mikebv

Just the same as any other year then...?

They have held a Speedway meeting every year since 1928 and never closed even during WWII...

What so many on here who bemoan the guest system conveniently forget is that Speedway is the only team sport in the whole wide world that has injuries so therefore there is no alternative... Also due to doubling up, down, in, out, shake it all about, it means it becomes virtually impossible to plan in fixtures without riders needing to be in two places at once. We may have a vaccine for Covid 19 in less than 12 months but there cannot be a scientist alive clever enough who could deliver a fixture list which prevents clubs who have the same riders clashing... I am so grateful that a few years ago when Craig Cook signed for Glasgow half way through the season he had to miss an Aces match (who he rode for all that season) at Swindon, I think the week after signing for Glasgow.. Luckily we brought in Pooles Brady Kurtz and he top scored for the Aces in a very famous victory which virtually clinched our play off place which had been looking in danger... I will never forget the open top bus parade back in Manchester the following night as thousands thronged the streets to celebrate....

It would throw a spanner in the works if they did.. The TV money would be stretched in the top league for a kick off, which probably stops the idea in its tracks right there.. Add in the lack of potential heat leaders from overseas due to Brexit and Polabd and that too will stop another team moving up I would think, especially a team who could out pay some of the more established teams for the talent that is available.. If any team could do it though I would suggest Glasgow is the one, and the owners do seem to be very driven, and dont look like the kind of people who will accept others impacting their business negatively..

The bottom line is simple.. It doesnt matter what you are trying to sell if not enough people know you actually exist.. It could be the greatest product in the world that you have, but if you dont advertise that product, where it can be purchased from, and when it is regularly available to be purchased, you wont make any success of what you are doing.. Because it's simply just not possible to do so using that 'plan'... Getting a proper, professional national marketing campaign going, which highlights the sport and its teams, is the only way to get the cut through required if the sport wants to prosper and thrive.. The core product of the racing today is a product you can certainly 'sell' if enough people get to 'sample it' I would say.. The last "Golden Era" as Steve says was the 1970's which was very much delivered by a very successful 'England' team, a very regular slot on Saturday in a prime time TV slot when there were only 3 channels to watch, and a true "perfect for TV" superstar in Peter Collins to keep the watching millions amazed and enthralled at what could be done on a Speedway bike.. In short though, fundamentally, the message was out there of its existence and many would follow their local teams on the back of the international success and high profile meetings they watched on Saturdays during the summer.. Get something like that message out there again and, given its low starting base, even just 25000 or so more a week would more than 100% increase its income.. What an opportunity that really is when a great many of the 65 million population live around no more than an hour from a venue, and that track is often pretty much usually the "only one" within that travelling distance.. Opinions and arguments about stadiums, team strengths, rules and regulations, race nights etc etc etc and how they negatively impact the crowd levels, (no matter how valid), pale into insignificance against the impact generated by the very fact that literally millions live within an hour of a Speedway track and dont even know the sport exists.. Sort that as a priority and the size of the prize potentially is huge given the starting point..

2.5 million live in Grt Manchester conurbation and furthest away is around 45 mins.. If you head out towards Tameside into the peak district that's even more people to go at all within 45 mins.. And then head out past Rochdale into Huddersfield way and again many more thousands. (With a fair few who possibly would be ex Halifax and Bradford fans so have a knowledge of the sport).. Not far out of Bury are the mill towns too of Rawtenstall, Ramsbottom etc, all circa 45 mins away.. The NSS has excellent motorway links off the ring road from anywhere tens miles and more out of the city centre Manchester.. It is simply down to people not knowing about the sport in its generic form, and then on the back of that the Aces in more specific terms as a team who competes within the sport..

Jim Gannon's Blue and White Army. Stockport County have averaged over 3500 a game in the sixth level for a few seasons.. Now they are in the fifth tier and will easily beat that number.. Over 6000 for the play offs.. Strange how so many say the Aces struggle to get crowds because there is so much to do in Manchester, and Grt Manchester has so many other sports teams to compete with.. Stockport have been down in level seven and averaged over 2500... Only 20 mins from Edgeley Park to the NSS too... They do though have a fantastic community interaction as my lad knows well as he played with their youth set up from 8 years of age... Every evening (when all is normal), they are in schools in the local area training the kids, giving free tickets out, (if parent pays a fiver), and schools also provide ball boys for games, (again getting Mum or Dad or both along at a "special rate"!)

To be fair Ivan won his last world title over 40 years ago... Anyone under 45 or so most likely haven't heard of him, even if they have a vague knowledge of Speedway today... Of non Speedway followers I would suggest Tai Woffinden would get much more of a recognition from the general public than Ivan if they were asked to name a speedway rider..

Yet another thing that will end up in tiers.... I can though foresee some very tight regulation of "the rules" given the focus on Brexit from the many within Parliament who voted for it... Boris will need to ensure all those back bench MP's who dislike the EU immensely, are kept 'onside' not just for Brexit, but for the myriad of tough decisions that lie ahead that he has to make.. Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me to see 'zero tolerance' as the initial stance, with the plan being to free up employment positions for UK nationals, with even more focus than ever on this given the expected economic downturn and reduction in jobs available... The "rules" and there 'to the letter' implementation will certainly be under very close scrutiny....

Ahhh...... The old "catch all" caveat that is applied when all credibility, integrity, common sense and rationale has been totally ignored to implement some specific (up to this point 100% unheard of) "rule"...

When they finally realise that many outside their 'speedway bubble' dont take the comps they run seriously, they may then start to move on and concentrate their energies and money on what is actually important, and that is the collective growth of the sport.. Paying out hundreds of thousands each year to employees when very few potential customers in your area, never mind nationally, even know what you do, what you provide, or even know you exist, is simply crazy from a business perspective. Yet clubs do this year in year out and seem to then annually scratch their heads working out why it isnt delivering success, and then come up with other random ideas to solve their problems that in no way ever sort the main issue, but instead, sometimes even alienate their hard core customer base. If ever an entity required clear, independent leadership then Speedway in the UK fits that bill perfectly.. Even to just save it from itself..

The NSS looked great when it was full for the SWC a few years ago... In fact, stadiums look a hell of a lot better when full.... Speedway's stadiums look much worse given you see how many are in disrepair due simply to the lack of people hiding the issues... Fill them, which delivers a great atmosphere, and the lack of shiny new facilities wouldn't be an issue for a great many..

I do that in my Tesco. .

It is a bit like chalk and cheese discussing a multi billion pound backed sport like Football and what Speedway has, and as a regular in the 80's and early 90's many football grounds were dreadful.. Sadly it took tragedies such as Heysel, Hillsborough and Bradford to move forward the stadia in football, as "all seater" became the norm, and a pre requisite to gain entry into certain levels.. To do this many clubs received large grants to help make the changes. And then Pay TV companies started paying in billions which encouraged many more to invest for the future by upgrading their stadiums.. What Speedway could do though, given all their restrictions, is to improve the "look" of the stadiums similar to how the football clubs have done with empty stadiums during Covid.. Not a space in front of a camera has been missed to advertise, and Speedway, particularly when on TV, has lots of empty spaces which these "seat covers" could be used to display sponsors names and next match details etc.. Covering empty terracing, either seated or standing, with some branded advertising for the club for example, would add colour, improve the professional look of the place and improve "brand image" massively to the person watching at home.. I always think the NSS is perfect both down the back straight and the grandstand to move fans into sections (making it look fuller straight away) and giving "blocks" over to advertising covering the seats, and sections of the back straight.. There is loads of TV coverage of these areas in every single race which could also earn the track a few quid in extra revenue by allowing sponsors or even just local businesses to rent it for the night.. Like a lot of things, it doesnt always need much money throwing at something to make it look better and more appealing..

About 1 in 3000 people (at most), in the UK attend domestic Speedway each week nationally.. Imagine if they could get just 2 in every 3000? 100% increase in gates and revenue.. The Aces get around 1200 with the conurbation of Gtr Manchester having 2.5 million living within it, with the extremeties of it being around 45 mins away by car.. The attendance figures for domestic Speedway are pitiful really when you consider that the 'local track' is invariably the only one for miles and miles, and has a complete monopoly in that area, with no other teams competing for a fan's following like for example football has with lots of cities having more than one team.. Maybe one day the sport will wake up and properly invest in a true national, joined up, collective, marketing campaign, rather than many clubs doing their own thing on a pretty basic level locally.. 100's of Thousands of pounds are spent on paying 'employees' when hardly anyone knows your business even exists, and minimal seems to be invested in changing that lack of awareness.. A very strange business plan..

Adequately socially distanced I hope? It can be a bit tight for space in some houses, especially terraced...

A pity... Life is far too short to keep holding grudges..

Next season might just need a bit of flexibility when it comes to putting teams together, and maybe even some rider control if all teams are not competitive. One thing for sure is that co-operation of all will be vital and some sacrifices will need to be made for the greater good.. Unprecedented times re Covid 19, and then Brexit on top of that, must mean some 'less than perfect' decisions being made.. However, as this is Speedway, it will hardly be the first time such decision making has happened would it??? It may need virtually every rider doubling up or one big league, however, the priority of whatever they do needs to being getting enough rides for the riders to make it pay.. After the season just gone, the danger is a good few of the riders may call it quits and move onto other things (eg Ellis Perks).. Given Poland's restrictions (and I would suggest they are deadly serious given Doyle and Holder have dropped Sweden), added to the unknown of Brexit, and a whole season just missed, maybe a year of 'make do and mend' is on the cards with a vision to regroup and do something a bit more structured the year after? Next year, I would suggest is a 'free hit' for Promoters given the fans will be desperate to get back to the tracks, so maybe less riders per team, with mainly British lads of Premier to National League level in every team, could be affordable to Promoters whilst giving the lads plenty of racing to earn money? Those fans who will stay away because the points level is much lower than usual will be very few and far between I would think given the lack of racing over the past 8 months, so the Promoters should use this "goodwill" to set up next year to ensure all tracks ride and all can make it through the season... In any fashion required...

And all done to try and win competitions that, by the very contrived nature the sport is ran, are rendered pretty much worthless.. Imagine changing clubs' fixture lists during the season because there won't be enough 'guest riders' available, and expecting anyone to actually take the sport seriously?

Far too many wasted years of decline too late, but surely now the right thing to do...

When/if Poland become an also ran nation at the very top level then domestic interest will start to wain.. Just like happened to the UK, and then Denmark at different times, when they started to drop down the rankings after a long period of dominance.. Sweden too, domestically enjoyed their biggest crowds when Tony R and the rest were winning World Champs individually, and collectively winning WTC's.. Poland though will know this and will ensure by keeping protected places in their domestic line ups for Poles that they can help ensure they don't make the mistakes the UK in particular made all those years ago by allowing the UK riders to become the minority over here in many teams.. It doesn't matter how many times Leszno (or any team) win the title over there, succesful Polish riders and teams at international level drives all the TV coverage, sponsorship and follow on domestic interest from the fans.. They will have seen how "not to do it" and I am sure not make the same mistakes...

So sports that take place in winter get money? (We will gloss over Rugby League and Lawn Tennis, and the fact that some of the sports are indoor so could take place at anytime, and horse racing is all year round).. And the sports that got the money can now bring fans in over the winter and make, err money? Whilst the 'summer sports' who couldnt bring fans in, didn't get any money (apart from Rugby and Horse racing and Lawn Tennis obviously).. OK Bojo, makes sense.. Like so much you do...

An obvious opportunity that should have been taken the year it became clear Poland was THE priority for the very best riders.. Instead we have had well over a decade, of moving around fixtures and guestfests to accommodate and replace, by far, the most expensive riders, who, if they knocked on the doors of the houses on the streets adjacent to the tracks, no one would recognise.. Covid 19 has given those who run it an ideal opportunity for a 100% needed complete reset.... Fans desperate for any Speedway will turn up next year in strong numbers I would say, regardless of team strengths.. Will this opportunity be taken? We already know the answer don't we?...

I get there has been dialogue Phil and that the BSPL reps attended meetings with other 'Elite' sports.. However, that would then make it even more strange that it has obviously come as a 'shock' to the BSPL that they didn't get offered any cash.. You would think that any organisation that had kept their foot on the gas by keeping in constant touch with the relevant Govt departments would have been kept well informed of how things would develop.. Rather than having to put out a hasty press release questioning why no money, and one that shows that they clearly have no knowledge of any potential further developments that may be in the pipeline.. Lobbyists can truly be worth their weight in gold if you employ the right ones as they keep bringing pressure to bear and keep their 'employers' names in the frame.. I wonder if Speedway has employed any where maybe others definitely have? It takes a lot of behind the scenes influencing to get Govt ministries to do what you would like them to and takes some proper planning and execution, (and often hard cash to get the right people to do it)...

Why is it not recognised? Because only about 20,000 out of a population of 70 million attend a meeting each week? (0.0029% of the UK populace, meaning approx 1 in 3500 people) Because they have no joined up, money invested collective National marketing, but instead lots of tracks do their own thing at a very basic low level which gain (if any) only minimal cut through.. ? Because it is seen as noisy, smelly and environmentally unfriendly? Because very few tracks have a "Community Champion" who go out into their local community hubs and give tangible support to local charities, foodbanks and hospitals etc. Thus demonstrating (and getting recognised), that they are an integral force for good in their locality.? Not having a World Class National team who regularly win competitions and not having clubs full of UK riders, some of whom would hopefully be 'local' to inspire others to take up the sport? Not having many blue chip company sponsorships that the public recognise and therefore link to the sport? I presume (and hope), Speedway, given it's been represented at other meetings, has simply been overlooked (or maybe it's simply the summer/winter nonsense that has been quoted), and they will receive some funding however, even if a genuine mistake, when some of the sports mentioned gets in front of you, it should be food for thought how the Sport markets itself and "sells" itself...