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Dan and Brady who? That would be the question from 99.9% of the 2.75 million who live within 45 mins of Manchester.. That's how well Belle Vue market them... However, even the "Best Supported Clubs" run with a pretty poor levels of punters in real terms... An average of 1500 or so isn't being "successful" really is it? My lad will play in front of many more than that several tines a season, at step six of football, and last week at Hyde Utd, two Amateur Sunday League teams played out a final in front of over 1000 spectators.. I am always amazed when teams do a "special" and reduce admission, or even let fans in for free, and then the promoters are quoted as saying "We did this and the week after the crowd was back to normal"... Of course it was... Clearly by definition of the increase in crowd for the "special" it shows there is a strong market of ex attendees out there who still follow sport, but don't turn up due to the normal price point... Laying out six figure salaries to riders who, whether there or not have little impact to crowd numbers, will mean you can never drop admission charges to a level that may regularly attract more of those who turn up for a "special"...

I do wonder if we just have to accept the sport is beyond saving now, I've mentioned before nightclubs that were packed in the 90's early noughties are now virtually all gone, loads of pubs closing daily, when I used to go in the 80's early 90's there were generally a couple of tracks in trouble every winter but generally a new owner stepped forward to save them. You didn't have Sky in the 80's, streaming services, mobile phone and broadband monthly subs, multi plex cinemas, online shopping and so many other things these days tugging for attention of the monthly pay packet, that's before you get onto gas and electric and the cost of running a car going though the roof in the last decade. I have a feeling if it does survive and someone takes it on it will look radically different to what we know and love and that probably won't include league racing in its current form if at all. I wish the Northampton team all the very best but there's no getting away from the fact they have a massive task on their hands on multiple fronts.

£15 and All kids free was for the Colts.. Men and Motors was the local channel with around 652 viewers... There hasnt been an advert on local radio for around 20 years that I have heard.. The MEN don't cover Speedway anymore but the Tameside "Whatever" does.. Tremendous reach in Tameside... Not seen 100's of kids from any school on an organised visit once, but do remember "Junior Vue" which seemed to be quite popular in the 90's, maybe that could get started sgain? Never seen any billboards used other than for GPs and SON... Never seen any bikes in city centre Manchester... And as for flyers, fairs, etc, etc etc, its 2026... TV watching is the lowest it has ever been so going out on local TV news won't make much (any) difference... One of the Sunday League teams I mentioned who got over 1000 watching them has their own YouTube Vlog which has over 5000 subscribers... Another Sunday League team has a YouTube Vlog with over 152,000 subscribers, and got 4,000 to a Sunday League final a couple of years ago.. An easy, cheap, 2026, way for Speedway Clubs to promote themselves, with riders' personalities being shown... My local football team Stockport County, when in their non league days, did pretty much what it looks like the Aces has tried, but they did it with a "County in the Community" team dedicated to visiting schools, organising visits to the ground, both on match days and not, and then doing follow ups with the schools to keep that communication going... And doing things like painting local eyesores, organising litter picks etc, making a difference to the local community, but, more importantly, showing fhe local community they still existed... They gave out thousands of free tickets to schools and community projects, as they may as well fill the empty seats and spaces in the terraces, (and earn more in the food and drink outlets), but ensured it wasnt a one off and followed up with the attendees to encourage more repeat visits.. They also dropped ticket prices from their league two days as they knew crowds would drop if they didn't... They reduced their wage bill, so reduced fhe admission fee.. Speedway would benefit hugely from that I would think, would one less HL and SS make any difference to the spectacle? And then use that money to drop prices... Running the Aces for £20, on a Saturday, with all kids in for free, would deliver a much larger crowd than paying £27, and whatever a kids fee is in the grandstand, on a Monday night... Dan and Brady wouldn't be there but fhe DU'ers would, so a decent level.. There is still a reasonable following for Speedway, as the play offs often show, its just getting these numbers to attend regularly being the challenge.. Laying out not far off £30, and on a Monday night, won't meet that challenge...

There should be no other meetings than the British final run on this date. It will maximise the amount of fans attending and free up all riders. It's not rocket science, we have so many free dates throughout the year it can't be that difficult can it?

They do have a website though 😉😂 http://www.northampton-speedway.com/

The Northampton promotion must be BSPL lack of information. No team announced. No nickname. No promotion announced secrecy and no engagement with the customers. Must be BSPL

No because Godfrey has got Bradfords stock car meetings. And that’s why he is opposed to two home and away in the championship. self interest from the chairman

That speaks volumes

This is my train of thought now, something doest add up here and it would not surprise me if the sports governing body in the UK is behind running this.

The application to build on the stadium has been rejected. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1A5dPxTP8J Not out of the woods yet, but this is a good start.

They are telling themselves what the requirements are....

The people whom I mentioned about opening Northampton are not the people behind it this year however they remain interested if proves to a success in making an offer. They felt that it was a financial gamble that they were not prepared to do with the setup costs involved and no proven sign that fans will attend

Every team should run its own matchday Vlog... 20 mins max and put it on YouTube... The Sunday League and Non League teams (who also earn a fair few quid from their YT channels), started out with just a decent iPhone and a laptop to edit their programmes... A few snippets of racing with rider and fan reactions, showing riders arriving, track walk, in meeting and post meeting reflections , etc etc is what should be covered, with making the riders known being the ultimate aim, and the chance to advertise your next meeting... Most clubs doing this would get a large proportion of the total generic UK Speedway fanbase viewing this, including many overseas followers, as well as many fans of the sport who are not regulars, which could add up to a fair few thousand of subscribers... And for very little cost...

Surely the Park/Russell promotion were 'encouraged' to say the Abbey was unsustainable - and therefore not put up for sale - solely based on what Osborne said he was going to charge them!!? Talk about 'vested interest' and brown envelopes!!!!

Of course thats is exactly what would happen.

One of the better ones...

He's a director of Swindon Motorsports Ltd, so the logic would be that he believes in the Studley Grange project. Of course, with Gaming International being the company with significant control of Swindon Motorsports Ltd, an alternative view is that if and when permission to demolish the Abbey Stadium were given there would suddenly be a reason why Studley Grange could not proceed

It is and it does. Riders likely to be involved: Richard Lawson, Lewy Kerr, Dan Thompson, Anders Rowe, Craig Cook, Scott Nicholls and, possibly, Ben Barker, Dan Gilkes, Vinnie Ford plus any others I have missed out! Speedway Regs 14.1 relating to the British Final includes this paragraph: A Rider who withdraws will not under any circumstances be permitted to participate in any other speedway event on the same date

As a lot of promotion done today is via Facebook, just done a search, guess what no Northampton speedway comes up, Northampton shaleway the stock car page does not mention anything. It's now 7 weeks to the 1st meeting at Northampton and no sign of ANY promotion being done. Anyone live near Northampton and have you heard of any promotion?

Perhaps they won't get the choice It's the British Final and should get full priority

You’re posting pics of the track before any work has taken place and declaring it a death trap! They know what needs to be done to make it a speedway racetrack and like every other track in the country it will be subject to a full independent inspection before it’s granted a license from the SCB. It amazes me, most people said this had no chance of happening, even suggested the 6th team was made up for the BSPL press release. And yet when it is announced, rather than be happy that we have a new team in the league and we have a premiership of 6 teams, everybody can’t wait to mock it or tear it to shreds before it’s even opened. And you wonder why there isn’t a lot of people willing to run/keep a speedway track going for us?

You would hope not, before the fixture list is sorted they should be saying the British final is on this date so plan around as you can't run on this date. Then promote the event, run coaches from league tracks if the interest is there, get the event out to the public.

I'm beginning to think you might be onto something M.D

Poole's usual start time of 1930 hrs was used as the final fixtures were being confirmed. A 6pm start was stated in the online ticket website but 1930 was used by the BSPL and elsewhere which added to the confusion. The 2025 Good Friday meeting was scheduled to start at 1800 before it was rained off! So 1800 hours is confirmed.

So you can get home at a decent and have your cocoa before bedtime 😜

Spot on Steve..the passion Park spoke about building on the abbey last night was incredible. Are let you make up your mind up what the motive is

Oh dear......

Most of the stuff that @ouchmentioned is so last decade or even last century... I watch quite a bit on YouTube (I believe it's quite popular) and recently British Horse Racing have been running a promotional campaign and I keep seeing it quite regularly, not each individual race track but British Horse Racing as a whole, it shows lots of young people having fun with not a tartan blanket or camping chair in sight 😂 I'm never going to races (again) as its just not something that interests me, especially as a sport, as a social event maybe. But I'm certainly very much aware of it and their promotional campaign, especially during this Cheltenham week.

In my experience Nora is a clear step down from NDL. The lack of a league is, to me, a massive disadvantage: each Nora meeting is standalone. Also, the meetings I have seen run to a baffling, contrived formula which, I was told on here is what clubs choose to do. Nora better than nothing, however, and I will support on hope of NDL next year

Belle Vue regularly dropped admission charges to £15 or less with any number of kids free. They ran on a Sunday afternoon to help boost crowds. 99.9% of the 2.75 million didn’t care that Dan & Brady wasn’t riding but the problem was nobody turned up, well 500 on a good day. They couldn’t even get speedway fans to attend even though they had been told six days before that it was happening. When you add in the fact that they have repeatedly tried …… Have an advert on local radio over an extended period of time. Have an advert in local newspapers over an extended period of time. Have an advertising board on some of the busiest roads in Manchester. Have posters in shops and businesses. Had out flyers in local shopping areas. Have a float or attend local fairs and carnivals. Attend local & national trade shows. Give out free tickets to schools and businesses. Take bikes and merchandise into schools to accompany the talk they deliver on the sport. Have a standing display of bike, suits & merchandise in the city centre. Be featured on local tv news’s 4 or 5 times between March and October. Have a regular editorial in local papers. Have a 30 minute highlights programme on a local tv satellite station. Form a tie up with local groups and offer free entry and supporters club membership. Attend (and win) local sports team of the year awards. Constant bombardment of social media posts across all the mayor platforms. I’m a speedway nut but I’ve more than halved my attendance due to the fact that the majority is boring sh^%<e!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1bs37TMRic/ It is featured here and on the Spedeworth site, but not wall to wall advertising I'll grant you

You’ve summed it up perfectly. Everyone can clearly see the park’s long-standing agenda: the same tired narrative as Osborne about being unviable at the Abbey but somehow viable at Studley. And we all know how that is going to end.

The whole thing seems to be a lesson in how not to run a sports club... And I support Spurs so at the moment I certainly know how not to run a sports club...!!!!

Could be a tent this year if prices keep on going up 😜 Does the premier inn get an extra star for being within walking distance of Plymouth speedway 🤔

Am I right in thinking that Terry Russell never put the club up for sale when he didn't wish to carry on? If that was the case, what was the thinking behind that?

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/sport/other-sport/top-flight-speedway-is-coming-to-northampton-and-the-season-starts-next-month-5621934

Was at the meeting tonight with plenty of people speaking up to reject the plans...sadly Steve Park spoke and told a pack of lies .And no time did they say in public were up for sale and give the chance for anyone to run speedway at the abbey

They must have been cheap as they certainly went unnoticed themselves... Not a good look for a marketing company... The sponsors are key and the clubs should engage them to use the money for local marketing and not just to fund "Superstars One and Two"... One Superstar should be the plan for every team with that rider being the focal point of the marketing.... Clubs spend a truly huge amount on riders for a sport with so few followers, so maybe a redirection of sone of this money could help it grow?

I was going to do it but my van was already loaded for Monday and I couldn’t be arsed to unload it and load it up with bikes and bits to then have unload and load up again for Monday, glad it went well, I’ve done alright there in the past

To be successful in promotions and marketing, you need to have a certain skill set, and a workable budget... UK Speedway has never bothered with bringing in professionals under that remit... Instead, going it alone and doing what they think is best has been the plan... However, you can have the world's best product, but if not enough people know what you sell, or even who you are, then the plan isn't going to work.. Paying out for two GP riders at one and five must cost circa £7k a night, and maybe more? So circa £14k for the home and away matches needs to be paid out, using admission income and/or sponsorship... I would suggest paying for just ONE GP rider and using that other £7k, each home meeting, to market your GP Star, the rest of the team, and getting your name known locally, would bring far greater rewards...

Good luck to all at Swindon. Planning meeting just started (6pm) but Blunsdon is item 8 on the agenda, so a while to wait

Perhaps given the time constraints they've just had to make arrangements quickly for the coming season and they will develop things as they go

Probably the top table in British speedway are in charge, that's why nothing been announced bar a new track.

shh everything is all hunky dory because there is a new track.

I agree - I'm all for a bit of patience but was expecting something within 48 hours of the announcement/fixture release

Back to Northampton, announce they running and then silence again, what a strange way to conduct a business

We can discount Coventry from being ready for 2027. The current issues will take until the end of this summer to resolve at the very least and even if any final outcome falls in favour of Stox & speedway returning to Brandon, it will take a great deal of time to conclude a sale, clear the site and build a suitable race track and spectator facilities. If we’re lucky then Brandon could be up and running for a full 2028 season but not before.

Stewart Dickson and Matt Ford have already stated publicly that 2027 talks should be started now and done by this summer, as team building discussions and talks with riders begin in Aug/Sept for the following season.

You couldn’t have been more wrong 😳🤣

One league and try and attract Bein Sports.