More On The Decline Of British Speedway

[stratton 1,491]

Eddie Waring - all time great.

Waring,Carpenter,Coleman(1) all great sports people legends.

[The White Knight 9,039]

Waring,Carpenter,Coleman(1) all great sports people legends.

Raymond Glendenning, W. Barrington-Dalby, Eamonn Andrews, John Arlott, Brian Johnson etc.. - as you say sidney - legends.

 

Even Peter ('Twickers') West.

 

Nothing around of this sort of quality and class these days.

[pugwash 3,208]

I think Rugby League remains the biggest disappointment though, in terms of how much money and promotion has been thrown at the sport in the past 20 years. It seems most people still prefer to see the version where ex-public schoolboys roll on top of each other around in the mud. The legacy of Eddie Waring will never die...

 

You don't know how right you are Humph, the legacy of The Talking Trilby has set RL back 20 years in the UK. His style of commentary led to a depiction of flat caps, woodbines and ferrets which the game is finding hard to shake off.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by pugwash

[Deano 1,318]

I think speedway continually either struggling to break even financially or ultimately losing money is one major factor.

 

If the BSPA sat down and worked out a profitable model for both rider and businessman, then things may change.

 

It may attract new investment and may encourage more chancers moving into stadiums away from dumpy dog tracks.

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by Deano

[ch958 2,395]

I think speedway continually either struggling to break even financially or ultimately losing money is one major factor.

 

If the BSPA sat down and worked out a profitable model for both rider and businessman, then things may change.

 

It may attract new investment and may encourage more chancers moving into stadiums away from dumpy dog tracks.

 

 

i couldn't agree more with you but finding a profitable model would require the exclusion of some big names from the bigger clubs and without an independent body providing the impetus and direction required you fear it might not happen.

and you are quite right if promoters started to make a profit no one would begrudge them the money

and of course not relying on greyhound landlords and their lousy low terracing would be great

[Deano 1,318]

 

i couldn't agree more with you but finding a profitable model would require the exclusion of some big names from the bigger clubs and without an independent body providing the impetus and direction required you fear it might not happen.

and you are quite right if promoters started to make a profit no one would begrudge them the money

and of course not relying on greyhound landlords and their lousy low terracing would be great

 

I could be wrong, but I believe the most decent run companies have a cost base of around 25% of the selling price, giving 75% clear profit before tax. This helps balance out the poor sales months with the better sales months. If speedway used the same theory it's cost need to be around the £4 to £5 bracket per ticket sale if it wants to start re-investing in itself.

 

That I think is going to require some radical change.

[ch958 2,395]

 

I could be wrong, but I believe the most decent run companies have a cost base of around 25% of the selling price, giving 75% clear profit before tax. This helps balance out the poor sales months with the better sales months. If speedway used the same theory it's cost need to be around the £4 to £5 bracket per ticket sale if it wants to start re-investing in itself.

 

That I think is going to require some radical change.

 

 

you can say that again

[Humphrey Appleby 13,960]

 

I could be wrong, but I believe the most decent run companies have a cost base of around 25% of the selling price, giving 75% clear profit before tax. This helps balance out the poor sales months with the better sales months. If speedway used the same theory it's cost need to be around the £4 to £5 bracket per ticket sale if it wants to start re-investing in itself.

 

I'd have thought it the other way around - work on a 25% profit margin unless you're in some sort of niche market.

 

I'd think very few sports teams work on this basis though, not least because a losing team is almost certainly to lose patronage. And unlike the average competitive market, you can't have everyone doing well at the same time in the sport.

[Kipper 4]

25% cost of materials, 75% gross margin to cover staff costs, premises, tax etc is a reasonable split for a manufacturing company. Not so sure on a service company as speedway is.

The FTSE 250 company I worked in for 30 years (in a sort-of niche market) was pretty pleased with a PBIT of 15 to 20 %.

PBIT = Profit before Interest and Taxation on a £200Mpa turnover.

[pugwash 3,208]

25% cost of materials, 75% gross margin to cover staff costs, premises, tax etc is a reasonable split for a manufacturing company. Not so sure on a service company as speedway is.

The FTSE 250 company I worked in for 30 years (in a sort-of niche market) was pretty pleased with a PBIT of 15 to 20 %.

PBIT = Profit before Interest and Taxation on a £200Mpa turnover.

Edited November 27, 2014 by pugwash

[Deano 1,318]

25% cost of materials, 75% gross margin to cover staff costs, premises, tax etc is a reasonable split for a manufacturing company. Not so sure on a service company as speedway is.

The FTSE 250 company I worked in for 30 years (in a sort-of niche market) was pretty pleased with a PBIT of 15 to 20 %.

PBIT = Profit before Interest and Taxation on a £200Mpa turnover.

 

Thank you Kipper.

 

 

 

So not quite so radicle.

 

£13.6's worth of cost for every £17 ticket.

 

Potentially £100K profit over a season isn't going to go very far re-invested. It's a tough one, but I think it really needs to be done to get more investors on board and not "rich fans".

[arnieg 3,644]

Them figures suggest speedway promoters are doing a good job. The average Premiership football attendance is 36000 so about 150% than in the YouGov Poll. The average Aviva Premiership attendance is 12500 so about 95% of the youGov Poll, the average 2020 cricket attendance is 7000 so about 50% of the YouGov poll. The average Super League (Rugby League) is 9000 so about 190% of the YouGov poll

 

So with there being 70 speedway fans, even if you matched ti tot he best performing sport (Rugby League) there should be about 130 people at the average Elite League meeting in the UK. But promoters manage to get 10 times that (1300 is surely not an unfair average for the EL right?). So well done to the individual members of the BSPA who actually manage to geta greater % of their fan base to meetings that any of the major sports in this country!

for further analysis of the yougov sample see

 

http://www.speedwayp...com/Zebra.shtml

[strife 153]

25% cost of materials, 75% gross margin to cover staff costs, premises, tax etc is a reasonable split for a manufacturing company. Not so sure on a service company as speedway is.

The FTSE 250 company I worked in for 30 years (in a sort-of niche market) was pretty pleased with a PBIT of 15 to 20 %.

PBIT = Profit before Interest and Taxation on a £200Mpa turnover.

 

When it comes to staff, most speedway promotions only have rider costs - although some may pay a team manager (?), and/or travel costs for key personnel. Other than that, speedway is hugely reliant on volunteers, which skews the financial analysis considerably.

[Shale Searcher 1,264]

 

When it comes to staff, most speedway promotions only have rider costs - although some may pay a team manager (?), and/or travel costs for key personnel. Other than that, speedway is hugely reliant on volunteers, which skews the financial analysis considerably.

As a raker at Leicester s Blackbird Rd in 1983, we were paid £1, a free programme and cup of pits urn tea a the interval!!!!

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

As a raker at Leicester s Blackbird Rd in 1983, we were paid £1, a free programme and cup of pits urn tea a the interval!!!!

Based on inflation, I would say £1.00 in today's terms would be about £3.50! Not even minimum wage. However, free entry (I presume) and you did get a chance to get 'up close and personal'.