Elite Riders Championship - 25/09/2014

[LagutaRacingFan 1,936]

I hope MJJ gets an invite, I remember his scintillating display at Swindon in the ELRC

[EnglishRoundabout 1,752]

Bottled it when it mattered though.

[Falcon Hammer 576]

Yahoo! - Free programme, can't wait...

[Ben91 1,743]

So there's one rider I count named so far who isn't riding in the EL this year. Hardly worth rebranding just to have Freddie Lindgren race in it.

[Bagpuss 10,784]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Holder & Hancock are in it too.

 

Probably in the minority but I'd prefer to see 16 riders competing who are all riding over here this season.

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,706]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Holder & Hancock are in it too.

 

Probably in the minority but I'd prefer to see 16 riders competing who are all riding over here this season.

I think the non EL riders should be riding for expenses only. The benefit they are getting is pre GP practice.

[Baldyman 6,243]

How much? What a joke

[Haza 1,774]

How much? What a joke

if you have Sky Sports it's live on there so why even think of going ?

[Baldyman 6,243]

Well I don't have sky, but at that price I certainly am not going anymore. Since when did speedway become a rich persons sport to follow. In a way I hope not many people turn up, maybe then those that set that price will see they can't in the future.

[oleoleole 227]

No matter how much it is dressed up and how much it costs per heat, it is too expensive.

 

Removing the word "league" from the title also removes any kudos this meeting did have. It is now just a pre-season open meeting. There could be a lot of empty seats and acres of concrete steps for the much wanted SKY cameras.

 

Also I haven't noticed any adverts for this meeting ( in Speedway Star) and why is the prize money or prize, never mentioned these days for meetings like this, are they too embarrassed?

[LagutaRacingFan 1,936]

What they should do is give the winner of the event's club 2 league points

The runner up 1 league point.

Would make it meaningful and worth something.

[g13webb 4,254]

I seriously, have problems with the people who come up with these ideas. They are obviously are not connected with the real world, and pricing an individual meeting at £25.00 is doomed from the start. People don't have that kind of dosh to waste. To make matters worst, when the public have the opportunity to see it on the tele, even those who live in Coventry would think twice about spending good money when they can watch it in the comfort of their home for nothing. People coming from distance will be a no go.. The fact its transmitted live will decimate the attendance.

 

Even trying to con the fans with the fictitious name will not work. It's nothing more than a warm-up meeting and should have been priced accordingly.

[G the Bee 639]

I seriously, have problems with the people who come up with these ideas. They are obviously are not connected with the real world, and pricing an individual meeting at £25.00 is doomed from the start. People don't have that kind of dosh to waste. To make matters worst, when the public have the opportunity to see it on the tele, even those who live in Coventry would think twice about spending good money when they can watch it in the comfort of their home for nothing. People coming from distance will be a no go.. The fact its transmitted live will decimate the attendance.

 

Even trying to con the fans with the fictitious name will not work. It's nothing more than a warm-up meeting and should have been priced accordingly.

 

You are spot on with this post. To be honest, the BSPA have been living in cloud cuckoo land with the pricing of this meeting for years. I suspect that they have worked out they will make more profits, on a one-off basis, from a small crowd paying £25 a head than a good crowd paying normal Elite League prices. It's all very good certain posters on here showing mathematical formulas to demonstrate how the meeting represents similar value on a heat-by-heat basis than a normal Elite League meeting but most people (like me) do not use mathematical formulas to decide which meetings to attend.

 

Time and again we have heard calls for televised meetings to have reduced entry prices. Nigel Pearson on Sky has applauded clubs for charging reduced entry for televised matches (some of the Bham meetings last year spring to mind) as nobody wants to see empty terraces on Sky.

 

So what do the 'powers that be' do? Charge more than the usual customer is used to paying. They must know that this, combined with the meeting being on Sky, will result in a mediocre crowd (I for one cannot see it being any other way) but do not seem to be bothered by this.

 

This meeting should have been priced at £15. With under 16s free. Publicise it like crazy. The World Champion is riding. Make a big thing about the reduced entry prices and a chance to see the World Champion and give the sport the kick-start to the season it needs.

 

The problem is, there is nowhere near enough wider-term thinking going on with those in charge of our sport. This is a shared event, but rather than it being seen as an opportunity for the sport to be promoted and publicised at a shared cost, it is seen as just another way for each club to make a little bit of money. It is precisely this kind of small-time, short-term thinking that is one of the reasons the sport is in the current mess it is in.

 

Here's the crux of the matter. I'm a Coventry season ticket holder. I will be sitting at home, with a few beers, watching the meeting on Sky. At normal Elite League admission prices I would have been at Brandon. How many other supporters out there will do exactly what I am doing?

 

They've got no idea at all...

Edited March 9, 2014 by G the Bee

[Skidder1 7,637]

Two spot-on posts, which I hope are copied and emailed to BSPA!!

[Trees 2,814]

Yep it's gotta be cheaper than £25 now it's on tele and rebranded as just an individual meeting with no affiliation to our clubs!