mikebv

The rent/(mortgage) was quoted as £5k a week I think at the outset.. The intention being to use the facility as a money earner seven days a week.. If memory serves, they were paying over £3k a match at the old place so from a business perspective it did make sense.. Maybe now the Aces just rent the facilty like everyone else does on matchdays only?

To be fair, it is a situation repeated at many conurbations around the country... It's just that as its "Britain's Second City"* I suppose the lack of decent crowds stands out s bit more... * The "Britain's Second City" comment is I know subjective and is disputed by many Londoners who feel that their City holds that accolade... Behind Manchester obviously.. ....

When announcing that they would take over the club, the consortium did say that they would assess at the end of the season how things had gone, and that they wouldnt just throw money at it (like some do).... It seemed from the interview they gave the SS a few months back that they were confident of having the finances in place to support at least one season, then review how things were.... In all honesty, I do think that they will need plenty of sponsorship on board given the history of low crowds at Birmingham over the past several years.. When I went around 8 years ago I think I was (at 46), the second youngest spectator there, with my then 10 year old lad the actual youngest... Fingers crossed for those willing to at least give it a go...

And I will be joining them in September as I hit 55.... You just make sure you keep working hard to ensure the economy prospers and my pension remains a good one.... And keep paying those taxes too, so when I need the NHS in my frail dotage, they can spend thousands on me..... I may even buy a season ticket the year after for the Aces... So no slacking......

Which confuses me even more how so many do things in splendid isolation.. We all know credibility of the leagues is a huge issue when it comes to engaging people to follow it at an emotional loyalty level, yet nothing is done to sort this collectively... We also know that very few sports run where the clubs (and competitors), pick and choose by themselves what league they compete in, based on nothing more than their own needs and wants.... However, anyone coming in to the sport who suggests that such a fundamental barrier to the sports' growth needs to be knocked down, seem to get short shrift... Usually, it seems, by those who cannot see further than their own small fiefdom..

Lots of challenge about the operating model, and how change was needed to move the sport forward as he saw the operating model as something that prevented growth rather than something which encouraged and ultimitely facilitated it.. The sport does seem to lose far too many decent, modern thinking people all too frequently.. Whilst keeping many of those who appear "quite happy" with their lot...

You would surely put a "Play Off Package" together seperately wouldn't you?

1 million percent... EVERY promoter should go onto YouTube to see how SE Dons (a footlball Sunday League team), do their highlights of their games... Others do the same having seen how successful the Dons are.. Sunday League teams now get 2000 fans going to a match and 10,000 "likes" on their shows... And sell a large amount of merchandise online... Whilst doing great work locally helping their community and charities, which can only then "spread the word" further.. And making "personalities" out of the players.. With, in the main, some very basic technology given mobile phone cameras these days are so good... Poole's "bitesize" coverage is perfect for the consumer today who wants instant return for their time invested in watching something.. Hence, "Live" TV viewing dwindles yet "Catch Up" and "On Demand" grow as you can speed through adverts/boring bits etc... With the beauty of YouTube being you can latch on to other sports via the algorithms they use... Many an evening has been spent watching MX, Moto GP, Sidecar racing, Midget Car racing, Grasstrack, Longtrack etc. All because you start watching some Speedway on there... When you are linked in to Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez etc then you are getting potential access to millions, many of whom will be UK based... Honestly. A HUGE opportunity for UK Clubs, given the lack of awareness of their product locally. Often in massive conurbations... 100's of thousands of people locally and you only need a small fraction of them to turn up and watch you to be successful, given your low starting base...

100%... That's why many sports use a seeding system.. The actual number also reflects on the amount of quality at that level available too.. If you had say 24 riders at a certain level then you could probably seed top 8 and let the others race off for the other 8 places... When circa 12 or so are at a level, with the rest a fair bit behind, it makes sense to protect the quality of the final, whilst still giving those "not too far behind" a more than decent chance to progress via a qualifier... And, as always, if you are good enough you can still reach that final even if you feel you should have been seeded..

Very fair point.. One of the all time greats of the sport returned last year for Plymouth and Ipswich after a long lay off and only did "ok".... Hope it goes well for him though as Complin was always worth paying money to watch... A big ask though and a truly major achievement if he could run as a bona fide heat leader after so many years out of the saddle.. It would certainly be a testament to the considerable natural talent he possessed if he does, and would be a decent crowd puller too given the way he often scored his points...

I think the pricing structure is spot on.... My only concern is around how much Speedway is currently available to watch and whether that will impact it... I can watch the top leagues in the UK Monday, Sweden Tuesday, Denmark Wednesday, Poland Friday and Sunday, and GP/SEC on a Saturday... As well as 2nd and 3rd Div in Poland Saturday and Sunday.. That is a lot of Speedway... Hope it works out... Another spin off which may be worth pursuing is similar to the way some Sunday League Football teams are making big money out of doing their own highlight streams post match, on YouTube, with plenty of background interviews with the players, making many of them very well known, and making them "personalities" locally who are subsequently being recognised within those local communities.. Local communities who recognise the teams and players, go to watch the matches, but also benefit from the raised profiles of the teams through charity contributions raised by the clubs.. A couple of thousand or so "subscribers" to a clubs YouTube channel would certainly be a plus...

And being a youth event may bring in plenty of young kids to watch.... Which can only be good for the track to bulld on going forwards if it happens..

Did Redcar have "Div One Heat Leaders" to pay out of that 300 attendance though? Nowadays it seems every Div 2 team has to have at least one Div 1 top ten rider which can only increase the costs I would think.. Reserves in Div 2 are also no longer "juniors" but more experienced riders (and more expensive too maybe?).. Putting together a Div 2 team to compete nowadays is very much advantageous to those with deeper pockets I would say, hence Glasgow do well, Poole do well as still very much a "Speedway town", and ex top league Leicester, riding back on Saturdays, also seem to put a decent team together.. Redcar have had some innovative promoters post Brian Havelock, which I would suggest has definitely helped them to grow their fan base (and maybe picked up a few disgruntled Newcastle fans?), and are now a definite "Top Five" expectation team in Div 2, given the level of rider they can afford to bring in.. They certainly have gone from being "avoiding the wooden spoon is success" material to one of the more watchable teams in the league..

The differing rental costs of the places mentioned would be a major bearing on that I would say... Given so many are tenants, it must be a knife edge for some to "hang on in there"... Even more so over the coming months as the cost of living goes skywards..

And those advertised to be there actually turn up....

The key word being "promotion"... All done using marketing people well versed and successful in delivering crowds at the events they get contracts for... A decent marketing budget is so important to generate interest... Yet British Speedway seems to spend an enormous amount of money on everything apart from marketing itself well.... Strange plan...

I think those in charge have made it clear that 'nomad teams' were very much off the agenda.. I do think your idea does have some mileage though... In the SS interview it does say that 'lapsed fans' are very much a target market... And that market is much greater I would say than those who currently go.... Championship League Riders Final, 4TT's etc could be a possible decent money spinner given, as you say, many teams' involvement and the bonus being both comps would deliver a credible offering with no guests.... It may encourage all the "stars" to turn up too given a wider exposure...

And if circa 20-25,000 take in a live match each week, I would suggest, (by estimating using past TV viewing figures, and how Cardiff gets 45,000 or so with many being different from year to year), that the sport has 60,000 to 80,000 who will still call themselves "Speedway fans", but either no longer have a local track, to attend, or dont bother took much about meeting results from any team perspective, due in the main to the way the sport runs itself.. Another measure as to the sports following is that many of the clubs official (and unofficial), Facebook pages have a fair few thousand followers. Some, no doubt, will cross over from one club to the next but it does suggest a decent potential market for streaming... Pricing it right is key, but hopefully it will provide another revenue maker for those who do it...

But as it currently sits, clubs get zero income form those fans who decide to stay away on those "iffy nights".... At least should the meeting go ahead they may be inclined to log in and pay for the stream... With potentially a country full of fans who might want to watch some Speedway too to try and attract... As for Programmes and Merchandise? Then link them in to the streams.. Clubs can then send them out to whoever wants such things. Reading the SS the "generic" streaming seems to have sound reasoning behind it and hopes to tap in to the amount of fans who no longer attend regularly but still follow the sport closely. (Fans who outnumber those that currently do attend by some distance I would suggest)...

"Iffy, dodgy weather meetings" keep fans away so when they do go ahead the club completely lose out... At least with streaming you may get those who decided to stay away paying to watch the stream...

100% has to be the way forward.. However... Due to Brexit, gone are the days of bringing West/East European and Scandinavian journeymen over on a "no risk" basis.. The no risk basis being that that these four and five point men would have been in an almost inexhaustible supply pre Brexit, meaning one in, then one out if it didnt work out, was the operating model... It is no coincidence I am sure that after Brexit, Speedway promoters in the top two leagues suddenly discovered that we had a good many UK riders in Division 3... Riders obviously who had gone unnoticed for decades when the UK promoters were bringing over any European or Scandinavian that even remotely looked like they could handle a Speedway bike.. Until there are enough riders for the teams the current situation can be the only way the sport can be ran... And the way that the 2nd Div have already dispensed with the RS scheme after just one season suggests it will be the same for a long time to come.. (Providing there are enough teams to run the sport as a team entity long term obviously)....

Not just "some of the blame" I would suggest.., Whilst Poland got stronger the promoters tried to keep using riders who clearly had new priorities and larger revenue streams via Poland, Sweden, and the GP's... Using a huge proportion of the TV millions to keep them.... Increasing admission fees annually by inflation busting amounts to try and cover ever increasing costs which were never brought under control.... Rearranging fixtures ad nauseum to work around the top riders' own individual agendas, regardless of negative impact to the crowd level by running on those nights. . And running with Guestfest after Guestfest when fixtures couldn't be moved to accomodate them, thus destroying the credibility of so many meetings, and therefore, ultimately, the actual credibility of the whole leagues themselves... Resulting in a great proportion of the fanbase simply "giving up" watching the sport "live" but still watching the sport with enthusiasm via TV and Internet offerings... And all for riders who, in the main, "Foxtrot Oscared" the minute the big money ran out over here... The employee level you can afford by your income is the employee level you should employ...

Is he that New Zealand lad?...

And Collins, Loram and Briggs were replaced by other World Class riders not "young 4pt lads with potential"...

Because it seems to work and appears to be popular with fans? Everyone knows. Speedway is two seven man teams over 15 heats with as many pro riders there as possible... All ridden on nights to suit the riders so they can ride in as many meetings, and represent as many teams, as they can... Mustn't ever change that... Imagine the chaos!! And who knows. Maybe the odd amateur talent could be unearthed given they will be coming up against established NDL riders so can benchmark themselves against a higher standard...