothing new. They did in in Los Angeles for the 1982 World Final. My parents went and they got moved before the start to where the cameras would pick up the crowd.