mikebv

Bobby Ott ... I once saw him "fall off" but kept hold of the handlebars, kept astride the machine, and then uprighted the bike as it was still sliding across the track!! He got excluded because Ronnie Correy laid his bike down behind him thinking Bobby had come to grief.... As Ronnie lay there, Bobby was flying down the home straight . 😁 And then was going mad that he got excluded... He used to practice his balance by riding a unicycle and certainly could ride a bike at angles, but still with speed,that few others could muster...

I accept all that Ian, My point was more about how the sport would manage to fill these teams with riders of any decent standard nowadays, than if there was enough fan interest to keep the track going .. However, on that point, it has to be recognised that at most of those tracks no more than 1500 regulars would have been impacted by any closure (and well under 1000 at some), which doesn't help the cause when it comes to gaining the traction needed to deliver a large level of local protest, and engaging those big numbers to get maximum publicity... We can only hope that the last decade doesn't get repeated and Speedway can turn it's current fortunes around...

I think it goes back to the 70's and 80's when football had a major issue with hooliganism... Hence, it seemed a potential marketing idea to advertise itself as somewhere you could take your kids to watch a team sport in a "safe environment". Sadly, in line with so much that still exists within the sport, something that may have have been fit for purpose 40 to 50 years ago is still being used in today's very different times... Any marketing company worth their salt would focus on the danger, speed and almost gladiatorial nature of the racing, and focus on the personalities of the competitors to let them become "stars", (with the odd bit of personal needle a bonus, even if made up for a bit of hype!) You only have to see how Nicki P became "box office" playing the pantomime villain, with the producer even ensuring his return to the pits was filmed after a defeat knowing a reaction would come... The well meaning custodians of the sport really do need to take a leap of faith and bring outside marketing people in to almost relaunch it with a fresh 21st century approach... After all, as you say, doing what they done for decades isn't showing any sign of getting the cut through required is it?

At one time, the ruling body cracked down on it as it was felt it wasn't a "good look" for the sport, and damaged it's brand given other major US sports didn't have such things happening with such regularity.... I don't think the crack down lasted even a season due to the fans complaining... Gloves off! As you were lads!!!...😁

Over a quarter of a million views on two YouTube channels (so far), of Wright v Allen fighting... There is interest if those who run it can facilitate something that can prick the interest of those who are not regular followers... Whether they have the required skill set to do so, is a different matter...

But they don't charge me twenty seven quid to watch it happen...

Add in that we have lost 15 teams in the past decade.... Wolves, Coventry, Birmingham, Somerset, Lakeside, Rye House, Peterborough, Swindon, Stoke, Newcastle, Eastbourne, Oxford (top tier), and the IOW and Mildenhall, (NORA), (Kent got replaced 'ish'), and Cradley stopped riding at Wolves, and you have to wonder what standard we would have today if all these teams were in any of the 3 leagues, given the lack of rider numbers.. As the song goes... "The Only Way Is Up!!!".. Edit. Add in Buxton, but they are coming back.. (Dean, get that Wessie out, you are their No1!!!)...😁

Sounds promising....😁

Hopefully... "Anything" that delivers 21st Century marketing being that hope.... A great piece in the Speedway Star today from Tony Mcdonald covering how similar so many of todays issues are with the sport 40 years ago, and the way so much of what we have today is a legacy of failing to change when, often, the writing was clearly on the wall by carrying on doing the same thing each season... You have to wonder, looking at the crowds now, if we are now at "ground zero" and necessity will actually truly be the mother of invention, and those in charge actually start to work collectively realising that they are really "one entity" and only as strong as their weakest link... One team getting 5000+ for a play off final is all well and good, however, dozens and dozens of meetings around the county being ran in front of circa 500, or even less, each season far outweighs that one night when the sport looked "popular".... Dozens and dozens of meetings with 500 MORE in attendance each meeting, has to be the initial momentum building target...

Do they? If so, a great idea... Reward success rather than give out top money guarantees regardless of performance...

It is really a perfect sport for some half decent marketing company to promote... Given how few of the country even are aware of it, let alone attend, it is almost like launching a brand new sport to the wider sporting viewers.. You are pretty much starting from a blank canvas.. However.... A five team top league will be a hard sell for TV given the same teams will be on far too regularly.. And so many meetings that currently get run without jeopardy does the sport little favours, as it doesn't create interest in getting people to the track or watching on TV., and a five team top league will mean just one team missing out, and, usually, there is one team that gets put well adrift far too early in the season.. The lack of a big money prize also holds it back hugely, as the public get engaged by sports with the huge prizes on offer, so finding a way to get some "big money" into it is fundamentally key for me... There are though huge opportunities, given its current starting position for the sport to develop, and rapidly if the correct marketing and hype can get brought in.. Just 400 or so regulars at every track would mean a massive percentage increase at even those tracks who currently get four figures.. Such a tiny number, but bringing such a large positive impact, shows the size of the opportunity...

Two four point young future wunderkind superstars from overseas and a 7.39 rider... Get the visa requests in now!!

If so, I presume it reverses the plan of a couple of years ago to make the top league clearly stand out, standard wise, from the 2nd tier... Maybe down to TV money going? Or maybe down to reducing the gap with tier two to maybe encourage a team or two to come up? Running with a 9 point rider will need a 3 point rider to balance up the six poiints per rider that a 36 point limit will bring, (plus RS which I presume will stay given such a low team average).. 3 point riders, plus an RS, won't do too much for the racing level I would suggest... And there won't be too many "top riders" left also as no team can fit two in without seriously weakening the bottom end, especially if they have the worse RS...

If the question was asked this week re Who are the current UK Speedway Premiership champs?, on The Chase, I can pretty much guarantee the contestant wouldn't know the answer... But might say Poole....

The interview with Matt Ford in the SS details the thought process for Poole.. And it is hard not to agree with him... The considerable cost increases for the top league won't get covered by extra admission numbers, or extra sponsors, for a business that is "stand alone" and not some "plaything" for some who can afford an expensive hobby.. The bottom line is hardly anyone who doesn't follow the sport could tell you who the fop tier champions are this year, or last, or, indeed, any particular year for decades.. And Poole, in Div 2, will have plenty of finals to generate big crowds, and will gain as much publicity winning 2nd tier trophies as they would top tier ones.. The top tier need the second tier to try and then justify why they are "different" and the "highest level" and more expensive to watch... The second tier need the top tier as those who double up can then afford to ride for them for 2nd tier money... The likes of Poole and Glasgow could be seen as being happy to be "big fishes in a small pond".. However. The whole of UK Speedway is more of a "big puddle" when compared to pretty much every other professional team sport in the UK.. When there is such very little financial reward, nor national publicity, for any success at any level, and crowds get hit by so many meetings running with zero jeopardy and consequence as to who qualifies for the play offs, you can understand why running your own business, at the level you can make it profitable, has to be the best idea..

Its certainly a good job Coventry, Peterborough, Somerset, Rye House, Lakeside, Swindon, Wolverhampton and Birmingham have all closed within the past decade or so it isn't it?.. And Poole dropped down into Div 2... Imagine trying to fill these teams with riders..?

Spot on apart from "if" one team gets tailed off, as it is "when"... Every season the team everyone on here says have "no chance" before a wheel is turned, invariably have their season over by the end of May and become a team with small appeal to watch either home or away... The biggest frustration for the fans is that where we are today has been predicted by us for the last two decades... As we could see the glaring obvious flaws in "Baldrick's cunning plan", yet those insulated within their own echo chamber/Speedway Bubble either couldn't, or chose not to... There should have been radical change to the operating model when the GP's started to impact UK Speedway. And they chose to not to do anything different.. There should have been radical change to the operating model when Poland started to impact UK Speedway. And they chose not to do anything different... There should have been radical change to the operating model for the return of the sport post Covid, when a year out gave them huge opportunity to reset the sport, and unpick all the nonsense that has held the sport back over the years, and disillusioned so many fans, who still follow the sport but attend either never or infrequently. And they chose not to do anything different.. Many of the same people who have led two decades of negative fan attendance, plus reduced TV viewership and media profile, are still running the sport... The sport desperately needs outside influence to drive it forward, from marketing, to adminstration, to operating model planning... People not within the Speedway Bubble.. The past two seasons of the play offs, in the flagship competition, have actually been ran by NOT following the very rules the competition was set up with, which from an outside optics view, is both amateurish and ludicrous... The sport won't move forwards until the promoters realise that they are the custodians of ALL OF IT, and not just their own clubs, and also realise that they may not have the right set of skills to lead it, and be open to get some clear direction from people who do possess those leadership skills...

I was gutted for Slot yesterday... He should have popped his head around the United dressing room door before the game and asked Ruben to play a high line and to keep playing out from the keeper with plenty of short one touch passes so his team could intecept the ball and score loads of goals.. Instead, he had to try and find a way of winning a game where the opponents decided to do something tactically he didn't want them to... Completely unfair...!! I have only watched Maguire's winner about twenty five times today to see if I am entertained... .. I can see United only getting just under 75000 for their next match now....

It is always clear, when they interview riders in English during a Polish match, that they follow the sport over here, and often discuss, with prior knowledge, how they are doing in the UK... UK Speedway, (off track), has a huge opportunity for growth, from marketing, advertising, and awareness raising, through to operating model credibility... Will they bring in people with the required skill set to deliver the obvious potential the sport has though? Tracks will spend eye watering sums (for a sport with such a small following), on riders each season, and that alone should be used to give the sport some push, as many non Speedway fans would be truly amazed at the salaries of some riders.. With those salaries alone suggesting it isn't "small time".... "Hype up everything" has to be the mantra of the sport to gain traction amongst the millions who live less than 45 mins from a Speedway track..... Any decent marketing company should be rubbing their hands at an opportunity to make UK Speedway successful given the ultra low base attendance across the country... Getting on mainstream TV, for me, is the quickest way to kick that growth in... As that will also mean national newspaper and radio coverage of the sport too... Add in some regular daily/weekly, social media content (even Sunday League Football teams do this, and can get thousands of followers), and the sport can surely only move up given its low starting position...?

Does Kelvin have a clue who some riders are? "I'll be honest, I don't know much about him" is a refrain heard far too often.... One of the key requirements of a commentator is to do research and inform the viewers of some background details about the competitors... His enthusiasm is first rate, but his lack of general speedway knowledge outside of the Premiership doesn't help...

Two clubs racing together that can only muster around 1000 fans between the two of them, (500 each at home), won't be getting a huge amount of people interested in purchasing any stream I would think...

Garibaldi's. .. With Bourbans as a guest biscuit if the Garibaldi's are needed elsewhere...

A typical well meaning rule to try and even up the league more... And then also, typically in UK Speedway fashion, they eff it up by allowing the No1 pick to say "I'm not riding there"... (Which I get if offered more money and have local sponsors elsewhere).. In the US draft system, the bottom team gets several concessions from the teams who want their pick, should they not want to use that player .. Eg The team with the highest average last season would have needed to offer Birmingham either money or a rider/riders.. Instead we had Birmingham being out of their depth again which did them, nor Speedway, any favours . Basically. Either do it properly, or don't use it at all... Personally, out of their depth No7's do nothing for the sport, nor them, in any league ..

A ridiculously great player.... The BZ of Baseball...!!!

Let's hope even half of them stay regulars... A massive positive if so...