Survival of The Premiership?

[W9 Lion 222]

6 hours ago, Fromafar said:

Crowd levels and Sponsorship in GB make it very hard to have a decent level of Top riders in Premiership.Top Riders are just too expensive IMO.Look at Admission prices just now ,fans are just not turning up.Other bike sports in UK are doing alright but not speedway,tells you something .IMO 

The price of the ticket is not the issue. The value you get for your ticket is the issue in my opinion.

Look how much it is to go to Silverstone this weekend but it will be full, because people think they get value for money.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by W9 Lion

[iainb 5,020]

1 minute ago, W9 Lion said:

The price of the ticket is not the issue. The value you get for your ticket is the cost.

Look how much it is to go to Silverstone this weekend but it will be full, because people think they get value for money.

 

... and also their only opportunity to see F1 in this country this year. I love my F1 but I've only been to Silverstone a couple of times, for the experience. Personally I think that F1 is a sport better watched on TV

[Fromafar 10,370]

5 minutes ago, W9 Lion said:

The price of the ticket is not the issue. The value you get for your ticket is the cost.

Look how much it is to go to Silverstone this weekend but it will be full, because people think they get value for money.

 

You hit the nail on the head value for money is probably the major factor these days.15 min of action is not a lot.

[SJA 40]

1 hour ago, Sings4Speedway said:

A huge factor is that one size doesn't fit all. Talk of clubs like Poole, Oxford and Glasgow being incentivised to move up? what incentive, lose the preferred race night of current supporters, lose the ability to turn a reasonable profit at a level that is providing entertainment. A huge amount of teams in the UK are running at least one level above where they can survive/afford and invariably these teams are then tracking weaker sides, losing matches and sliding slowly towards folding altogether. 

Barry and co on IOW are not geniuses but they know what their audience responds to and how to operate within their budget, of course the Nora approach won't be for all but thats the point, with so many individual business 'people' the rules and operating model will never reflect fairness across the board. Plenty of sports have seen boom and bust over the years maybe its simply Speedways inevitable turn?

I went to a recent IOW Event against the Rockets as its one of the teams I have supported over the last 40 years. Now, I appear I am the only one who thinks this but I found it a well run event but poor racing and I don't need all the other stuff they do. If I wanted that sort of event I would attend the Scout or Village Fete. I am aware that this will make me Public Enemy Number 1 with the Barry Bishop Happy Clappers. As for know how to operate within their budget I wouldn't be so sure of this having had a quick look at Companies House.

[steve roberts 9,246]

7 minutes ago, iainb said:

... and also their only opportunity to see F1 in this country this year. I love my F1 but I've only been to Silverstone a couple of times, for the experience. Personally I think that F1 is a sport better watched on TV

I'd agree. I went to Siverstone to watch the 1973 Grand Prix and Brands Hatch (a better viewing track in my opinion) in, I think, 1985.

[steve roberts 9,246]

5 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

You hit the nail on the head value for money is probably the major factor these days.15 min of action is not a lot.

Twenty heats during a meeting would be better value for money in my opinion,

[mikebv 10,290]

2 hours ago, SJA said:

I went to a recent IOW Event against the Rockets as its one of the teams I have supported over the last 40 years. Now, I appear I am the only one who thinks this but I found it a well run event but poor racing and I don't need all the other stuff they do. If I wanted that sort of event I would attend the Scout or Village Fete. I am aware that this will make me Public Enemy Number 1 with the Barry Bishop Happy Clappers. As for know how to operate within their budget I wouldn't be so sure of this having had a quick look at Companies House.

I think the big plus the IOW have in their favour is that they domt pretend to be something they are not...

They provide riders with a chance to race and earn...

But they dont make out that what they do has some bigger, wider, relevance, kudos, and meaning other than putting on authentic entertainment (varied), for their punters...

Speedway in the UK has built itself into some contrived, cobbled together 'plastic' version of a pro team sport, rather than actually being a bona fide one in the real sense of the phrase..

A very, very difficult starting proposition from which to grow themselves into a successful business I would think...

If you dont run any team sport that engenders that, fundamentally, so important emotional buy in, then you will really struggle to get cut through..

A fantastic raw product to sell..

Just so poorly packaged and sold..

Edited July 4, 2023 by mikebv

[Hawk127 1,359]

1 hour ago, SJA said:

I went to a recent IOW Event against the Rockets as its one of the teams I have supported over the last 40 years. Now, I appear I am the only one who thinks this but I found it a well run event but poor racing and I don't need all the other stuff they do. If I wanted that sort of event I would attend the Scout or Village Fete. I am aware that this will make me Public Enemy Number 1 with the Barry Bishop Happy Clappers. As for know how to operate within their budget I wouldn't be so sure of this having had a quick look at Companies House.

It depends on what you want from an evenings racing. The purists will only go to league meetings even though team riding is a thing of the past and you effectively have seven gate and go merchants. Others will go for the thrill of simply watching four riders on bikes with no brakes whilst some will be happy with individual meetings, 4TT and pairs etc and look at GP’s as the pinnacle of the sport.

Each league and format has its followers and it depends whether an attendee is an anorak or someone with a family who wants a fairly fluid array of racing etc without tractors being part of the entertainment. As it stands, anything new should be given a chance and I would rather go to a meeting that has a mixed format with say short track, NDL competition and perhaps side cars rather than take it or leave it fifteen races over two plus hours and nowt else.

You are entitled to your opinion and it is the sort of feedback that promoters should be interested in and I am sure the IOW will not lose sleep over it. They like many are trying to run/provide entertainment so you cannot knock them for what works on their patch but may not work in say Manchester or Birmingham.

As an aside your Rockets when run by Len Silver out of Rayleigh did it all and put on meetings even when it rained, he just used tons of saw dust. A legend in speedway if ever you wanted someone who knew how to entertain before the nutters took control of the asylum.

[SJA 40]

7 minutes ago, Hawk127 said:

It depends on what you want from an evenings racing. The purists will only go to league meetings even though team riding is a thing of the past and you effectively have seven gate and go merchants. Others will go for the thrill of simply watching four riders on bikes with no brakes whilst some will be happy with individual meetings, 4TT and pairs etc and look at GP’s as the pinnacle of the sport.

Each league and format has its followers and it depends whether an attendee is an anorak or someone with a family who wants a fairly fluid array of racing etc without tractors being part of the entertainment. As it stands, anything new should be given a chance and I would rather go to a meeting that has a mixed format with say short track, NDL competition and perhaps side cars rather than take it or leave it fifteen races over two plus hours and nowt else.

You are entitled to your opinion and it is the sort of feedback that promoters should be interested in and I am sure the IOW will not lose sleep over it. They like many are trying to run/provide entertainment so you cannot knock them for what works on their patch but may not work in say Manchester or Birmingham.

As an aside your Rockets when run by Len Silver out of Rayleigh did it all and put on meetings even when it rained, he just used tons of saw dust. A legend in speedway if ever you wanted someone who knew how to entertain before the nutters took control of the asylum.

Always the West London Clubs before East, and Rye House as the London clubs closed down. 

[Bagpuss 10,783]

For those who don't listen to the @RoundTheBoardsPodcast podcast each week the latest episode has some excellent discussion and ideas from former Coventry rider Lee Coleman about moving speedway forward in the UK and making it a better customer experience, and he has submitted a document to the SCB to that effect. Well worth a listen. 

https://podcast.sport-social.co.uk/podcast/round-the-boards-the-speedway-podcast/

Edited July 4, 2023 by Bagpuss

[bruno 1,790]

I'm getting the impression every time there's another speedway shambles a few more walk away even the die hards seem to be getting fed up

[GeneralMelchett 482]

11 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

For those who don't listen to the @RoundTheBoardsPodcast podcast each week the latest episode has some excellent discussion and ideas from former Coventry rider Lee Coleman about moving speedway forward in the UK and making it a better customer experience, and he has submitted a document to the SCB to that effect. Well worth a listen. 

https://podcast.sport-social.co.uk/podcast/round-the-boards-the-speedway-podcast/

Will give that a try - lets hope the grey suits listen to new ideas then!

[BluTiger 21,700]

Sitting/standing around for over two hours to watch 15 mins of ''action'' is just not acceptable to most people, especially in this digital age...

[steve roberts 9,246]

41 minutes ago, BluPanther said:

Sitting/standing around for over two hours to watch 15 mins of ''action'' is just not acceptable to most people, especially in this digital age...

...I would be interested to know how much "action" actually takes place during an average football match with all the time wasting, stoppages and "dead ball" situations?

Edited July 5, 2023 by steve roberts

[truthsayer 234]

35 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

...I would be interested to know how much "action" actually takes place during an average football match with all the time wasting, stoppages and "dead ball" situations?

Whataboutery isn't really going to help the situation (even though the answer is 'much higher than speedway').

It's not just standing around. It's standing around in a dilapidated stadium, among an octogenarian audience, listening to bad dad music over a poor quality PA. It's hard to imagine many people coming to a speedway meeting for the first time and thinking 'hey, this is my tribe'.