mikebv

No.. With so few riders needed there will be a surplus so having a few "on stand by" should mean seven rider teams can be delivered without the need for RR and Guests.. The whole sport in the UK is ran solely so riders can ride as much as they can, therefore I am sure those without a DU position will be pleased to fill in where required...

Riders need to guest as well as double up too, don't forget. The only reason two leagues exist is because they need it to, remember.. Heaven forbid they have to get a job outside speedway, like so many did for the majority of the decades when the sport was popular...

Will it bollox, Phil... Even Six teams in a "Top League" of a "National Sport" will look exactly like it looks... ie. A waste of time, and a waste of yet another year that could have seen some sense, and forward planning brought to the sport.. All this will do is reduce crowds further... But. At least riders can double up... So. That's got to be worth paying around thirty quid next year to watch them do it..

Wow... A game changer ... All problems solved....

Surely a "self inflicted set of circumstances" should have been the press release? Imagine finding five people, in the 8 Billion on the planet, who actually believe that this is going to work?

And who wouldn't want to pay out around twenty seven quid for that? On a Monday......

They have all qualified for Europe though...

Why would they though? They have, year on year, systematically ignored it for many years.... Even now, when they have just FIVE teams, they still will put out the same old/same old "Barry White" that has led thousands to no longer attend... They deserve the attendances, publicity, and financial reward, that they get... Edit. I presume with only 35 riders needed, there won't be any guests, or RR next year?

Get in there!!!!!!!! What a time to be alive!!!!!

All laudable aims.. However.. That ship has passed a long, long time ago.. Belle Vue are the only current team that hasn't dropped down into Div 2 in the last 20 years, showing that, there really is, and has been for years, nothing "aspirational" about the top flight... And how could there be when the majority of riders compete in both top leagues? It is now truly time for a 100% total reset, building from the bottom up, as "top down" hasn't enough at the "top" to be even a starter.. With the "positive" being so few attend Speedway, so you are pretty much starting again, and, surely, that means that the only way is up!!!?

I would choose a format that is affordable, and sustainable, for as many teams as is possible... A format that makes the sport look like a "National One" covering the length and breadth of the country, and not some "By invitation only" one using a few random selection of teams scattered across England.. And a format that ensures ring fenced spaces for UK rider development, and not one that has riders riding for several teams, clogging up spots.. Currently you can win a league with some expensive GP stars, or win a different league with some NDL developing "wobblers"... The financial reward and wider mainstream media publicity is pretty much the same for both leagues... Put together a race format similar to the one used a few years ago whereby the HL's rode against each other more, as did the second strings and reserves, and build the sport again from scratch... The optics of a five team league in a pro sport look shockingly bad...

A few weeks ago, Danny King was saying how much doubling up meant to him, as it meant he was able to go home every night and spend time with his family, rather than having to ride abroad and stay in hotels... I spent a few years, two weeks at a time, in hotels, working away, even when my kids were small, and got home for three days every other weekend... UK Speedway is simply set up for some promoters to have a hobby, and too many riders to be "full time"... £5k a night for some competitors in a sport with attendances plenty of level seven, and below, football clubs would be concerned about cannot be a sustainable plan surely?

Add a flood in the car park, and then the "Jenny" going kaput.. It'd "Pack 'em in" the week after, Pack 'em in..

To those within the "UK Speedway Echo Chamber Bubble"... It is.... To those outside it...? Very much, not so...

In house streaming... I do remember one channel, (Premier maybe?), showing the UK play off final at least once over the last few years... Edit. FWIW, my opinion is that Ice Hockey, like Speedway, is "too small" to have live coverage going out, as, it won't bring too many extra fans into the sport, but could quite easily dissuade some from going along and attending in person... And any TV deal won't bring in "millions" given the size of the sports and expected viewing numbers. At least in house streaming keeps any money raised in the club...

Was it the Edinburgh Promoter who, a few weeks back, said he didn't understand how the Ice Hockey team in the city got three times the crowds the Speedway team got..? Really?... Not even one clue?...

At least Speedway beats Kabaddi...

There will be a fair few promoters not bothered about making any profit at all... For them, it is a hobby that they happily fund, in several ways, differing from club to club.. A "successful team" could actually adversely impact these type of clubs, even up to the point of closure as we have seen in the past... The losses expected will be budgeted for, with "winning at home regularly" being their No1 aim for the season.. These clubs won't grow their support like Ipswich did last season for example, as they don't have historical large fan bases which can "come out of the woodwork" when success happens.. For them, they will maintain a certain following which won't fluctuate much win, lose or draw, and also know that spending excessive money in trying to win something that delivers such small reward isn't really worth the risk...

Any rider who is doubling up for two of the teams in the play offs could wear "half n half" kevlars and helmet colours, with one side his Premiership team and the other his Championship team.. His scores each race would also count equally for both teams.. As pretty much most, if not all, the Championship winning team will double up with one of fhe three Premiership teams, it would be guaranteed to keep the scores close too, so a very exciting conclusion to yet another season of top class entertainment...

They won't grow if they don't market themselves collectively as a "National Sport", and they won't have money to market themselves as such if they keep paying out a seven figure amount to riders.. Riders who, with all due respect to them, if they rode down a local high street near to their tracks on their bikes, wouldn't be recognised by the vast majority of onlookers.. Two steps back to, ultimately, make five forward wouldn't be the worst idea in the world given the current situation...

Betting has been mentioned several times, as a possible revenue stream, however.. Having guests who can impact league positions, and scores on the night, to the detriment, or enhancement, of their own contracted clubs, could look a tad suspicious to a wider audience.. As could having managers running two teams. Eg A rider from one of your teams is racing against you one night, and does badly, and then goes through the card the next night riding for you.. Again, the optics maybe wouldn't look too good.. And then you can add in riders switching off to let a team mate passed, so they get paid the same, but keep their average lower, and you have a fair few "issues" any betting company could feel "uncomfortable" getting involved with.. Particularly when they are doing individual points scored, head to heads, final league positions, etc.. It would, no doubt, be totally all genuine and above board from the riders and team managers perspective... But. Would a betting company want to get involved with such situations being such an integral part of the operating model?

But .. Apart from that. ? Comparing Chalk and Cheese isn't it? Yet, it appears, some UK promoters seem to think what the UK produces has some similarities.. Baffling... Just deliver the sport you can afford to, with the minimal outlay..

As so many of us say... It needs a root and branch review and complete reset.. But not by anyone in the "UK Speedway Echo Chamber".. And, (most importantly) for any business, include customer Market Research... My old company would spend millions on refitting stores but not ever without me as the Store Manager previously holding several "Customer Focus Groups" with up to 200 of them in attendance.. They had the chance to tell us what they wanted, from after up to six months of disruption, and I got the chance to tell them if their wish list was feasible or not.. We also had many a "brutal" session where I got told what my store was like for shopping in.. However, again, I was able to explain some of the rationale why things were the way they were, and why some things couldn't get done.. I held forums every quarter so any comments I could resolve had a 13 week timeline to deliver before we met again... It certainly focused my attention... But also certainly improved my stores performance and growth... White Middle Aged Men running something for mainly White Middle Aged Men, simply cannot survive... Sometimes humble pie has to be eaten, and you accept that, no matter how good you are, more diverse age groups and genders can improve your business.. Two teams, 15 Heats, Seven riders per team, Four Laps per race, Guestfests and Sharing riders, etc etc etc obviously isn't cutting it... So. Find out why and do something about it... NB. As and aside I was looking at how much Sky put into the sport earlier, and the Oxford Mail covered the 2001 deal... Five years, Five Million and an added £150,000 a season to sponsor the league.. They also showed the admission fees for the then Elite League Oxford for the coming season.. £10 for an adult, which in 2025 is just under £19 allowing for inflation.. The second tier charge more than that don't they?

But to win what? Competition's that have a self inflicted operating model even wrestling would be amazed by.. It goes back to a lack of vision, and a lack of communication to the fans... And is still prevalent today... There should be at least an update as to where the whole thing currently stands, as a minimum, to its "customers".. And, if the plan is (once again for the umpteenth season), "make do and mend", then let your customers know the reasons why, but also, at the same time, tell them what your long term plan and vision for the sport is to stop living "hand to mouth" each year.. Let your customers in on your plans and they may accept a short term plan for longer term success, hell, who knows, maybe even canvas their opinions before making up your plans so they are truly engaged...? Market Research? Heaven forbid...

UK Speedway is still sat in a Leadership Bubble akin to other sports in the seventies, and early eighties ... That is to say, self made business people running their local sports team... My football team in the 70's had a man running it who owned several local butchers shops and the other team within the city had a chairman who sold TV's... Then Sky came along and these football teams brought in people from outside of the "Football Bubble"... I remember going to Old Trafford and the "club shop" was a pre fab building behind the Stretford End... In the 90's, proper retailers, and merchandisers, were brought in and a "Megastore" was designed which now turns over tens of millions.. The "Match Day Experience" became the buzz phrase, and experts in event management and customer relationships were brought in to organise and deliver it .. Marketing and Advertising experts were hired to create interest and awareness.. Speedway still has the equivalent of the local butcher and TV man running teams, well meaning people who obviously love the sport but cannot countenance bringing anyone else in from "outside" to advise them into the required directional journey for growth in the 21st Century... In particular, Rugby Union, Cricket and Football, all used to "self police" and keep everything "in house", then they realised the world was changing and they had to stop doing the same thing over and over again, and bring in people with different skill sets to help them move forward.. UK Speedway had a different idea...