mikebv

Spot on.. Leszno had a huge advantage with their juniors over the past few years till last season, however, that is sport... And it's up to the others to combat any advantage another team has..

If you 'withdraw your services' when not getting paid, you get banned for 28 days... Meaning you could lose more in future earnings than you are actually owed... Not much therefore, in the way of proper options for the riders is there? Does the Captain not still sign that declaration that no money is owed? And didn't the bond used to be £50k in either assets or cash? Presume that has changed?

Tungate said last year he felt that the UK doesnt sort itself quickly enough, hence riders take rides elsewhere so they have time to prepare kit, get sponsorship, plan flights, hotels etc.. Wonder if he still feels the same..

"Why should you keep the TV money?".. "Why should you get to use the same riders as us, but get them for less cost?" Maybe???, Either way, it will be like two bald men fighting over a comb... Or Grumpy and Sleepy arguing about who is the taller of the two.. Hi - Ho......

Should just bury the hatchet with Cook and get him in.... Fricke, Wright, Cook, Batchelor, Kurtz, Palin, Brennan... Excellent top five and two of the best young Brits to cheer on....

But at least they will have won using their own riders... Not by choosing when to have tactical illnesses and injuries so they can bring track specialist ringers in depending on where they are riding... The only thing Mickey Mouse about the Polish leagues are ZG's kevlars....

Even that though is to keep those down the table interested to the end of the season... With relegation and an extended play offs, there wont be any 'dead rubbers" to be held I would think, which can only help keep crowd levels high across the whole league. . And let's be honest, the UK cannot criticise any other countries operating model can it? Especially one that generates literally millions of pounds sponsorship each season...

You won't get a major sponsor with such a Mickey Mouse operating model... Unless it's Disney.... Imagine Tesco sponsoring the Aces and they fail to qualify for the play offs by a point because Dan Bewley had the previous meeting scored a maximum for the Wolverhampton 'Sainsbury' Wolves in a victory for them. .? You simply won't get companies putting "big money" in when that can happen... There's a reason Poland runs its Speedway properly and that is they know if they don't then they too will struggle to attract crowds, media coverage and sponsors. . Several teams will contest the play offs next year, four will reach the two finals, two teams will win, and two teams will lose... And hardly anyone out of 67 million people in the UK will even notice, never mind care.... Yet they will, once again, persist with an operating model which clearly doesn't (and can never) work, if you ever want to move the sport forward... What we have is really all there is, and ever will be I would suggest, given the clear reluctance to implement the radical changes that the sport desperately needs if it is ever to be considered again as relevant and credible, within the UK's overall sporting hierarchy...

Fireman Phil? How many meetings would be postponed due to waterlogged tracks?

As the country, and city centres in particular, have become more ethnically diverse, Speedway doesnt seem to have done anything to try and engage the many thousands of those non white British people, living on their doorstep.. Although, to be fair, they haven't done much to attract the white British people who live local to a track either..

100%... What would any Independant body actually recommend? Having teams decide what leagues they race in rather than have organic, aspirational growth through attainment, is not a good idea..? Letting teams borrow each others riders to the complete detriment and devaluation of the sports credibility, and thus reducing major sponsorship potential, is not a good idea...? Letting your employees dictate your opening hours (whether the best times for you or not) so they can have multiple jobs, is not a good idea..? Having no joined up, collective, local and national marketing plan for the sport, funded by a budget set aside to do it, is not a good idea? Annually raising admission fees to pay for too many professional riders in a sport with so few followers, is not a good idea? Using something as subjective, and delivered by such wide variables, as averages to equalise team strengths, thus allowing those with more money to be "more equal than others", is not a good idea..? In summary, any independent body or person would just say "change your operating model to one that is fit for purpose"... Everyone, including the promoters I would say, already know this..

Sky didnt pull out before 2006 did they? Thought it was much more recent than that.. Edit Just checked. BT took over UK coverage in 2017... Sky paid up their contract in 2016 Sky showed British Speedway for a long, long time... And paid a hell of a lot of money in too...

As I edited on my last post.. It was £5m for Five years in 2001... The interview with Vanessa Purchase didnt say whether that was "gross or net" of the "finders fee"... Can't remember the exact amount each track got for holding a meeting but do remember thinking at the time that it was a "decent amount".. Especially considering that early into the contract tracks got very good crowds with the novelty of TV being there getting fans to attend their tracks.. And tracks would also do plenty of "add ons" to try and attract crowds with kids being a particular target audience... Dont know if the next contract five years later yielded the same, or similar...

Wasn't it just over £100k a club per season?.. With individual meetings getting another '£x thousand to offset any crowd loss due to live TV.. That was in a 10 club Elite league.. And it went in for a fair few years, so it was a good few million.. Edit. Cant link it up but just read an article from 2001 with Vanessa Purchase of Oxford in the Oxford Mail, where she discusses the £5 million, five year deal with Sky..

There's been 'loads of different riders' riding here over the years pre covid and the steep decline over the past 20 years or so in particular has taken place with them here.... Many of whom were World Class.....

"Doing exactly the same thing over and over again and, each time you do it expecting a completely different result" is oft quoted as the definition of insanity. ... 2022.... Seven man teams - Tick Fixed race nights even if not the best night to race on - Tick No aspirational growth of the sport due to teams deciding themselves what league they race in - Tick Employees own agendas dictating your opening hours - Tick Guests galore - Tick Sharing riders across both divisions - Tick The same teams and riders visiting frequently so a lack of variety for fans - Tick Increasing admission costs to pay for full time professionals in a sport with such a low following - Tick Using averages delivered by many variable reasons to build the teams to be 'equal' - Tick Minimal transparency of rules so they can be circumnavigated or, if needed, completely ignored - Tick The shelving of a Five Year Plan well before the five years are up - Tick Every rider being eligible to ride for every team on an adhoc basis thus ensuring that winning has no kudos or relevance - Tick Etc. Etc. Etc.. All boxes ticked.... Wonder what 2022 will turn out like?

Who is Norick Blowdorn? I am trying to work out if it is an anagram....

Had a couple of good Saturday nights in Worky watching the Comets... (From what I remember given the post match hospitality in the local pubs and B and B)... Be great to spend another Saturday evening/Sunday morning up there. .)

Am I missing something? I have read through the thread and there hasnt been any real negativity re the fight to get Rye House reopened.. A few people have expressed their doubts but surely that is natural given the precedents set so often when tracks close down. ie they usually dont come back.. And it is only an opinion of someone on a forum, nothing more and nothing less. It hardly makes any difference to whether Rye House come back or not I would suggest... Likewise, nor will the many positive messages of best wishes that seem to outnumber any 'doubters' comments considerably.. Forums are about opinons, otherwise it isnt worth having them... Taking any comments from others with a different view to you ultra personally definitely isnt worth it... Best wishes to Rye House, been twice and enjoyed both visits..

At the old track there were many a season where we would often see 'average' riders beating the Aces lads by miles and think "we should sign him for next season".. Then we would sign these riders and would soon realise that they only had looked good because we were so garbage...

Craig Cook 6.98, don't know if that incudes the GB reduction? And Jordan Palin on his actual average, not as an RS.... Would that fit? Two young GB stars of the future. .. One flies around the NSS, and Peterborough, whilst the other seems to more than hold his own at all tracks.... Cook and Batch in the same team too. . Easy days for Mark Lemon....

And severely impacts you dong any "specials" during the season to try and drum up some extra custom... What I would do is raffle off say ten tickets over the first ten matches, one per match.... I would suggest you would get circa £10k for those tickets at just a £ a pop rather than around the £3k or so you would get ordinarily.. And missing the odd meeting wouldnt matter if you hadn't spent loads on the ticket..

Not for Poland it seems is "any speedway is better than no speedway" the mission it would appear.. Quality control is high on their agenda obviously to maintain a strong product... Although, not letting foreign teams go into the top league could also dissuade these clubs from speculating to accumulate... Hence some may spend the minimum to have the kudos of competing..

Always amazed me how so few tracks seem to have a "proper" marketing person to increase the awareness in the local areas... If all tracks could deliver just another 500 (a ludicrously low number which shows where the sport is), a night the whole spectrum changes re paying costs and being able to then pro actively develop the sport.. And it doesn't have to be the same 500, just any 500 each week... With those who attend now and again targeted (and incentivised) to visit more as they are the "quick wins".. My city of Manchester has well over 2.5 MIllion people all living with 45 mins of the NSS... Some living in the centre but most by far living in satellite towns around it... What an opportunity for someone to work to a performance related pay scale to try and entice just a minuscule percentage of that 2.5 Million to attend..? Give them a basic and a good percentage of any growth in income... Let them dish out free and reduced tickets to people who they know don't go now, as 500 non attendees paying even a tenner is an extra five grand if they go an watch., and you then push some multi meeting tickets at reduced rates to try and get them into the habit of going.. Knowing names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, birthdays of individuals and their families, sending Xmas cards etc etc etc is a very, very basic marketing technique used in the entertainment sector, to keep your business in contact with (and therefore remembered by) your customers.. Helping you to reward your most loyal customers while also giving you the chance to get back those who maybe have stopped going, or get the infrequent punters to attend more often... As for websites? Even if a track doesn't want to fork out for improvements, I am sure every track will have a college or a uni nearby that has graduates building them for masters degree passes and would jump at the chance of a 'real life' project to 'hand in' as part of their coursework.. Young, modern thinkers delivering a website to be aimed at people of a similar age and outlook.. However, as so many seem to have zero local marking, it is therefore no surprise that at national level there isn't some kind of joined up campaign to raise awareness of the sport generically, and tracks locally off the back of it.. As a collective they spend literally millions of pounds each season in costs, yet spend almost zilch in getting someone to help increase their income... As for a sponsor.? Sadly the ridiculous operating model will prevent any major brand being associated with it, (even if the fan numbers and their demographics were different), hence Poland wouldn't use it in their leagues as fans, media, and sponsors would simply walk away.. So much could be done at a local level for so little cost and given the ridiculously low numbers needed for 'success', I am always truly amazed so little is actually done..

Possibly, but looking at the news tonight it seems relaxing rules around Europe isnt on the agenda for too many as more lockdowns take place.. I would think it is still a big risk committing to anyone from mainland Europe...