Possible Way To Make Elite Stronger?

[T.N.T. 355]

you mean mondays because thats when wolves race, lets face it mondays is one of the worse nights for riders doing the leagues, poland sunday then england monday back out to sweden for tuesday, its easier to go straight to sweden from poland, imo weds and thurs would be bestfrom sweden to hear race 2 nights back out to wherever for gp's internationals etc then poland sundays, after all, kings lynn, leicester, poole, belle vue, coventry (i believe) swindon have and could race these nights, lakeside possibly not sure on stocks, just leaves wolves who never seem to move for any reason.

 

I would love Wolves to go back to the Friday's it use to be when I was a kid but Monday's are when Sky want it, hence why the play offs are on Mondays only

 

Also Denmark and Sweden ride on Wednesdays and Thursdays and remember that some governing bodies allow their riders to have Thursdays off if they are in FIM meetings the next day, including official practice days. So there is a clash with quite a few riders there,

 

With the amount of meetings on Sky and at Belle Vue and Wolves each week, there has been six teams operating most Mondays already so the other two competing isn't making too much difference.

 

The problem riders have is flying in and out of Britain two or three times a week and many would rather have three continous days in Poland, Britain and Sweden rather than any other day.

 

 

 

If all Elite League matches were on a Monday night that would be the end of Speedway.How many people do you think would bother going to live speedway when you can watch it for nothing .on TV. Mind you if it were taken off TV more people would go but certainly not a Monday

 

The Elite League can't survive without the Sky money and even when the meetings are on live, the difference in the normal crowd levels is by far compensated by the Sky money. Plus riding on one night gives the four tracks that are riding away more chance to go to the away meetings rather than wait a week for their next meeting.

 

How many fans travel to away matches at present ? You would be lucky to get a coach full at most meetings and 95% of the crowd is people living locally for their one meeting a week fix.

 

 

14 home - 14 away

 

 

or 7 home and 7 away and rebuild the Premier League involving EVERY track riding on any day apart from Mondays

Edited January 24, 2015 by T.N.T.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook 33]

Does anyone know for a fact that sky actually pay for the coverage?

[Alan_Jones 1,005]

Does anyone know for a fact that sky actually pay for the coverage?

A quote from Terry Russell in Speedway Star's feature on the deal;

 

"...overall its a very good package. Yes, its a different package from the one we had before, now they have the foreign rights and are paying an amount of money for that, plus the UK rights, they're paying an amount of money for that, plus they've handed back the opportunity to earn money from title sponsorship. And there are a few other little bits in there we've got going with them as well, it may take the full term of the contract to develop, but there are opportunities there to develop even further."

[Christopher Bcmma Cook 33]

So from that statement they haven't said anything to confirm how much over what duration...

 

What makes me wonder is that if you take the British Superbike Championship, the best domestic race series in the World, compared to British Speedway which isn't the best domestic Speedway league in the world - It also doesn't have the professional look of BSB etc. Sky don't actually pay for BSB, they get it for free which Motorsport Vision allow in order for their to be television coverage for riders/teams to attract sponsorship in order to actually be able to afford to compete.

 

I don't see how/why Sky Sports would pay a penny to broadcast Speedway in comparison, as its not in the same league as a product and especially commercially.

[T.N.T. 355]

The deal with Sky has changed in recent years but I would be very suprised if ANY track would afford to run in the Elite League as they are without their backing.

 

 

Sunday = Poland

Monday = England (Elite League) on Sky

Tuesday = Sweden (Elite)

Thursday = Sweden (Allveskan League)

Saturday = GP or European Championships

 

With Fridays used for practice days or travelling to the GP's etc it only leaves Monday and Wednesdays and maybe you could run on both nights but each team only running one fixture each week home or away. However most would ride on Mondays any way as most weeks there are three Elite League matches on a Monday any way.

[Christopher Bcmma Cook 33]

I can't see why Sky would pay for the Elite League coverage and not pay for the BSB coverage (obviously Eurosport now has the BSB coverage but when Sky had it, it was free of charge and Eurosport don't pay for it either).... just doesn't make sense why anyone would pay for the rights under the current product offering.

[T.N.T. 355]

I can't see why Sky would pay for the Elite League coverage and not pay for the BSB coverage (obviously Eurosport now has the BSB coverage but when Sky had it, it was free of charge and Eurosport don't pay for it either).... just doesn't make sense why anyone would pay for the rights under the current product offering.

 

 

One Sells the sport

 

One Promotes the sport

 

 

SIMPLES

[Christopher Bcmma Cook 33]

If only the BSPA would "promote" the sport instead of just selling it (if they are actually selling it) to Sky to promote it....

 

Why can't they deal "Outside of the Box" maybe try getting on ITV4 (availale on all digi boxes) and getting the odd one on ITV (on a Saturday) and in return exchange the rights for regional advertising space to promote the elite league clubs!

[The White Knight 9,039]

If only the BSPA would "promote" the sport instead of just selling it (if they are actually selling it) to Sky to promote it....

 

Why can't they deal "Outside of the Box" maybe try getting on ITV4 (availale on all digi boxes) and getting the odd one on ITV (on a Saturday) and in return exchange the rights for regional advertising space to promote the elite league clubs!

............... or to Promote SPEEDWAY!!!

 

Your idea has some merit.

[waiheke1 4,295]

Do u really think itv would give speedway a saturday slot, let alone give up the advertising revenues???

[The Voice Of Reason 2,124]

To the best of my knowledge (which I wasn't simply told by a bloke in the pub, but someone closely associated with Lakeside's Promotion) the 'old deal' only paid an EL Club the amount of money lost on the gate through a decreased attendance when SKY were in town.

 

Heaven above knows what the 'new deal' provides!

 

Suffice to say it's a good marketing USP for teams when they are attracting sponsorship but to my mind, it's a waste of time in actually promoting this sport to potential new fans. Attendances at the majority of clubs has probably decreased since SKY got involved; albeit admission prices, coupled with a watered-down product (i.e. just 15 heats of racing) surely hasn't helped.

 

I truly don't believe that SKY attracts many new people to Speedway. However, if it was on BBC/ITV (as in the 70's/early 80's) it would undoubtedly reach a much wider audience; and this could be much more beneficial raising the profile of the sport in the long run. But no - it's on SKY. And generally on a Monday night when there's also usually a Premier League Football match on. Guess what most people choose to watch on SKY Sports; either at home or at the pub?

 

Still, I can think of two people that must be laughing all the way to the bank with their 'nice little earners' - in particular, one clueless numb nut who plods around in the pits all night as if he truly knows what he's doing. The term 'Chuckle Brothers' could possibly never have been more apt.

Edited February 25, 2015 by The Voice Of Reason