Skid Sprocket 243 Posted February 6, 2017 I only read one National newspaper, The People, (I know even I don't know why I bother) and every week mainly in the speedway season I look for some snippet of speedway news and not even a column half inch, ever, and yet every Sunday there is a 16 page pullout called Total Football and around 13 pages of other sports news. What is the situation with other National newspapers are there any that ever mention speedway? Maybe the BSPA could do more with regular press releases but would the Nationals print them? One thing that we as supporters can do is to let the papers know that there are readers out here and badger them to cover our sport. There are plenty of problems with the sport but in my opinion one of the main ones is that the general public don't even know speedway exists. Has anyone tried to persuade the press to change their attitude by such as bombarding them with pleas to publish news? I know nothing will come of all this but at least I've got it off my chest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
00000 1,279 Posted February 6, 2017 I only read one National newspaper, The People, (I know even I don't know why I bother) and every week mainly in the speedway season I look for some snippet of speedway news and not even a column half inch, ever, and yet every Sunday there is a 16 page pullout called Total Football and around 13 pages of other sports news. What is the situation with other National newspapers are there any that ever mention speedway? Maybe the BSPA could do more with regular press releases but would the Nationals print them? One thing that we as supporters can do is to let the papers know that there are readers out here and badger them to cover our sport. There are plenty of problems with the sport but in my opinion one of the main ones is that the general public don't even know speedway exists. Has anyone tried to persuade the press to change their attitude by such as bombarding them with pleas to publish news? I know nothing will come of all this but at least I've got it off my chest. You may get snippets of news here and there but nothing on a regular basis, as we once had in the 60s and 70s. I am afraid speedway and other minority sports are knocking at a closed door. The natonal Press is only interested in one thing: football. Actually, not football - it is Premier League football. If you work on a sports desk at a national you and your colleagues are judged on how good your PL football coverage is. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shale Searcher 1,264 Posted February 6, 2017 I won a pair of Cardiff tickets once, it was the year me and my friend couldn't afford to go! I won them in the "Sun" the Saturday before Cardiff!!! Had to name the current world champ I think? NP was the answer..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skid Sprocket 243 Posted February 6, 2017 You may get snippets of news here and there but nothing on a regular basis, as we once had in the 60s and 70s. I am afraid speedway and other minority sports are knocking at a closed door. The natonal Press is only interested in one thing: football. Actually, not football - it is Premier League football. If you work on a sports desk at a national you and your colleagues are judged on how good your PL football coverage is. There must be something we can we collectively do about it? There are enough members on the BSF to at least make a few ripples if an effort was made! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IronScorpion 1,408 Posted February 6, 2017 The Daily Star does a little snippet every Wednesday of general news that we have probably read on here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uk_martin 1,606 Posted February 6, 2017 ...I am afraid speedway and other minority sports are knocking at a closed door...The national Press is only interested in one thing: football. Actually, not football - it is Premier League football. hmmm, good not quite true. But the papers do go with what people want to read. Supply meeting demand. So yes, most of it is football, and horse racing, and at the appropriate times, rugby and cricket. If the publishers thought that by featuring speedway they would increase their circulation figures, they'd do it...so draw your own conclusions. What the newspapers are NOT, is a social service. They don't see it as their job to promote businesses that should be promoting themselves. Speedway has to be newsworthy and appeal to the readership, and as it can't seem to appeal to ever dwindling crowds at stadiums, then you can't expect it to make any inroads into the press either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skid Sprocket 243 Posted February 6, 2017 hmmm, good not quite true. But the papers do go with what people want to read. Supply meeting demand. So yes, most of it is football, and horse racing, and at the appropriate times, rugby and cricket. If the publishers thought that by featuring speedway they would increase their circulation figures, they'd do it...so draw your own conclusions. What the newspapers are NOT, is a social service. They don't see it as their job to promote businesses that should be promoting themselves. Speedway has to be newsworthy and appeal to the readership, and as it can't seem to appeal to ever dwindling crowds at stadiums, then you can't expect it to make any inroads into the press either. I agree, understandably the newspapers are in it to make money. Slightly off the newspaper theme this is where the BBC should take a lead and cover topics that don't have a cash creating incentive. While I dislike paying the BBC licence fee as much as anyone at least it should mean they can lead the way in promoting anything that is not right in the public eye. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kipper 4 Posted February 6, 2017 The Telegraph printed the Elite and Premier results, and occasionally had articles on mainly Elite League matters. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,342 Posted February 6, 2017 (edited) Think Speedway needs to make its sport (in GB) 'fit for purpose' then go after some mainstream media coverage.. Chicken and egg really.. Mainstream media would bring high profile sponsors... High profile sponsors would bring mainstream media... Currently, guests/more guests/even more guests/double uppers/downers/turn it all arounders etc etc would do more harm than good if played out to 'non fans' in the mainstream media... Would not attract anyone extra to the sport when it looks so 'Mickey Mouse', in fact it would be ridiculed by most casual observers I would suggest... Let's hope over the next couple of years it can get its operating model in line with 'proper sports' and then start to be taken seriously by 'proper media outlets'... We might then see some much needed fan base growth? Edited February 6, 2017 by mikebv 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mickthemuppet 976 Posted February 6, 2017 The problem is Speedway does not get hardly any publicity as it is compared to Profession Wrestling. When you have riders riding for different teams how can it be taking seriously. Some riders during a season might ride for nearly all the teams in the league as a guest Before 1955 there were no guests. I can remember on a Thursday night at Wembley and the Evening News would have the whole back page about that evenings meeting with photos of the away team riders as well as the home riders and all the heat details .At that time there were bigger write ups for Wembley Lions than any London Football club. The next day in the Daily Express used to give the results and riders scores and a write up of how the meeting went. The write up was roughly the size of a Speedway Star report Today nearly all riders for more than one team. How can any outside comprehend this 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 21,047 Posted February 6, 2017 The problem is Speedway does not get hardly any publicity as it is compared to Profession Wrestling. When you have riders riding for different teams how can it be taking seriously. Some riders during a season might ride for nearly all the teams in the league as a guest Before 1955 there were no guests. I can remember on a Thursday night at Wembley and the Evening News would have the whole back page about that evenings meeting with photos of the away team riders as well as the home riders and all the heat details .At that time there were bigger write ups for Wembley Lions than any London Football club. The next day in the Daily Express used to give the results and riders scores and a write up of how the meeting went. The write up was roughly the size of a Speedway Star report Today nearly all riders for more than one team. How can any outside comprehend this And what happened in the 1950s with all that news coverage?The sport nearly collapsed and lost a lot of the main teams and had to re-group and only recovered when the BL was formed in 1965....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted February 6, 2017 I won a pair of Cardiff tickets once, it was the year me and my friend couldn't afford to go! I won them in the "Sun" the Saturday before Cardiff!!! Had to name the current world champ I think? NP was the answer..... So NP was good for something then......................... The problem is Speedway does not get hardly any publicity as it is compared to Profession Wrestling. When you have riders riding for different teams how can it be taking seriously. Some riders during a season might ride for nearly all the teams in the league as a guest Before 1955 there were no guests. I can remember on a Thursday night at Wembley and the Evening News would have the whole back page about that evenings meeting with photos of the away team riders as well as the home riders and all the heat details .At that time there were bigger write ups for Wembley Lions than any London Football club. The next day in the Daily Express used to give the results and riders scores and a write up of how the meeting went. The write up was roughly the size of a Speedway Star report Today nearly all riders for more than one team. How can any outside comprehend this Very true - it is. At the moment unfortunately - it is extremely difficult to take the Sport seriously. It is also compared to 'It's a Knockout' with the iniquitous 'Joker' and 'Double Points'. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A ORLOV 8,628 Posted February 6, 2017 (edited) Used to look at ceefax or teletext on the tv for the speedway results but they have not shown them for a few years now. Edited February 6, 2017 by A ORLOV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OveFundinFan 4,145 Posted February 6, 2017 I only read one National newspaper, The People, (I know even I don't know why I bother) and every week mainly in the speedway season I look for some snippet of speedway news and not even a column half inch, ever, and yet every Sunday there is a 16 page pullout called Total Football and around 13 pages of other sports news. What is the situation with other National newspapers are there any that ever mention speedway? Maybe the BSPA could do more with regular press releases but would the Nationals print them? One thing that we as supporters can do is to let the papers know that there are readers out here and badger them to cover our sport. There are plenty of problems with the sport but in my opinion one of the main ones is that the general public don't even know speedway exists. Has anyone tried to persuade the press to change their attitude by such as bombarding them with pleas to publish news? I know nothing will come of all this but at least I've got it off my chest. Post up links here to all the relevant newspapers and you may get some buttons pressed from forum members - other then that we are a lazy lot (unless anyone wants to prove me wrong) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PHILIPRISING 7,298 Posted February 6, 2017 hmmm, good not quite true. But the papers do go with what people want to read. Supply meeting demand. So yes, most of it is football, and horse racing, and at the appropriate times, rugby and cricket. If the publishers thought that by featuring speedway they would increase their circulation figures, they'd do it...so draw your own conclusions. What the newspapers are NOT, is a social service. They don't see it as their job to promote businesses that should be promoting themselves. Speedway has to be newsworthy and appeal to the readership, and as it can't seem to appeal to ever dwindling crowds at stadiums, then you can't expect it to make any inroads into the press either. SPOT on ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
