Were are the Brum Fans

[mc131 365]

1 hour ago, GiveusaB said:

All valid points....each individual will most likely relate to a few of these points.

For me...it's the team....the location isn't great as its a 25 mile round trip....the viewing areas are sh#te....what's causing concern atm is the 'slick track'....yawn yawn racing!!

 

You keep saying the team is bad, yet with a decent scoring reserve u could of beat a decent Scunthorpe team last night and a 8point loss in the other meeting against them imo its only a change away from being an ok team.

[steve roberts 9,246]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

You know my feelings about "2nd halfs", as this was my way into Speedway and this biggest promotional tool the sport has, the let em in free option has been closed off with the abandonment of 2 halfs. £20 for something you may never have seen before is quite an outlay these days, but if you've been to a few 2nd half freebies and thought, I like the look of this you may be more inclined to shell out for the "real thing", I know me and my dad were and a lifelong hobby began. And I'm talking about proper 2nd halfs, not just junior track time practice sessions, 2nd halfs that involve the senior members of the club, maybe for them to try things out etc. It's time for the riders to step up to the plate to save the sport in this country by not disappearing as soon as the 15 heats are over to their next booking for a different club. And it wasn't just a tool to get fans in, it was also a tool to get local companies involved with sponsorship, companies would sponsor the Rider of the Night trophy and bring clients along and have their photo taken with the winner at the end of the night.

Good post and and I agree with all of that 100%.

I remember being in awe when I presented Dag Lovaas with a bottle of Champagne during the "Rebels" last meeting at Cowley. You don't forget occasions like that.

Edited May 4, 2023 by steve roberts

[foreverblue 6,096]

6 minutes ago, mc131 said:

You keep saying the team is bad, yet with a decent scoring reserve u could of beat a decent Scunthorpe team last night and a 8point loss in the other meeting against them imo its only a change away from being an ok team.

The reserves are not great but there are other riders in the team not performing either. The team as a whole is poor.

[GiveusaB 1,145]

48 minutes ago, mc131 said:

You keep saying the team is bad, yet with a decent scoring reserve u could of beat a decent Scunthorpe team last night and a 8point loss in the other meeting against them imo its only a change away from being an ok team.

I think it will need at least 3 changes. 

[secsy1 213]

It does appear on face value that a lot of effort has gone into promoting the Brummies this season with hand outs and advertisement.

If it is still not working and attracting fans then it could be price related?

Attracting 200 fans at £20 equates to £4000.

So as a test indicator to rule that out why not charge £10 and see how many appear.

Who knows if 400 fans attend, an increase of 50% but still the same £4000 and the answer.

Very simple indicator. 

[Skidder1 7,637]

19 minutes ago, secsy1 said:

It does appear on face value that a lot of effort has gone into promoting the Brummies this season with hand outs and advertisement.

If it is still not working and attracting fans then it could be price related?

Attracting 200 fans at £20 equates to £4000.

So as a test indicator to rule that out why not charge £10 and see how many appear.

Who knows if 400 fans attend, an increase of 50% but still the same £4000 and the answer.

Very simple indicator. 

Less VAT. (But I agree, £20+ seems to be a tipping point for some).

[Trackrat 444]

Having a diabetics bag taken off them at the door with their food in is not great for public relations. 5 people don’t go anymore because of this.

[Berry9 98]

17 minutes ago, Trackrat said:

Having a diabetics bag taken off them at the door with their food in is not great for public relations. 5 people don’t go anymore because of this.

I just had a look at the term and conditions and supporters are not allowed to take food in.  I think this is shocking, when I went there the food and drink prices were outrageous and I was told by home supporters that the food and drink outlets belonged to the stadium and the club received no income from them.   Why on earth did the Brummies agree to this clause and how on earth can they sustain themselves going  forward without this vital income stream?  Newcastle were also tennants and I was told they shared the same landlord as Brum yet during Rob Grants tenure he had his own food van on site.

[HGould 2,213]

Almost all rented venues have food and drink profits going to Owners. PB always been that way

The issues at PB though seem to have deteriorated with most recent Stadium Manager and transition of Stadium Owners, the latest occupant on behalf of Stadium Owners seems like an absolute knob. 

Certainly the policing of food and drink, essential to some like diabetics as suggested, has become something like totalitarian state. 

One occasion in heatwave last summer was draconian dangerous to health and totally OTT confiscating small plastic bottles of water even almost empty ones. When challenged the security comment was that they didn't want people topping them up from toilet sinks. 

[szkocjasid 3,029]

The fact that despite Bowtell scoring 11 points last night, Birmingham still lost. Some fans will only support a winning team (not all) so that has to hurt attendance levels. Plus admission gets more expensive each year, but the racing doesn't get any better!

[Fromafar 10,364]

10 hours ago, HGould said:

Agreed the numbers last night were as bad as I've seen at any time since we moved to CL level in 2019.

I think there are speedway reasons, lack of strength in the team, indifference to BSN Cup and KOCCup and the opposition who are a team with a notoriously bad away support.

Bigger issue though I think is Cost of Living Crisis. There are simply too many other things to do in a big City with reduced disposable social income,  many don't even have that income any more. Those Clubs where Speedway has a higher profile with less other sporting attractions will ride out the storm better than I fear Clubs like Brummies will.

Fact of life.

 

What was your estimate of Crowd Level?

[HGould 2,213]

19 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

What was your estimate of Crowd Level?

I didn't go up to the top bar restaurant area last night so not too scientific but based on outside and lower area inside I'd say ball park 500

[secsy1 213]

15 hours ago, HGould said:

I didn't go up to the top bar restaurant area last night so not too scientific but based on outside and lower area inside I'd say ball park 500

Once again try a new approach. For a forward thinking and fan appreciating club throw it out everywhere that it a tenner and kids accompanied by an adult free.

This will see if it is price related and give a good example to every club that a new approach could work.

Speedway always has and will be Risk Related for both Promoters and Riders, but Who Dares Wins in Both Cases.

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

15 hours ago, HGould said:

I didn't go up to the top bar restaurant area last night so not too scientific but based on outside and lower area inside I'd say ball park 500

Ouch...feel like i recall seeing 1000 mentioned in the past as a break even figure so the two are miles apart.  Sadly im not convinced that even if the Brum team had been built as entertaining and competitive as Redcar (in fact the Bears have more Brum fan favourites) that the crowd figures would be much more, a 40% increase would still only give 700 on the gate and probably outgoings would be even higher. 

If Birmingham are to survive its going to be a long few seasons, building slowly and being honest with the problems that are faced (rather than the occasional call to arms, woe is me, use it or lose it messages). To be fair its not only Birmingham with problems just more apparent than most at the moment. My sad prediction is that 10 tracks will close over the next 5 years.

[StevePark 2,781]

56 minutes ago, secsy1 said:

Once again try a new approach. For a forward thinking and fan appreciating club throw it out everywhere that it a tenner and kids accompanied by an adult free.

This will see if it is price related and give a good example to every club that a new approach could work.

Speedway always has and will be Risk Related for both Promoters and Riders, but Who Dares Wins in Both Cases.

It wouldn't be a new approach (maybe it would but only in Birmingham's case) as Berwick tried it for a few weeks when John Anderson was promoter.  He told me that he would charge £10 a meeting "if he could" but it made very little difference to the amount of people attending and therefore lost a bucket load of ££. It might work for Birmingham as it has a larger catchment area, but the simple fact is, if you are not a speedway fan you probably won't be interested, even at a tenner and even more so if the team is a poor one.