Sky 2014

[Guest]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

[Tsunami 10,219]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

 

Society has changed, get over it.

[Haza 1,774]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

I'd guess if that 140,000 most are no longer with us sorry couldn't resist that -

The loss of weekend top leavel speedway hasn't helped as a kid I went to Kings Lynn on a Saturday night I doubt as a kid had Lynn raced as they do now on a Wednesday I'd ever gone to speedway as with school the next morning my mum and dad would have never have taken me - look at what racing we used to have on a Saturday Lynn Belle Vue Coventry Swindon Cradley Eastbourne Arena Essex Halifax /Bradford how many new fans has been lost because of that race night switch ??

[raymondbudd 57]

One issue which may not help is the likely forthcoming title win by Poole. Let's face it, most of the league meetings shown this year were dross. Of the three matches shown in the play offs, only one which was of merchantable quality was Poole/ Swindon.

 

I also recall a piece in the Speedway Star a few years back suggesting there were personality "issues" between GoSpeed and Sky which didn't help the last renegotiation of the contract.

[rob tatum 175]

All good points but I just think speedway like a lot of fans who are left just got old & didn't move with the times.

[Marcelle 162]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

 

There's just more things to do now.people can get all their entertainment without leaving the house,thats why pubs are closing and cinema's are half full.

[Guest]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

 

Society has changed, get over it.

And my opinion is that the decline will continue.

 

I'd guess if that 140,000 most are no longer with us sorry couldn't resist that -

The loss of weekend top leavel speedway hasn't helped as a kid I went to Kings Lynn on a Saturday night I doubt as a kid had Lynn raced as they do now on a Wednesday I'd ever gone to speedway as with school the next morning my mum and dad would have never have taken me - look at what racing we used to have on a Saturday Lynn Belle Vue Coventry Swindon Cradley Eastbourne Arena Essex Halifax /Bradford how many new fans has been lost because of that race night switch ??

Race night changes are usually a disaster for speedways despite the :good intentions" often voiced for the change.

 

There's just more things to do now.people can get all their entertainment without leaving the house,thats why pubs are closing and cinema's are half full.

And this is a very sound reason why speedway is facing an ongoing losing battle to survive.

[TonyE 822]

Well, if Sky were responsible, either wholly or in part, for 9th September at Belle Vue, then I for one, hope they push off never to return. The stink of corruption that evening was overwhelming.

[Bradders 7]

Personally i`d be happy to see no television coverage of the Elite League, as it may have the promoters sit down and try to salvage the wreckage that is British Speedway. It`s clear speedway needs a good clear out of the people at the top an bring in people with either no ties to any teams or ex riders that are no easily got at. IF they can sort that out and chuck out the stupid tactical rule along with the playoffs , they can make the league title respectable again in my eyes as the team that has won the most game should be rightfully champions. It was SKY idea to bring playoffs to the league and if it means that the playoffs is stopped with Sky going then i`m all for it.

 

plus i don`t have to hear Tatum and Pearson going over the top every week using the same old phrases.. drama in the extreme , great stuff and WOOFY, WOOFY, WOOFY! I`ll be honest, as much as i pained me to do so i cheered anyone but Woffinden just so them wouldn`t say that stupid phrase!

[The White Knight 9,039]

Personally i`d be happy to see no television coverage of the Elite League, as it may have the promoters sit down and try to salvage the wreckage that is British Speedway. It`s clear speedway needs a good clear out of the people at the top an bring in people with either no ties to any teams or ex riders that are no easily got at. IF they can sort that out and chuck out the stupid tactical rule along with the playoffs , they can make the league title respectable again in my eyes as the team that has won the most game should be rightfully champions. It was SKY idea to bring playoffs to the league and if it means that the playoffs is stopped with Sky going then i`m all for it.

 

plus i don`t have to hear Tatum and Pearson going over the top every week using the same old phrases.. drama in the extreme , great stuff and WOOFY, WOOFY, WOOFY! I`ll be honest, as much as i pained me to do so i cheered anyone but Woffinden just so them wouldn`t say that stupid phrase!

 

You were doing soooooooooo well too. :sad:

 

First Paragraph is excellent. You let it fall to pieces after that. :sad:

[phillipsr 2,057]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

 

They probably all died considering how long ago those apparent golden days were

Edited October 10, 2013 by phillipsr

[Guest]

In the golden days of speedway, in London for instance with six tracks racing over five week days, there must have been an estimated 140,000 core base of speedway fans. What happened to turn them off...and others consistently since those days?

 

They probably all died considering how long ago those apparent golden days were

 

The passing of sports followers of many years ago is a fact of life. The point is why did not successive generations take over from them to maintain the then massive interest in speedway, not only London which I highlighted, but nationwide? What went out of speedway (TV's introduction aside in the late 1950s) to turn of a mass interest for the sport?

That's why so many fans "get their knickers in a twist: when 2,000 (not 20,000 as old old) turn up to watch a meeting these days.

[arthur cross 492]

The passing of sports followers of many years ago is a fact of life. The point is why did not successive generations take over from them to maintain the then massive interest in speedway, not only London which I highlighted, but nationwide? What went out of speedway (TV's introduction aside in the late 1950s) to turn of a mass interest for the sport?

That's why so many fans "get their knickers in a twist: when 2,000 (not 20,000 as old old) turn up to watch a meeting these days.

 

To a large degree you've probably answered your own question by acknowledging the impact of television ... and a major part of that impact (that's now very easy to overlook) is that the boom in tv-viewing began in the mid/late-1950's but video-recorders weren't in general use until the late-1970's so there was about a 20-year spell where you couldn't still go to speedway and catch up on your favourite tv-shows when you got home !!

 

Going back to that era of speedway's biggest crowds, how many of those fans were drawn along more by wanting to be part of what was clearly a big attraction rather than specifically wanting to watch their local motor sport team ? ... once the counter-attraction of more television began to reduce the total number of the crowd and therefore also reduce the "big attraction buzz", the number of "big attraction" seekers coming to speedway would have dwindled at a even quicker rate than any general decline ... you could easily ask the same sort of question about the big drop in attendances at greyhounds or non-league football.

 

But while speedway appears to have simply used tv-money as a financial crutch to lean on, other sports in this country have made far better use of new opportunities linked to television as a way of re-generating themselves.

 

As soon as satellite-tv became a realistic option to install into several thousand betting shops, horse racing and greyhounds wasted little time updating the original 1961 betting-shop legislation so that all those shops could show live tv-racing every day from 1987 onwards (previously the only live racing they could show was what anyone could already see at home on BBC, ITV or Channel-4 ... all the other horse and dog races were limited to audio-commentaries only, often relying on someone in the Extel studio who couldn't see any pictures doing as good a commentary as possible while listening on a crackly phone-line to someone who was actually at the track !!).

 

That proof of satellite-tv's impact within betting shops was one of the factors that encouraged the FA-backed breakaway in 1992 of the old First Division football clubs linking up with Sky to form the Premier League ... the top clubs and Sky were both totally confident about smashing the very cheap bidding process BBC/ITV had previously had with the Football League.

 

Once Sky was up and running, followed by the impact of the internet in the late-90's, plenty of sports have either established ways their viewers can feel involved by having a bet on what they're watching or (especially like darts and 20-20 cricket) found ways of using the crowd at their events to add to the entertainment for the viewers back at home ... hence all the blank placards and marker-pens on the spectator-tables at the darts for the crowd to scribble and hoid up daft messages ... and most cricket counties offer a decent prize (eg, £1,000 or a couple of season-tickets) for any 20-20 spectator successfully catching a six (spectacular on the few occasions it does happen and also gloriously chaotic if anyone forgets they're already eating or drinking when suddenly reaching out for the ball).

 

Meanwhile, all too often, speedway team managers or pit marshals can't even be bothered to make sure a heat-winner does a lap of honour ... unless the meeting's being hurried-up to avoid dodgy weather, there should always be a lap of honour and some of the best ones I've ever seen have been when an away heat-winner winds up the locals on his triumphant way round !!

 

And we're still having the same race-length (4 laps) for all the heats ... why not include one heat each meeting that's only 2 laps (ideal for gating tarts) and (providing fuel tanks are big enough) one heat that's 6 laps (more chance for the slow-starting overtakers) ?

Edited October 10, 2013 by arthur cross

[oldace 1,678]

Speedways successful periods have owed more to luck than judgement. The late 20's it was a brand new sport but began to decline within a few years. The introduction of league racing regenerated interest to take it through to the war.

 

Of course post 1945 in a country starved of entertainment the speedway boomed but by the early/mid fifties it was back in serious decline and stumbled along until the formation of the British League

 

this brought about speedways most successful period but by the early eighties it was back in decline again, a decline that has continued to this day

 

In a 85 year history only approx 25 - 30 years have seen the sport booming with 50 years of struggling along

[stratton 1,491]

Speedways successful periods have owed more to luck than judgement. The late 20's it was a brand new sport but began to decline within a few years. The introduction of league racing regenerated interest to take it through to the war.

 

Of course post 1945 in a country starved of entertainment the speedway boomed but by the early/mid fifties it was back in serious decline and stumbled along until the formation of the British League

 

this brought about speedways most successful period but by the early eighties it was back in decline again, a decline that has continued to this day

 

In a 85 year history only approx 25 - 30 years have seen the sport booming with 50 years of struggling along

Alot of clubs have fell by the wayside , but alot have survived and plodded on and keep on going.I would say the early 60s was a decent time but now it is a modern world with endless other activities to rival speedway now is a testing time no doubt.