Is anyone losing interest

[iris123 20,990]

1 minute ago, Crump99 said:

It certainly is if your a football fan or Sky subscriber. I think that common sense and focus is the phrase that you're looking for.

Not sure I am

I would say, what I posted was spot on, apart from maybe taking into account local councils/government. As the rules seem to vary from area to area as well

[fatface 2,554]

11 hours ago, Halifaxtiger said:

On the face of it, what you say is undoubtedly correct - run meetings when you are more likely to attract paying customers. Unfortunately, its not as simple as that.

For a start, three quarters of British Speedway clubs do not own their own stadiums and are therefore at the directions of landlords (Peterborough, for example, would have absolutely no hope of getting a regular weekend race night). Consequently, they take what they can get. Even those that do either own or have substantial control over stadiums (such as Belle Vue) may decide that other uses - such as stock car racing or greyhounds - are more likely to be profitable (BAGS contracts for greyhounds are extremely lucrative). Others - such as Kent - may have planning issues, while Isle of Wight could not possibly run on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays due to the situation with the ferries. 

Secondly, experience suggests that switching to weekends isn't always the solution. When Sheffield switched from Thursdays to Sundays it was so disastrous the club almost folded and  I haven't noticed a significant change to Redcar's crowds since they changed from Thursday to Friday. When Ashley Taylor was considering opening a track in Cornwall, he told me that the days he would not run were Friday or Saturday as people were coming or going from holidays (possibly as many as half of our clubs might take this into account) and Adrian Smith advised at a Belle Vue fans forum some years ago that aside from school holidays attendances at Belle Vue were higher on Mondays than Fridays. Football's attendances certainly do not seem to be affected by playing midweek. 

When Plymouth switched from Friday to Tuesday they gave a statement why : Plymouth Gladiators Club Statement - Plymouth Gladiators Speedway (plymouth-speedway.com). As can be seen, it wasn't all about the number of Championship clubs that ride on that night (although that is clearly another factor as to why clubs do not run at weekends). 

 Mike BV has made the point that the sport seems to be run for the benefit of riders (up to a point at least) and I agree. However, what they require cannot simply be completely ignored. Some consideration has to be given to what they need because we can't have speedway without them. 

I am not saying you are wrong so much as pointing out that putting your solution into practice is anything but easy or guaranteed to be successful. 

Thanks. Certainly some valid points here and some fair insight on the plight of modern day promoters. My point over moving to a weekend model could admittedly been described as simplistic...and - taken in isolation - it is. There is a whole load of things that need to change for British speedway to ever get back towards being both a viable and credible proposition. Scheduling is just one. As others have highlighted the biggest issue of the product itself not being strong enough. It's unpalatable for a lot us, but people outside the sport see speedway as a Mickey Mouse sport.

The whole sport needs a proper strategy starting with a blank piece of paper....finding out what the British public want from a regular motorsport outing and delivering that. And no, that doesn't mean pandering to the shrinking, ageing die-hards, much as they might whinge. Carrying on as it is will do nothing more than guarantee the sport's slow, inevitable death. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by falcace

[chunky 6,095]

54 minutes ago, OveFundinFan said:

15 races taking 2 hours or more is not on.

So, let me ask you...

You would be much happier doing a 600 mile round trip to see a meeting, and have it be over and done with within 45 minutes?

[old bob at herne bay 828]

Whoa  Chunky ... steady on ...... 

How about  running 15 heats of speedway in around 75 minutes  .... then an interval of say 15 minutes , and then say 4 or 5 heats in around 30 minutes for   junior racing, novice racing or even some invitation races to allwo the tteam to test machinery  ? that looks like 120 minutes for a race meeting with up to 20 races.

Don't believe any club consider that is even possible with the current bunch of promoters, track staff riders and referees.

 

[auntie doris 2,342]

With local track Swindon not running, next nearest Zummerzet not running, and no Cardiff GP, no speedway for me this year, therefore no interest.

[Harry The Goat 23]

On 6/27/2021 at 12:54 PM, waytogo28 said:

Pretty much the same for me I am sad ( in some ways ) to say. Is there a central place I can locate what streams are available, as I am eager to see and pay reasonably for matches? I have always believed that streaming may be a sport saver for speedway, but other than one try at Berwick I have not seen any. I must add I am not very technical or computer savvy ( much as in the same way I can drive a car! ).

I'm with you, waytogo28. I too believe streaming could be a lifesaver, but there seems to be disappointingly little of it happening at present and it doesn't seem very well publicised. I'm amazed that more clubs are not trying it, and that the ones that are are not shouting louder about it. Do they want to get people watching or not?

If there *is* a central place to locate available livestreams, I've yet to find it. I had to dig up all the info below myself by laboriously looking through the websites of each club in the Premiership, Championship and NDL. There appear to be just three regular livestreams right now:

Glasgow - https://tv.glasgowtigers.co.uk/ (£11.95, next meeting on Friday 2nd July)

Edinburgh - https://www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/live-stream (£11.99, not sure of next meeting)

Poole - https://www.poole-speedway.com/pirates-tv (£9.95, next meeting on Wednesday 30th June)

Berwick have used streaming but only for occasional one-off meetings, I think. Don't know why they don't do regular meetings.

This week I am planning to visit Poole on Wednesday and Glasgow on Friday while simultaneously remaining in the West Country without leaving my armchair :-)

[steve roberts 9,246]

9 hours ago, KIRKYLANE said:

£20 may seem a lot.... but compared to a top football match I am sure it is relatively cheap..... I have no idea what the cheapest prices are for Premiership football

 

..I certainly wouldn't entertain going to a football match either to be honest.

For me to consider a speedway meeting there would have to be at least twenty heats (including a second half of sorts)

[noggin 1,390]

39 minutes ago, auntie doris said:

With local track Swindon not running, next nearest Zummerzet not running, and no Cardiff GP, no speedway for me this year, therefore no interest.

I'm the same, dumped BT so don't watch the Gp's, if I remember will watch the Eurosport match, but that's it, such a far cry to when I started going again in 1987, saturday nights and loads of home meetings, all so sparce now.

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

So, let me ask you...

You would be much happier doing a 600 mile round trip to see a meeting, and have it be over and done with within 45 minutes?

If I chose to do a 600 mile trip knowing it may finish in 45 min, yes I would be happy.

But in the years I went to matches non were as quick as 45 minutes nor do I expect a match to be, more realistically between 75-90 min, 90 is quite enough.

What I don’t want to see is excessive gardening, pit gates open mechanics out at false starts, chain tensioning, numerous practice starts etc. 

[chunky 6,095]

2 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Whoa  Chunky ... steady on ...... 

How about  running 15 heats of speedway in around 75 minutes  .... then an interval of say 15 minutes , and then say 4 or 5 heats in around 30 minutes for   junior racing, novice racing or even some invitation races to allwo the tteam to test machinery  ? that looks like 120 minutes for a race meeting with up to 20 races.

Don't believe any club consider that is even possible with the current bunch of promoters, track staff riders and referees.

 

That is my point...

There AREN'T 20 heats, and there ISN'T an interval.

[Trees 2,814]

7 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

My argument would be that it's  more likely to be the product that has changed rather than all the people who no longer go because they don't love it any more. It's a shame because when speedway is spot on there is arguably nothing better but it's so rarely like that any more unfortunately. 

I don't think so, I think people's priorities, loves, wants and needs change, more so than 4 riders racing over 4 laps ....

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

59 minutes ago, chunky said:

That is my point...

There AREN'T 20 heats, and there ISN'T an interval.

So I wouldn’t expect a meeting with 15 races to go on for 2 hours+, but they do. I doubt very much any meeting of 15 races would be finished in 45 minutes either.

[Trees 2,814]

3 hours ago, auntie doris said:

With local track Swindon not running, next nearest Zummerzet not running, and no Cardiff GP, no speedway for me this year, therefore no interest.

I'd be the same, nobody has the same passion for any club but their own ...

[Trees 2,814]

6 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

FORGET race nights

FORGET crappy little or large stadiums

FORGET admission charges.

 

What can be changed .......

STOP gardening at the tapes

STOP practice starts all over the track prior to every race.

STOP riders jumping every other heat causing a restart

STOP delaying every heat until the ref puts on the 2 minute warning

STOP delaying meetings waiting for riders having 2 races in a row

STOP delaying meetings for endless grading of the track.

Tell the riders they are paid for by the spectators , tell them they are there to ENTERTAIN, not piddle about re adjusting chains back wheel nuts, cooling clutches, and refuelling the bike after every false start. IT'S BORING TO WATCH. 

 

 

So you're saying that riders doing a bit of gardening etc, trying to get a slight advantage to win the race, stops you going lol.   It's their livelihoods, what do they call it these days, degrees or something like that (little positives that give you success), they need to do everything they can to win and earn??

Who wants a meeting to be over in half hour, no banter, no interaction with the crowd, just heat after heat after heat, nah not for me, it's a night out isn't it?  

[chunky 6,095]

1 hour ago, Trees said:

So you're saying that riders doing a bit of gardening etc, trying to get a slight advantage to win the race, stops you going lol.   It's their livelihoods, what do they call it these days, degrees or something like that (little positives that give you success), they need to do everything they can to win and earn??

Who wants a meeting to be over in half hour, no banter, no interaction with the crowd, just heat after heat after heat, nah not for me, it's a night out isn't it?  

Exactly!