Skidder1 7,637 Posted September 1, 2018 12 hours ago, Byker Biker said: What's the difference? Between 2 and 4 quid on the gate, that's all! ...or 1 or 2 quid in some cases. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Shovlar 10,439 Posted September 1, 2018 What must be avoided at all costs is further dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. Every year the leagues get weaker. Whats for next year? Pandering to a team in the CL who gets 300 gates? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
foamfence 2,917 Posted September 1, 2018 50 minutes ago, Steve Shovlar said: What must be avoided at all costs is further dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. Every year the leagues get weaker. Whats for next year? Pandering to a team in the CL who gets 300 gates? "Dumbing down" is certain for next year, the plan being to have ten Premiership sides at about the Current Championship level and a Much reduced Championship average, with probably three national league sides moving up. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,706 Posted September 1, 2018 4 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said: What must be avoided at all costs is further dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. Every year the leagues get weaker. Whats for next year? Pandering to a team in the CL who gets 300 gates? What if the cost was Poole closing? Although I do tend to agree - need 3 or 4 of the better supported Championship sides to join the top league and a 2nd tier at a much reduced limit to enable those with 300 - 500 attending to be more sustainable as well as re-establishing a true differential The longer term aim should be to strengthen the top tier if finances can be developed (league sponsor/TV) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racin Jason 72 1,283 Posted September 1, 2018 Well I hope Ipswich stay in the championship. Don’t want to return to the top flight personally Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,706 Posted September 1, 2018 45 minutes ago, Racin Jason 72 said: Well I hope Ipswich stay in the championship. Don’t want to return to the top flight personally Next years Championship may well be closer to this years National League with the Premiership closer to this years Championship...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racin Jason 72 1,283 Posted September 2, 2018 I believe the championship has got far too strong. Reserves should both be British from the national league and the current top two riders in our case Danny and Rory should Be plying their trade in the top league only. The natural jump from national league to championship is too large as it stands. There are a lot of talented young British rider out there who should be getting track time in the championship without coming against the likes of Cook Morris Schlein etc at this stage of their careers 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GWC 495 Posted September 3, 2018 On 9/1/2018 at 10:54 AM, Steve Shovlar said: What must be avoided at all costs is further dumbing down to the lowest common denominator. Every year the leagues get weaker. Whats for next year? Pandering to a team in the CL who gets 300 gates? And your solution is to have exactly what? Reorganisation of league racing is now paramount to the survival of speedway in the UK as we know it. Rent a rider has gone on too long supporters no longer identify with the team that changes riders at a whim and in the hope of achieving an impossible play off place. You may well have a league of ‘super strength teams’ but you will probably be in a league of your own! As a Rye House fan I’ve seen the nonsense that goes on at the top level of the sport in this country and to be honest I’m rather now enjoying Kent and Eastbourne even though it contains ‘wobblers’ but it does seem to have a lot of honest young men who are trying to make it in the sport. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) If there are enough clubs that wish to run in a top league and are financially secure to do so, why shouldn't they? Especially if their fans and most importantly their sponsors are keen to do so?! I'm not denegrating those fans and clubs that wish to run based on a cheaper financial model and lower standard of riders. Edited September 3, 2018 by Skidder1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waytogo28 2,054 Posted September 4, 2018 17 hours ago, Skidder1 said: If there are enough clubs that wish to run in a top league and are financially secure to do so, why shouldn't they? What is enough? 7 is failing to attract fans to a majority of those 7 tracks running now. One or two are making enough but they can not ride against each other twice a month - can they? The mooted 14 "top" and 14 "lower " leagues seems much more realistic as it offers variety to existing supporters but I cannot see even that attracting new fans in any serious numbers. Managed decline will continue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted September 4, 2018 (edited) 'Enough' is whatever they decide themselves. It wouldn't necessarily mean thats the only competition/league they would operate in? For example, if say 4 teams decided they wanted to operate teams with 'top' riders on a fixed face night (2home/2 away or whatever), then they could also run a 'weaker' team in whatever other league structure is agreed. As long as the 2 seperate competitions are priced attractively and sensibly, then it could provide the best of both worlds for fans - past and present - sponsors/advertisers and some 'top' riders. Try it for a season - if it doesn't work then it doesn't make the current situation any worse. If it works despite all the doom mongers - job done. Edited September 4, 2018 by Skidder1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Smith 5,666 Posted September 4, 2018 3 hours ago, Skidder1 said: 'Enough' is whatever they decide themselves. It wouldn't necessarily mean thats the only competition/league they would operate in? For example, if say 4 teams decided they wanted to operate teams with 'top' riders on a fixed face night (2home/2 away or whatever), then they could also run a 'weaker' team in whatever other league structure is agreed. As long as the 2 seperate competitions are priced attractively and sensibly, then it could provide the best of both worlds for fans - past and present - sponsors/advertisers and some 'top' riders. Try it for a season - if it doesn't work then it doesn't make the current situation any worse. If it works despite all the doom mongers - job done. I've said British Speedway should test the water in having quality line-ups. Bring back the title of "Elite League". 8 teams, 1 x home and away (14) fixtures. No team averages but must contain 4 British riders. Top wins the league. Fixtures take place Monday - Thursday's. The same clubs can then also enter any of the league below, meeting those regulations. The only problem with this though, is, how would clubs maintain the crowds for lower league racing?? We've had it a King's Lynn when we were in the 2nd and 3rd tiers. Even though King's Lynn had some rider's in both teams, only a couple of hundred would turn up for the "2nd" team, making it unviable hence why we no longer run in the National League. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GWC 495 Posted September 4, 2018 ‘Elite’ will need to attract at least one rider per team from the GP’s to justify its existence. The rider shareing really has to be rained in and by creating a larger league will force this albeit a weaker league. But it needs to be done at some stage in order to give inexperienced riders a chance and consequently increase the rider base. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waytogo28 2,054 Posted September 5, 2018 20 hours ago, Skidder1 said: Try it for a season - if it doesn't work then it doesn't make the current situation any worse. If it works despite all the doom mongers - job done. It's down to the "money men" as to what they will try and they backed away from this a few years ago. Swedish style "star name" teams represent too much of a financial risk for those investing in UK speedway. Only radical re-construction of what is on offer in the UK plus a completely different approach to marketing than is undertaken currently will possibly turn things around attendance-wise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GWC 495 Posted September 5, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, waytogo28 said: It's down to the "money men" as to what they will try and they backed away from this a few years ago. Swedish style "star name" teams represent too much of a financial risk for those investing in UK speedway. Only radical re-construction of what is on offer in the UK plus a completely different approach to marketing than is undertaken currently will possibly turn things around attendance-wise. Who are the money men in UK speedway? Teams who have get by attendances backed by modest sponsorship seem to be the case now. And the ‘try it for a season’ will probably wipe out any teams financially. Edited September 5, 2018 by GWC 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites