Crowd Size Differences!

[Dave_minall 232]

If there is no Sky TV money next year, I think it WILL come to cutting top riders pay. Which will result in less top riders. Which will result in smaller crowds. Which will result in ... don't wanna go there ....

 

don' t go there!

[ch958 2,402]

[/size]

 

If a club charges £17 per meeting and drops this to £10, they would have to "pretty much" double their crowd to make that work - I did say:

"they'd have to bring in nearly twice the crowd"

that's basic business. it's pretty logical.

 

Riders are never going to take pay cuts, equipment is never going to get any cheaper. Promoters need to think outside the box to make ends meet and it won't involve cutting costs when it comes to paying riders.

 

well i can't affect any of that - I'm just giving my opinion in the full knowledge that it won't happen - along with 99.99 per cent of the good ideas on here but whats the forum for? its only a talking shop - none of us have any influence

[Dave_minall 232]

well i can't affect any of that - I'm just giving my opinion in the full knowledge that it won't happen - along with 99.99 per cent of the good ideas on here but whats the forum for? its only a talking shop - none of us have any influence

 

I definitely agree, it will never happen, but it would be a potential solution to increasing crowd sizes and income, it's just too much of a risk.

[upthevilla 0]

The difference between speedway and other forms of motorcycle might be this: speedway is very much built on rider personalities and contests between clubs. Other forms of motorcycle sport feature a great deal more on the type of machinery being used with a lesser concentration on the actual competitors.

I think these days MCN likes to be regarded as a technical publication which possibly may explain its lack of interest in speedway and grass track racing (the latter was also covered strongly by them some 30 years ago).

 

Also Motorcycling news is a commercial publication. Most of its income comes from advertising from major brands who sell bikes clothes etc. Speedway doesn't advertise mechandise or machinery to the general public, No adverting income = no publicity/features.

[upthevilla 0]

The success of Tai Woffinden could play a major role in boosting crowds and increasing the profile of the sport nationwide. Speedway in this country needs a superstar to increase its popularity. Tai is a future World Champion in the making and I think he has the strength of personality to transend the sport and be a national celebrity. Afterall not too many cared about cycling before Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins came along.

 

Also Speedway promoters need to stop complaining about radio and web updates affecting gates and embrace new technology/social media as another opportunity to promote their teams. People expect sport to be entertainment these days, just look at the IPL as an example of how to breathe new life into a traditional sport.

[Woz01 3,589]

It would be interesting to see if a track could survive by charging £10 on the door week in, week out. Granted they'd have to bring in nearly twice the crowd, but the increase in food/drink/merchandise sales should also increase as a result.

 

An experiment I'm assuming will never be attempted.

 

There are plenty of tracks who rent there stadiums and recieve no income from food and drink sales, Coventry is one.

[manchesterpaul 447]

I sometimes mention speedway as a talking subject to non-followers and all I get is a blank look. Most of them have no idea what is?

 

I think that nowadays when people have no idea of what speedway is it is more a reflection on their strictly follow the mindless crowd and don't veer away from anything other than what you are fed. A bit like those who only use one newspaper or media sites containing only one political slant on a/every subject. I couldn't ever imagine myself not reading both sides to an event or story, no matter how much i disagree or find abhorrent the opposing views.

 

Are these people blind not to even be aware of speedway, i find it hard to believe they've never caught sight or mention of the sport. It's been on the biggest sports platform for over a decade in primetime viewing hours. Whilst national media gives little coverage local media is often good. That's an important market as i remember the Manchester Evening News pointing out a few years back that it outsells on a daily basis each of the major national newspapers within the Greater Manchester area.

 

The people that you mention must be the ones who turn on their tv which has hundreds upon hundreds of channels and never look away from BBC, ITV, C4, C5, Sky One and the Sky Sports channels. Likely they do that applies not only for sport but for news and entertainment too. In the 70's, when speedway had vastly larger crowds at the tracks (little did we know of the desolate terraces to come), you would have accepted that people had never heard of the sport due to it not being on primetime television year after year.

 

I find it difficult that someone wouldn't have caught sight of a mention of speedway either on tv, in the printed press, tv magazine listings with a photo attached or online media.

Edited May 27, 2013 by manchesterpaul

[pugwash 3,208]

The success of Tai Woffinden could play a major role in boosting crowds and increasing the profile of the sport nationwide. Speedway in this country needs a superstar to increase its popularity. Tai is a future World Champion in the making and I think he has the strength of personality to transend the sport and be a national celebrity. Afterall not too many cared about cycling before Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins came along.

 

Cavendish and Wiggins have kerb appeal, they are boy next door types, clean cut, articulate. Does Woofinden fit into that mould?

Edited May 28, 2013 by pugwash

[upthevilla 0]

Cavendish and Wiggins have kerb appeal, they are boy next door types, clean cut, articulate. Does Woofinden fit into that mould?

 

Tai has a bit of the devil about him but I think that just adds to his appeal, he also does a lot of great work for Charity. Anyone who has seen him as guest presenter on sky sports or conducting interviews in Polish aren't going to question how articulate he is either.

[cowboy cookie returns? 754]

The question is would the sports 'big names' coming back to UK speedway put bums on seats? They are big names to the current followers but outside of the support base would the non speedway follower know any different? The aim has to be to make the sport more affordable & better to watch as well as giving value for money. I was a regular at Foxhall for 20 odd years but have only been a dozen times in the last few seasons & that has nothing to do with the drop to the PL. At the end of the day £15 is too much buck for what you get. On the other hand if the big names are the answer then the only way to get them back is too have a shorter season & pay the money after all that what the IPL have done in Cricket paying big bucks for a 2 month season. But to do that I guess a call to monster would be required!

[New Cross Ranger 18]

I'm not sure if any of the the clubs do a £20 family of four (children U12) ticket but that's the kind of initiative that needs to be looked at. You need to get them while they're young and impressionable, I can still remember the 'buzz' I used to get as a kid all those years ago when I was first taken to speedway and although I never attended for many, many years for one reason or another that memory never left me and that is one of the reasons i'm so interested in trying to get back into it and introducing my grandson to the sport.

[Rocket Dave 2]

I'm not sure if any of the the clubs do a £20 family of four (children U12) ticket but that's the kind of initiative that needs to be looked at. You need to get them while they're young and impressionable, I can still remember the 'buzz' I used to get as a kid all those years ago when I was first taken to speedway and although I never attended for many, many years for one reason or another that memory never left me and that is one of the reasons i'm so interested in trying to get back into it and introducing my grandson to the sport.

 

We should try telling that to the promoters of the SGP. I'm an ex speedway and grasstrack rider and im thrilled that my grandson is so keen on speedway, we attended the SGP yesterday in Cardiff at short notice as I didn't know until the day if my 5 year old grandson could come with me or not.

 

I knew there would be plenty of tickets on the day so off we went (from Cheddar) and rocked up at the box office at around 14:30 with about 50-60 people in front of us in the que.

 

I was staggered when I reached the counter to learn that the CHEAPEST tickets were now £45 and much worse there were NO concessions. It cost me £45 for a ticket for a FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD.

 

I was told that the promoter sets the maximum number of concession tickets and once they hit that number it's full price or nothing, how cynical is that!

 

The fact is, had the stadium been full to capacity then that would be one thing, but even though the crowd may have been the highest ever for a speedway meeting (45,000 I heard) there were many thousands of seats empty. Why then limit the concessions? I personally witnessed 4 families walking away ticketless to go home having refused to pay the price or not being able to fork out 6 x £45 for and adult and the five kids it was absolutely crazy, surely 6 x £19 was better than the seats being left empty.

 

Am I missing something here, there were ticket touts outside the box office selling tickets for less than the venue, I have never supported touts but you have to ask the question whether it would have been worth it on this occasion.

 

My grandson loves to follow the Rebels and enjoys his speedway but come on guys what other event could even consider charging £45 for a five year old.

 

Does anyone else feel the same way or am I a lone voice?

[trophykid 32]

 

 

We should try telling that to the promoters of the SGP. I'm an ex speedway and grasstrack rider and im thrilled that my grandson is so keen on speedway, we attended the SGP yesterday in Cardiff at short notice as I didn't know until the day if my 5 year old grandson could come with me or not.

 

I knew there would be plenty of tickets on the day so off we went (from Cheddar) and rocked up at the box office at around 14:30 with about 50-60 people in front of us in the que.

 

I was staggered when I reached the counter to learn that the CHEAPEST tickets were now £45 and much worse there were NO concessions. It cost me £45 for a ticket for a FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD.

 

I was told that the promoter sets the maximum number of concession tickets and once they hit that number it's full price or nothing, how cynical is that!

 

The fact is, had the stadium been full to capacity then that would be one thing, but even though the crowd may have been the highest ever for a speedway meeting (45,000 I heard) there were many thousands of seats empty. Why then limit the concessions? I personally witnessed 4 families walking away ticketless to go home having refused to pay the price or not being able to fork out 6 x £45 for and adult and the five kids it was absolutely crazy, surely 6 x £19 was better than the seats being left empty.

 

Am I missing something here, there were ticket touts outside the box office selling tickets for less than the venue, I have never supported touts but you have to ask the question whether it would have been worth it on this occasion.

 

My grandson loves to follow the Rebels and enjoys his speedway but come on guys what other event could even consider charging £45 for a five year old.

 

Does anyone else feel the same way or am I a lone voice?

 

+1. Excellent rant. Speedway sees itself as a family sport and charges £45 for a young child?

[The White Knight 9,039]

We should try telling that to the promoters of the SGP. I'm an ex speedway and grasstrack rider and im thrilled that my grandson is so keen on speedway, we attended the SGP yesterday in Cardiff at short notice as I didn't know until the day if my 5 year old grandson could come with me or not.

 

I knew there would be plenty of tickets on the day so off we went (from Cheddar) and rocked up at the box office at around 14:30 with about 50-60 people in front of us in the que.

 

I was staggered when I reached the counter to learn that the CHEAPEST tickets were now £45 and much worse there were NO concessions. It cost me £45 for a ticket for a FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD.

 

I was told that the promoter sets the maximum number of concession tickets and once they hit that number it's full price or nothing, how cynical is that!

 

The fact is, had the stadium been full to capacity then that would be one thing, but even though the crowd may have been the highest ever for a speedway meeting (45,000 I heard) there were many thousands of seats empty. Why then limit the concessions? I personally witnessed 4 families walking away ticketless to go home having refused to pay the price or not being able to fork out 6 x £45 for and adult and the five kids it was absolutely crazy, surely 6 x £19 was better than the seats being left empty.

 

Am I missing something here, there were ticket touts outside the box office selling tickets for less than the venue, I have never supported touts but you have to ask the question whether it would have been worth it on this occasion.

 

My grandson loves to follow the Rebels and enjoys his speedway but come on guys what other event could even consider charging £45 for a five year old.

 

Does anyone else feel the same way or am I a lone voice?

 

I think this is an absolute DISGRACE. Are they trying to encourage People to go to Speedway, or, ARE THEY TRYING TO DRIVE THEM AWAY?!!!

 

Fancy limiting Concessions - Stupid B****RS!!! They would rather have NO money from the empty Seats than actually sell them to kids which, obviously, means if the Parent can't afford to pay full price for the children they lose Adult supporter(s) as well. Nobody is going to say to their children "sit in the car while daddy goes to the Speedway" are they? How daft is that?

 

Unfeeling s*ds.

 

I'm sorry but sometimes I despair of our Sport.

[rob tatum 175]

Crikey what a shame last year on the day at the box office we paid £97 for 4 adult tickets opp the start line. Bloody love the GP series and have gone to quite a few all over but this really is a disgrace. May I suggest a stern email ,letter phone call as £ 45 is just not on probably won't do any good but you never know.