mikebv

Is that where Moley lIves that used to work Kelvin's Moleycam camera... Edit: Just been informed it's his East European cousin. .. 'Poley'.... I'll get me coat. .

Madsen Sayfutdinov Zmarzlik Vaculik Dudek In that order...

I attended the SWC at the NSS a few years ago and originally had standing tickets for the first bend, however, upon arrival at the turnstiles we were offered seats on the fourth turn.. Me and many, many others took up the offer... The reason? Well it wasn't the organisers being charitable, it was simply that this section would be more in view than any other part of the stadium, as they showed every start from that camera (positioned directly above our original standing place focusing down the home straight).. They understood how important having a "full stadium" looks to the casual viewer, and the event's sponsors, if you want to grow your product in the ensuing years.. Quite often when the Aces are at home the camera angle at the starting gate (hand held from the centre green just in front of the tapes), shows rows and rows of empty seats interspersed with the odd one or two fans.. The circa 1800 seats are usually around 40 to 50% full on a TV match so there is still approx 700+ fans sat there, yet if you looked at the TV "plenty of empty red seats" would be your over riding view of the place.. Putting these 700+ fans together (for one night only) in line with the camera angles would only improve the overall positive view of the sport from those watching at home.. And any seats left empty would all be together so perfect for being totally covered with large advertising banners for their sponsors, or large adverts for the next meeting at the place with contact details etc.. I am sure for the 'odd time' fans would understand getting moved 'a bit' for the good of their club's long term marketing plan.. It doesnt take much to make something look far more popular than it actually is.. It often just takes a little bit of positive creativity..

Sky were always "very pleased" with the viewing figures they got, particularly in the first ten years or so.. Often they would easily hit well over 100,000 for the GP's and high 80's and 90,000's (and more sometimes) for domestic racing.. BT delivered circa 50 to 60000+ last time I looked at their figs on BARB which, for them, was also more than a reasonable return, and often would beat their round the world sports and non Premier League football.. I think with Sky it was just the cost of the OB to show Speedway, especially at a time when they had paid out zillions for football, that made them decide to pay up the contract and move on to other sports like Netball which I presume is cheaper to produce and definitely has no weather threats to it taking place.. Speedway's following on the TV though certainly punches well above its weight in relation to its 'live' following I would suggest... Which does make it all the more frustrating to he honest when you see hardly any effort to sell itself when the TV cameras come to town. There is obviously an interested and curious market out there for the sport, sat in their armchairs, so maybe doing more to hide the huge swathes of empty stadia that take 'centre stage' most weeks at the live meeting, and fill the space with fans or advertising, would be worth considering..?

Maybe they could raffle off season tickets every month between now and the new season? At say £2.50 a ticket, (5 for a Tenner), surely most clubs could get 500 fans or so to spend a tenner a month on tickets? That would be £5k a month coming in and between now and March, start now and that's seven months worth of money.. Clubs have their own websites and many have their own social media pages that have considerably more than 500 followers, as well as many having unofficial fans pages set up by loyal supporters so getting the message out wouldn't be too difficult.. And those who are forward thinking will already have plenty of email info of their fans to contact directly.. Obviously there will need to be some elemant of trust and belief that next season takes place but if nothing else the clubs will be able to see if such a dynamic would work for other years even if they have to pay money back or offer a roll over of the tickets.. It keeps the fans in regular contact with the club too so also affords the opportunity to sell merchandise direct etc.. And with Xmas looming winning a season ticket could get a very healthy take up in Decenber as it would make a great present for the Speedway fan in your life!!!

Wow.. An average of 3043 fans per league match.. That's around double I would suggest that each top level Speedway meeting would average... And having been to a match there does appear to be a clear focus on attracting a younger demographic of fans... Admission costs similar to Speedway too..

When I was a regular at the tracks as a 40 something male, I was often the only one there who didnt "remember when this was all fields"....

Wery good idea.. Vell said..

And you had an amazing last heat decider at Sheffield with PC, Eric Boocock, Michanek and Tommy Jansson.... Shown later the same evening on ITV.. A race that never gets boring to watch given so much is going on.. A true 'Festival of Speedway" with a big name sponsor and almost blanket TV coverage on one of only three channels you could watch at the time.. A very different world than the one that exists today for Speedway in the UK..

Never been one to take any notice of the usual "could you ride a Speedway bike?" crap that many idiots come out with when their favourite gets criticised, however.. Anyone who throws their leg over a Speedway bike, and races it, definitely can never be regarded as 'gutless'..

Poland could do with attracting more followers of 50+ years of age.. Dont seem to have many.. Missing a trick there...

He's only broken seven bones?

And I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the "guest' system next year too as it gives sides greater flexibility and puts pressure on riders to perform.. Obvously it's not the same blight on the sport as our guest system is as its really doubling up which will provide a fair few riders with dual income.. Very good dual income..

And PC

Not sure which letters we dont use..

Janowski another whose career is going backwards.. Smarzlik, as he always seems to do as a season progresses, just gets better and better.. Will be a firm favourite for another World Title I would think..

He used to at least be around second at the first turn, now he is often third or fourth.. That cut back he does in the first two turns has paid many a dividend over the years but you cant keep relying on it working.. Expecting it to work against 3 top lads is a high risk strategy if you want success at a world level..

Woffy's gating has been truly appalling for the past season and a half at least.. Miss gate, then blast around the boards is his regular tactic these days.. Great to watch when it comes off, but against top riders regularly hitting the first turn third or fourth wont deliver much success.. I would suggest he is maybe just still in the Top 10 in the world but not in the very top echelon anymore.. Bikes and talent still good enough, but starting simply miles off..

Maybe the almost "we've got no chance" attitude when teams race Leszno is starting to unravel a bit? If you wrote that septet down on paper not many I would suggest would read it and think "Wow! They must be the best in the world"... They are though, it appears, "a team" which several of those with a higher proportion of "world class riders" dont always appear to be.. The Smektala/Kubera combination at Junior level was always a strong plus for them which no longer exists, so who knows, maybe this year whoever they go head to head against in the play offs will fancy their chances..?

As has been said in other Leszno meetings, as a team they dont have any truly World Class riders other than Emil.. Yet seem to pull out great team performances with different riders on any given night stepping up to the plate when needed. And heavily relying on Kubera.. A few teams going 'head to head' should feel they have a chance against them this year..

That looks like a large 50% of capacity crowd.. Maybe Polish 50%'s dont mean half..?

I think that is the sports dilemma (over here).. The IOW seem to promote EVERY meeting as if it was a one off event, which with some of their fans on holiday it very well could be their only chance to impress them.. And for their regulars 'something different' regularly will keep it fresh.. Team success (as in winning the league) almost appears secondary to the success of providing their customer base a 'great night out' and given the lack of kudos and financial reward for winning any UK competition, I would suggest it's a very good operating model.. UK Team Speedway is basically a busted flush if you measure success by the numbers who attend, with many who have fallen away over the years basically giving up on the concept, hence no longer bother attending.. (But often still remain as very interested followers of the sport in their several thousands).. Therefore it's dilemma is can it run itself successfully as a 'Team Sport' concept (and bring back some of the lapsed thousands), or does it need to do 'something different'? The old adages though of "always doing what you've always done will only deliver what you've always had" and the definition of insanity being "doing the same thing over and over again and each time expecting a different result" is something that those who run the sport should have written large on their meeting room walls..

Agreed, but if a lower grade of rider on offer, and no flight costs, hotel bills, van hire, uk mechanic, etc etc etc, to be factored in by the rider when he is negotiating points money, then maybe the entry price point will drop commensurately?

I actually think that an amalgam of the 2nd and 3rd divisions could be the way forward for the sport.. Whether it will attract many overseas riders I am not sure given the money on offer will need to be relative to the standard of rider.... But, for British Speedway, and the oportunities it would create for British riders, and their development, it might not be a bad thing.. It would also mean a fixture list being driven by customer availability, and run to a timetable when they can get there, and not when riders can get there when it suits their global agenda.. My team get decent crowds for 3rd tier Speedway and if a team made up of 2nd/3rd Div riders was the only team they had to watch, I would suggest crowds would be pretty much on a par that the 'first team' get now.. And much cheaper to run obviously.. UK Speedway is pretty much down to its die hards who go and watch 'any speedway', and hardly any 'crowd puling top names' ride here so there is a minimal amount of fans who only go to the see 'the names'... And when (if) this bloody pandemic ever finishes, every sport should get a 'bounce boost' at the turnstiles when it returns. . So, if there ever was a time to restructure from the bottom up to build a better future then surely it is now?

Really? 2019 Top 2 - Poole 52, Swindon 50. Bottom - 2 KL 31, Peterborough 20 2018 Top 2 - KL 53, Somerset 47. Bottom 2 -Wolves 34, Leicester 23 2017 Top 2 - Swindon 66, Wolves 63 Bottom 2 - KL 29, Leicester 27 2016 Top 2 - BV 64, Poole 59 Bottom 2 - Coventry 33, Leicester 21 2015 Top 2 - Poole 66, Coventry 61 Bottom 2 - Wolves 28, Lakeside 27 And that's with a max of just 8 teams per league in some seasons and seven in others.. And the same huge difference between top and bottom goes back regularly from 2015 ad nauseam.. Before every season when the teams are known, the 'cannon fodder' gets predicted on here, and those predictions are very rarely wrong.. Some balanced league. .