Happy Hunter 370 Posted April 28, 2023 10 hours ago, FishersGate said: Phil Morris on a podcast didn't seem to impress me with what he said . He was asked about the future of the panthers and wolves and didn't really give a proper answer really. Just encouraged clubs to own the stadiums like Leicester and workington and accepted that if your a tenant you can't do anything..so what's he going to do? Leicester don't own their stadium. It's leased from David Hemsleys company who in turn lease it from Leicester City Council. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
old bob at herne bay 828 Posted April 28, 2023 Unlike major sports in the UK, speedway hasn’t any influential folk in its hierarchy. No multi millionaires with influence in business circles are interested in speedway. UK Speedway cannot attract an A list personality to attend the SGP event. The deal done with Manchester City Council is a unique piece of business, which bankrupted the original promoting team, but created an NSS. It is damning that a UK sport stages its round of a flagship event in a rugby stadium rented for the day from a third party. Morris is right in saying UK speedway needs to own it’s own tracks, but with ex promoters suggesting north of £250k to start up - without some big money investors/philanthropists it ain’t gonna happen. BUT there are tracks lying idle which owners have positively rejected the idea of staging speedway ever again. I think the WHY ? needs to be carefully investigated. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted April 28, 2023 13 minutes ago, Happy Hunter said: Leicester don't own their stadium. It's leased from David Hemsleys company who in turn lease it from Leicester City Council. So, do you know what happens if David Hemsley falls out of love with Speedway or god forbid something happens to him and his company is wound up or taken over? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss 10,780 Posted April 28, 2023 I think the idea that Phil Morris is going to breeze in with a magic wand is fanciful. I was actually encouraged by what I heard from him on the @RoundTheBoardsPodcast and he was choosing his words carefully at times as he couldnt say too much about certain things. He (or anybody) is going to need several years to sort the mess that is Premiership speedway out to be fair to him. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HGould 2,213 Posted April 28, 2023 You can't market properly what you don't own and have full control of. That's the crux of the problem and has been for decades. How many Tracks are actually OWNED fully or effective decision making by the Promoters / Management of the Club? Glasgow, Redcar; Scunthorpe; Kings Lynn . Excuse me IF I'm wrong but aren't the remainder Owned by Dogs / Stocks / Football / Councils / Covenants etc??.. Most don't even have revenue from basics like Food and Drink. That's a fundamental flaw with the model! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted April 28, 2023 1 minute ago, HGould said: You can't market properly what you don't own and have full control of. That's the crux of the problem and has been for decades. How many Tracks are actually OWNED fully or effective decision making by the Promoters / Management of the Club? Glasgow, Redcar; Scunthorpe; Kings Lynn . Excuse me IF I'm wrong but aren't the remainder Owned by Dogs / Stocks / Football / Councils / Covenants etc??.. Most don't even have revenue from basics like Food and Drink. That's a fundamental flaw with the model! ... and not only not owning the tracks, increasingly clubs don't own the riders with them being at the whim of the mood a Polish promoter is in 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,277 Posted April 28, 2023 22 minutes ago, old bob at herne bay said: Unlike major sports in the UK, speedway hasn’t any influential folk in its hierarchy. No multi millionaires with influence in business circles are interested in speedway. UK Speedway cannot attract an A list personality to attend the SGP event. The deal done with Manchester City Council is a unique piece of business, which bankrupted the original promoting team, but created an NSS. It is damning that a UK sport stages its round of a flagship event in a rugby stadium rented for the day from a third party. Morris is right in saying UK speedway needs to own it’s own tracks, but with ex promoters suggesting north of £250k to start up - without some big money investors/philanthropists it ain’t gonna happen. BUT there are tracks lying idle which owners have positively rejected the idea of staging speedway ever again. I think the WHY ? needs to be carefully investigated. All correct... Yet. UK Speedway will spend a couple million pounds in rent and riders over the coming season.. With clubs all trying to out do each other... To win... What exactly? Their very own operating model prevents any real achievement being delivered... And 100's of thousands of pounds will be spent on just ten riders or so who will pay nothing like that back in admission money.. And 100's of thousands of pounds more on the rest of the riders who will bring in much less.. Maybe, collectively and generically they could pool some of that huge outlay to start to purchase land in areas that already have, (or have had successful) teams... Build it, (think Buxton, Somerset, Worky types), and then start to invest in further projects gradually as (hopefully), profits start to be made.. As is often proven, both live at "events", and via TV audience numbers, there is actually a sizeable following for the sport in the UK... Getting many of them to believe in the domestic product enough to attend regularly is the challenge.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Hunter 370 Posted April 28, 2023 4 hours ago, iainb said: So, do you know what happens if David Hemsley falls out of love with Speedway or god forbid something happens to him and his company is wound up or taken over? Short answer is no! I think Hemsley had something like a 99 year lease from the Council and the present promoters have a 14 year sub-lease. The track is built on the site of a Victorian sewage effluent disposal farm and is contaminated with heavy metals and isn't fit for housing development. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FishersGate 522 Posted April 28, 2023 15 minutes ago, Happy Hunter said: Short answer is no! I think Hemsley had something like a 99 year lease from the Council and the present promoters have a 14 year sub-lease. The track is built on the site of a Victorian sewage effluent disposal farm and is contaminated with heavy metals and isn't fit for housing development. I've spoken to Dave a few times and he's lost a little interest in speedway but has no intention of selling the land at all. His ex wife also cares for speedway. There has been interest in the land but it's contaminated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted April 28, 2023 28 minutes ago, FishersGate said: I've spoken to Dave a few times and he's lost a little interest in speedway but has no intention of selling the land at all. His ex wife also cares for speedway. There has been interest in the land but it's contaminated. It's not his land to sell though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
40-38 307 Posted April 28, 2023 20 minutes ago, iainb said: It's not his land to sell though I'm sure I've heard talk about industrial units being built on part of Beaumont Park. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FishersGate 522 Posted April 28, 2023 6 hours ago, Happy Hunter said: Leicester don't own their stadium. It's leased from David Hemsleys company who in turn lease it from Leicester City Council. It's as good as owner really. Bates got a cheap rent on it as well 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FishersGate 522 Posted April 28, 2023 47 minutes ago, iainb said: It's not his land to sell though Well he sold the bar not long ago. We told him to have the lions bar there but wasn't fussed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iainb 5,017 Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, 40-38 said: I'm sure I've heard talk about industrial units being built on part of Beaumont Park. This has also been built over the back of the PMA https://www.dmu.ac.uk/campus/leisure/beaumont-park.aspx You have to wonder why it wasn't built on all the wasteland outside of the PMA as was always originally intended? And why we aren't working alongside one of the city's biggest investors Edited April 28, 2023 by iainb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1 valve 558 Posted April 28, 2023 9 hours ago, Happy Hunter said: Short answer is no! I think Hemsley had something like a 99 year lease from the Council and the present promoters have a 14 year sub-lease. The track is built on the site of a Victorian sewage effluent disposal farm and is contaminated with heavy metals and isn't fit for housing development. The company that DH is a majority shareholder is the landlord. If somebody was willing to offer the right money they would own the lease of a speedway stadium with virtually 24/7 access for speedway - no other motor sport allowed. Perfect! Now to find another 6 of 7 similar venues & the future of uk speedway has something to build on! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
