Bruiser McHuge 589 Posted June 25, 2014 Does that actually attract new supporters, or simply allow existing supporters who would have paid full price to get in at a discount? I think it just allows supporters who would have attended anyway get in for a discount...and hacks off season ticket holders who have already paid so don't benefit from the discount...at least they are trying though.. I feared for Birmingham though this season as teams paying rent to the GRA start on the back foot already and the team that was put out this season was never a competitive side and was suicide for a team already suffering financially...I hope it can be sorted 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david2905 230 Posted June 25, 2014 (edited) In defence of Alan Phillips he has made speedway at Birmingham as cheap as any in the Elite League with offers,Groupon, Amazon deals.What exactly are the new revolutionary ideas you're expecting from a new promoter ? free entry maybe ? Offers alone are only half a fix, some shocking PR statements, lack of advertising and not much sponsorship chasing as previous seasons have done as much damage as prices and quality of racing to turn people away. To be blunt, I'm not sure the Phillips regime presented enough of a welcoming and positive front to supporters and sponsors, all too often biting the hand that feeds it followed by far too many negative statements, has felt like the club has been under a permanent cloud the last 18 months with no sign of it lifting, that whole atmosphere needs to change. Edited June 25, 2014 by david2905 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,615 Posted June 25, 2014 I feared for Birmingham though this season as teams paying rent to the GRA start on the back foot already and the team that was put out this season was never a competitive side and was suicide for a team already suffering financially...I hope it can be sorted Thou Brum were not a great team how can say they have not been a competitive side ...The matches ive watched they have more than competitive in fact ive really enjoy watching them . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gresham78 215 Posted June 25, 2014 Very sad to see the Brummies in this situation. Despite being given a winning team last year and a top manager, the Birmingham public don't seem to want to support Elite League Speedway. Surely the best option would be a return to the Premier League which hopefully will prove more sustainable. As many others have said the sport over here needs to change and a re branding/ re marketing exercise seems long overdue. If the sport is to have any long term future they need to get youngsters coming back through the turnstiles and they could make a start by making the presentation a lot more slick. Very best of luck to Brummie supporters and the club in general - hope a rescue package is forthcoming soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orion 7,615 Posted June 25, 2014 Very sad to see the Brummies in this situation. Despite being given a winning team last year and a top manager, the Birmingham public don't seem to want to support Elite League Speedway. Surely the best option would be a return to the Premier League which hopefully will prove more sustainable. As has been said the Pl is not suntainable .. for Brum ...they have been there and try that and Lost a packet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted June 25, 2014 Spoke with the BSPA's Jon Cook this evening and - as announced - he is hopeful of a positive announcement being made next week as to the immediate future of the Brummies. In the meantime the BSPA are covering the rider wages for tonight and next Monday's meetings. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theknow 2 180 Posted June 26, 2014 As has been proved the city do not want speedway really, at least not elite level. Shows how bad it is when a city this size cannot make speedway work. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starman2006 2,356 Posted June 26, 2014 As has been proved the city do not want speedway really, at least not elite level. Shows how bad it is when a city this size cannot make speedway work. I personally don't think it would work at PL level either.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semion 2,192 Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) Its a funny old World. Birmingham and Kings Lynn both took the leap together from Premier to Elite League. One appears to have made it stick the other struggles. I guess Lynn have the massive advantage of owning their own site. Its amazing how a tiny little backwater club Like Kings Lynn can make it pay, but the 2nd biggest City cant. Wishing the Brummies all the luck in surving this. Edited June 26, 2014 by semion 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfsbane 12,944 Posted June 26, 2014 Heartbreaking, it really is. All the $hit & aggro you had to go through to get planning against vehement opposition from all directions and now this. Best of luck in getting a positive resolution, despite what you did to us last season 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
david2905 230 Posted June 26, 2014 Its a funny old World. Birmingham and Kings Lynn both took the leap together from Premier to Elite League. One appears to have made it stick the other struggles. I guess Lynn have the massive advantage of owning their own site. Its amazing how a tiny little backwater club Like Kings Lynn can make it pay, but the 2nd biggest City cant. Wishing the Brummies all the luck in surving this. Lynn aint had a big gap in running that a generation and a half have missed, so we're more comparable to Leicester than Lynn. I think Speedway can prosper in Brum, but it'll take years before it's sustainable by anything like Lynn's level, we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and making decisions that turn off what people we have as has been done far too much in recent years, we need a positive and welcoming to newcomers outlook for the club and not to complain and claim we're all doomed when that doesn't produce overnight results (how many people has this outlook from AP turned off I wonder). No one under 35 has any recollection of speedway before now in Birmingham, getting them in and keeping them coming will take some time to achieve, it's doable, but an owner has to be realistic about that and have patience rather than all now now now, because it just won't work in this situation, AP was a bit naive in this respect about what was required in my opinion, I don't doubt he started out with good intentions, but the execution and ability to deliver it was somewhat lacking. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeoBrummie 30 Posted June 26, 2014 I don't think speedway has been promoted properly in Brum since we've returned and that is no criticism of the great efforts of Joe Mac, it was his job to get the sponsors in and he achieved great success! You can have as many special offers as you like it's no good if nobody knows about them! Promotion of the sport is down to errr the promoters really, shock horror!!!!. Many have suggested that speedway is not sustainable in Brum because of the make up of the local population, while that's true of the inner city areas around and including Perry Barr there is plenty of scope for recruitment of new fans in the more affluent outer suburbs. (Brum is a BIG city) These areas just haven't been targeted for publicity of the sport and if we do get a new owner then this needs to be addressed pronto. Leicester's crowds aren't that bad (even with a crap racetrack) yet Leicester has a much larger ethnic makeup than Brum (I know that may sound hard to believe) and is a smaller city so I don't subscribe to the demographic theory. So whoever takes over has got a hard job of getting new faces through the gates but I believe it can be done with a correctly targeted publicity campaign. Easier said than done, yes I know but it HAS to be done or it's more years in the speedway wilderness for the Brummies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
P T Preece 262 Posted June 26, 2014 Its quite worrying at the moment, but the words from jon cook and Jack Lee seem to give us some hope of a future for this season at least, hoping we are in for a good run if it works and the people coming in can turn it around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weatherwatcher 664 Posted June 26, 2014 I am not sure if there is ever going to be a solution to the Brummies problem. They have tried hard not this year but other years to get the public to come and support them. Not sure what the problem is there but it looks like the general public in and around Birmingham are just not interested in the sport. It may be Britains second largest city, but what is the make up of the population of the city and do they really care about going to watch the sport what ever league they are in. They could probabbly better cutting thier loses get in some new blood to run the place and move the whole set up to an area where they could draw in a good crowd week in week out. They could even consider going along the lines of a joint venture with Coventry and build a new state of the art stadium and sharing it on alternate days to get the most out of it. Just a though as they are not to far apart. I am sure there is land far enough from housing that a new stadium could be built that is also near enough to keep the fans of both sides happy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crump99 4,476 Posted June 26, 2014 One hour is too quick really. 5 mins per race with a 15 min interval and the whole thing should be done and dusted in 90 mins. Why does 15 heats of speedway need an interval? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
