mickthemuppet 976 Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) It seems fashionable these days for a failing business to simply blame the government for all its ills.The reason British speedway is a failing business is that the product is not good enough,often enough and is not good value for money.There is money around but people are just choosing not to spend it on watching British speedway.Went to Cheltenham races on Tuesday,,a record first day crowd of 63,000.Most sports are flourishing even in these times of recession,the reason speedway is not is nothing to do with the politics of the day ! New Science Although Cheltenham is recession proof like Wimbledon Racing it is not booming. I think 2 years ago the average attendance was 831. at Lingfield. I think it will be the last year for my local Point to Point. . There would be no county cricket if the counties did not get Test Money . Northamptonshire just announced they lost £800,000 in the last two years. The football league attendances are less than half they were back in the 1940/50s Non league football clubs have lost at least 75% of the gates during that time Cinemas admissions have gone from 1,600,000,000 in their heyday to 1,250,000 today. How many cinemas or theatres are left today. There used to be over 100 greyhound stadiums down to 33 today. not counting the unlicensed tracks which are nearly all gone. How many boxing and Wrestling promotions are there today. Very few So it's not just Speedway that has it's problems. How many sports are booming? So it's not just Speedway that is suffering. Edited March 12, 2015 by mickthemuppet 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 12, 2015 New Science Although Cheltenham is recession proof like Wimbledon Tennis it is not booming. I think 2 years ago the average attendance was 831. at Lingfield. I think it will be the last year for my local Point to Point. . There would be no county cricket if the counties did not get Test Money . Northamptonshire just announced they lost £800,000 in the last two years. The football league attendances are less than half they were back in the 1940/50s Non league football clubs have lost at least 75% of the gates during that time Cinemas admissions have gone from 1,600,000,000 in their heyday to 1,250,000 today. How many cinemas or theatres are left today. There used to be over 100 greyhound stadiums down to 33 today. not counting the unlicensed tracks which are nearly all gone. How many boxing and Wrestling promotions are there today. Very few So it's not just Speedway that has it's problems. How many sports are booming? So it's not just Speedway that is suffering. Very fair point. You are right. I hadn't looked at it that way, I must admit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
New Science 1,059 Posted March 13, 2015 New Science Although Cheltenham is recession proof like Wimbledon Racing it is not booming. I think 2 years ago the average attendance was 831. at Lingfield. I think it will be the last year for my local Point to Point. . There would be no county cricket if the counties did not get Test Money . Northamptonshire just announced they lost £800,000 in the last two years. The football league attendances are less than half they were back in the 1940/50s Non league football clubs have lost at least 75% of the gates during that time Cinemas admissions have gone from 1,600,000,000 in their heyday to 1,250,000 today. How many cinemas or theatres are left today. There used to be over 100 greyhound stadiums down to 33 today. not counting the unlicensed tracks which are nearly all gone. How many boxing and Wrestling promotions are there today. Very few So it's not just Speedway that has it's problems. How many sports are booming? So it's not just Speedway that is suffering. This is speedways other crutch,everyone else is struggling ! If you look at the top level of most sports in this country you will find most are thriving. Premier league football-say no more, top division rugby union-some teams are hiring Twickenham or Wembley to host league games in front of 60,000, Rugby league-there's 10,000 at Warrington tonight to watch a game live on TV,how does league speedway fare when live on TV, Boxing-selling out big venues including Wembley for big shows, Snooker-rapidly expanding the number of tournaments all over the world with more money in the game than ever,Darts-selling out every week to watch Premier league darts,every day of the World championship sold out,I could go on.Tell me another sport which does not have a sponsor for its top division which is live on TV ! Speedway is shrinking not expanding 20 years ago who would have thought Eastbourne,Cradley and Birmingham would be choosing to run speedway in an amateur league,if 1 more team drops out of the Elite league next year there is no league.You need 3 things to be a prosperous sport 1. a good TV deal 2. good sponsorship and 3. Plenty of punters paying to watch. Speedway has none of these. Personally without any of these things changing the only way is sadly further decline,not great news but I believe its the truth 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
berniev123 58 Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) This is speedways other crutch,everyone else is struggling ! If you look at the top level of most sports in this country you will find most are thriving. Premier league football-say no more, top division rugby union-some teams are hiring Twickenham or Wembley to host league games in front of 60,000, Rugby league-there's 10,000 at Warrington tonight to watch a game live on TV,how does league speedway fare when live on TV, Boxing-selling out big venues including Wembley for big shows, Snooker-rapidly expanding the number of tournaments all over the world with more money in the game than ever,Darts-selling out every week to watch Premier league darts,every day of the World championship sold out,I could go on.Tell me another sport which does not have a sponsor for its top division which is live on TV ! Speedway is shrinking not expanding 20 years ago who would have thought Eastbourne,Cradley and Birmingham would be choosing to run speedway in an amateur league,if 1 more team drops out of the Elite league next year there is no league.You need 3 things to be a prosperous sport 1. a good TV deal 2. good sponsorship and 3. Plenty of punters paying to watch. Speedway has none of these. Personally without any of these things changing the only way is sadly further decline,not great news but I believe its the truthCan I just point out that the Heathens owners or fans have NO other option other than track share, which has been well documented since November 2009, due to a severe lack of 5 to 8 acres of land in the Black Country being available from Dudley or Sandwell or Walsall MBC! I, also, personally think that the Brummies without Cradley (vice versa) would not be at the tapes in 2015, which is very different thing to the Eagles being in the NL. Roll on next Wednesday and the Heathens & Brummies can start 2015 off and I hope it goes on for many a year! Also in 1995, should have been 1994, Dudley Wood shut!!!!! Built upon and no land ever since has ever appeared viable!!!!!!! Edited March 13, 2015 by berniev123 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ch958 2,395 Posted March 13, 2015 Can I just point out that the Heathens owners or fans have NO other option other than track share, which has been well documented since November 2009, due to a severe lack of 5 to 8 acres of land in the Black Country being available from Dudley or Sandwell or Walsall MBC! I, also, personally think that the Brummies without Cradley (vice versa) would not be at the tapes in 2015, which is very different thing to the Eagles being in the NL. Roll on next Wednesday and the Heathens & Brummies can start 2015 off and I hope it goes on for many a year! Also in 1995, should have been 1994, Dudley Wood shut!!!!! Built upon and no land ever since has ever appeared viable!!!!!!! i've read and read but see no mention of anyone mentioning Cradley tracksharing or bitching about it. Everyone knows the terrible Dudley Wood story its not relevant to his point which is that 3 of the sports major clubs are operating at the 3rd tier. another case of calm down calm down i think Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cityrebel 2,960 Posted March 14, 2015 i've read and read but see no mention of anyone mentioning Cradley tracksharing or bitching about it. Everyone knows the terrible Dudley Wood story its not relevant to his point which is that 3 of the sports major clubs are operating at the 3rd tier. another case of calm down calm down i think the way the sport is going, every club might be at a third tier level in a few years time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 14, 2015 the way the sport is going, every club might be at a third tier level in a few years time! Sadly - I think that highly likely if things go on as they are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shale Searcher 1,264 Posted March 14, 2015 Sadly - I think that highly likely if things go on as they are. Yes, but you wouldn't just have a division 3, it would still be the top league in the Country.. perhaps called the "British National Speedway League" have 18 teams in 14 stadiums, it would run Saturday and Sunday afternoons/evenings and everyone rides everyone home and away once in 18 heat matches. The season would run from April until September, (no play-offs) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 14, 2015 (edited) Yes, but you wouldn't just have a division 3, it would still be the top league in the Country.. perhaps called the "British National Speedway League" have 18 teams in 14 stadiums, it would run Saturday and Sunday afternoons/evenings and everyone rides everyone home and away once in 18 heat matches. The season would run from April until September, (no play-offs) If you are talking names for the Leagues - British League Division One, British League Division Two and British League Division Three would do for me very nicely. :approve: Edited March 14, 2015 by The White Knight Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
