mikebv

I seem to remember it was a % of the average converted into £'s.. (Think I once saw 20% mentioned?). eg if it was 20% then an 8 points rider would get the club who owns his contract £1600..

100%.. Many of the very top echelon of riders all have a similar career path.. One part of which is that after around three years of riding in the top league they become the best rider in their respective teams, or a close second best if that team has an out an out world level rider like Doyle, (someone who ironically didn't follow this usual glide path).. If Dan is to attain the level of world class, which several appear to think he can, then by the end of this season he should be aspiring to reach No1 at the Aces (especially given the level of the league nowadays), and the following year be looking for a regular heat leader level Polish ride.. Very quickly in Speedway you can stagnate at a 'reasonable' level and before you know it, several of your rivals in your age group have gone past you. And the next age group are then suddenly upon you.. Robert Lambert is already at that 'tipping point' I would suggest. Will he now 'level off' as a No1 heat leader in the UK and a solid 2nd Division rider in Poland, or will he move on to being a regular Polish top three rider for a team? Smarzlik for example isn't going anywhere soon given how young he is, and the likes of Smektala, Drabik, Kubera etc are already further ahead in their careers than both Bewley and Lambert.. With 'who knows next' coming from the Polish conveyer belt of talent.. The next two years in particular will be very crucial for both Bewley and Lambert I would suggest, and by the end of that time we will have a clear picture as to what level their career paths are heading to...

And that's one of the key challenges the sport faces.. ie Does the competitions standing itself, and the riders on show, encourage fans to go? Or.. Is it the quality and closeness of racing, regardless of who is doing it, that gets them there? The NSS has terrific racing pretty much every week, with the majority of races having at least one pass through the field and the vast majority of races having the final positions still in doubt to the last bend.. And that can be said for the Colts as well as the Aces.. However, one is £10 in total for me and my 16 year old lad, and the other is £26.. £16 difference to actually see very little difference in racing quality from what I have seen over the past few years.. Therefore, I attend the Colts much, much more as I can get my 'Speedway fix' much cheaper, and as I have zero belief that winning a Team Speedway title in the UK has any credibility, then it more than ticks the boxes I want from the sport.. However, the Aces get probably double the crowds of the Colts which suggests the riders on view are a greater pull for many.. For me, the sport, in the UK, has to decide if it's actually a truly bona fide sport, with winning titles having some real kudos through having credible rules and teams.. Or.. It becomes sports entertainment, whereby the racing itself is the main draw... The fans seem to want both which, in fairness to the Promoters and their various circuits, given the wide ranging challenges they face, probably isn't anywhere near attainable....

To be fair.... You could say the same thing about most teams.. A great many of the riders in the Premiership will be Championship riders also.. (Many as heat leaders in both Leagues for their respective teams).. With Doyle looking like he will be the only 'top 15' in the world rider to compete over here.. I do think the Premiership have to keep prices 'high' in the hope it gives the message of being clearly the top league.. The reality is that in many ways, the level of the reserves in both leagues make the ultimate biggest impact to the standard differential....

Stockport centre is less than a fifteen min taxi ride away.. Might be worth a look for rooms..

But the Poole thread(s) are where everyone from every other team in the league(s) goes to aren't they?

Been watching a lot of racing from ten or so years ago on YouTube and Berwick have plenty of matches on there... Some of the racing is fantastic, especially when the track was 'damp' and a bit heavy. . Lee Complin seemed to pass riders for fun.. Lots of very good racing from others too as they went up the banking and rounded their opponents... Seen a lot worse racing in lots of places. .

??? Flint was great to watch at the NSS.. Young kid learning his trade often blasting around the boards.. Exactly what the NL should be about..

One big difference in Poland is that they haven't fallen down the trap of training up every other nations best riders to the detriment of their own... They have learned I would suggest from what the BSPA did and now protect places in teams for Polish lads only.. They know that a strong national team delivers TV coverage, mainstream media coverage and blue chip sponsors.. The BSPA had all that once and threw it away training up American, Danish and Swedish riders.. A few of which were 'world class', but many of which were 'journeymen' seen as a short term fix, but ultimately blocked the potential progress of many a young GB rider.. And the rest, as they say, is history..

It seems some Promotions are starting to do some 'out of the box' thinking.. Maybe some actually do come on here after all and we should charge a consultation fee? The next stage for me is a loyalty ticket for those who attend 'now and again'.. Say attend five matches and you get the sixth half price? Five more and you get the next free? Something tangible that you feel rewards you.. "Keep 'em coming regularly" has to be the output of any promotional venture... And when you have punters attending events through habit you are a long way down the road of being successful.. My team have, I would suggest, circa 3000 fans who attend over a season with various degrees of attendance levels, ranging from the die hards to the Easter Bank Holiday one offs, resulting in a huge disparate number from their best attendance to their worst.. Enticing those who attend once or twice to attend five or six times, and those who attend five or six times to attend ten or eleven is the key to overall success.. And easier to get them to do that I would suggest than get 'newbies' to become regulars..

But there are over 20 Premiership riders from last year riding in the Championship.. Same riders, therefore same standard, therefore similar price surely? It could be seen as your getting a bargain...

Poland have a huge (and almost insurmountable advantage) in that many of their state of the art stadia is council owned and subsidised, if not wholly funded.. Britain cannot compete with that as its simply not a level playing field.. The issue has been that for many years it tried to (of a fashion), rather than plowing it's own furrow. And ended up with the usual 'halfway house/not quite fit for purpose' operating model and business plan we have today.. Poland with TV companies tendering against one another to show their leagues at prime time from Friday to Sunday. And national company sponsors out doing each other to be seen around Poland on a well watched prime time programme, give them an enormous advantage that the UK have absolutely no chance of competing against such is the difference in income streams for the respective Promoter organisations.. One top rider in Poland per match can earn as much (and maybe more) as two teams collectively can over here.. You cannot compete with that..

It is pretty much this from a starting point.. Many races at Hyde Rd when I started following the sport saw Ivan Mauger, and then Peter Collins, often 'miles in front' of opponents.. But the crowds were huge so all was good... Cardiff delivers 'ok' racing, often close but not massively exciting.. The NSS delivers close, and often, very exciting racing.. Cardiff delivers massive crowds and fantastic atmosphere which means repeat visits are highly likely.. The NSS delivers around 1000-1400, with not too much atmosphere generated by a two thirds empty stadium, which will struggle to engage the less regular attendee to make it a 'must do' each week. It isn't going to change anytime soon, (if at all ever), for me, so it's probably best to accept its the way it is and enjoy/tolerate (delete as applicable) what there is on offer.. Rider costs mean minimal chance of admission reduction which may stimulate interest, and a lack of mainstream media attention means no crowd attracting 'superstars' anymore which the wider non speedway regular sporting community could identify with and go along and watch when they came to their local tracks.. Collins, Mauger, and Olsen often gave the tracks they visited their biggest attendances of the Season.. Nicki P's 'cameo' for example will I am sure register many extra clicks at the turnstile in the early weeks of the season, (until the novelty wears off at least), and maybe that's what the sport over here needs to deliver those extra bums on seats? ie Investing the TV money into a few 'names' but, unlike with the Sky money when they did the same with no long term benefit, they this time have a marketing and publicity plan on the back of it to generate longer term growth..

The Stocks used to rip the track up something awful at Kirky Lane.. The meeting after usually was a nightmare for the riders.. However, JP, who let them in, was grateful for the money they brought, even if it caused several headaches to rectify the damage done by the cars. . Coventry seemed to be, and Kings Lynn still does seem to be, relatively happy bed fellows with the Stock Cars,.. But as you say, the 4G should ensure no Stox at the NSS..

There was an American Football team using it... Not sure if still the case.. Local amateur football leagues definitely use it.. However, as you say, probably not the return 3000 minimum punters would bring to the bar and food outlets, the car parks, and the rental to use the track, which must be around 10k a pop minimum I would think given the crowds delivered at £20 a throw..

I suppose it depends how solvent they are..? A multi purpose stadium can benefit the "main occupants" tremendously financially... And to be fair to Stocks there is a large following in the North West with probably as many watching a season of racing at Kirky Lane as watch the Aces at the NSS.. Ten or so meetings usually each deliver circa 3000 crowd levels, which, in total, won't be too far away from the Aces 20 or so meeting total I would think.. Anyway, it won't happen at the NSS given the 4G would be destroyed..

Plenty wide enough and probably a perfect shape.. Stocks can do all sort of damage to 'tight' circuits but the more circular ones tend to handle them well.. As you say the protection of the 4G would ensure no chance of Stocks I would think.. It would be a decent money earner for the Aces/Council though I would suggest if there was ever a chance..

Hundreds.... Probably the No1 Stock Car track in the UK.. It didn't have a 4G pitch worth a good few hundred grand in the middle of it though..

Nice to see some true promotional thinking.. For me, I've always thought clubs should 'raffle off' a season ticket at say the first ten meetings or so.. £5 a ticket.. Get 100 fans paying and you get five hundred quid per season ticket.. Do it for the first ten matches or so, (so still excellent value to be had with around half a season left), and the ten tickets could be worth £5000... And surely, more than a 100 'regulars' would chance a fiver a meeting so possibly even more money to be had.?

It could be argued having four from seven will keep the season 'alive' for most of the clubs...

I watch a lot of 'old league Speedway' on YouTube, mainly from the eighties, and a hell of a lot of it is pretty garbage to be honest. Even allowing for the one camera, independent, straight to video coverage of the time.. The main differences to today when it's garbage is that back then the crowds were bigger so the atmosphere was there, and riders were mainly part time and hadn't spent fortunes on machinery to take part, so didn't expect/need big money to compete.. Nowadays you get pretty mediocre racing, interspersed with the odd great race.. Just the same as happened back then.. Definitely worth watching a few YouTube League meetings from the eighties and nineties if you have an hour to kill.. Pretty poor fair in the main and definitely not too dissimilar to what we get today at most tracks..

So (if correct) that's £8000 to be found each home meeting to pay him for home and away matches? At £20 to get in that's 400 extra fans a week, more if less than £20 to get in.. And 500 when you take VAT on admission into consideration. . Presume a big sponsor must be involved to cover a fair chunk of that? Or is the TV money being handed over to the No1 like it did in the Sky days? Can see the novelty factor kicking in for the first few weeks but not sure an extra 500 per meeting will be sustainable when the novelty wears off to be honest.. Nice to see someone try something different though. Hope it works out...

Cheers for the info John... Sounds like post Brexit those who complain the UK lads don't get enough team slots may be quite pleased... Will it go to three a side..?

Now the BSPA have become a Limited Company as a collective, couldn't they, as the umbrella organisation, sponsor the riders to come over? Would surely work out easier one person/group, within the organisation doing every Visa application rather than each club doing their own, and mean individual clubs under new ownership can still get riders... And a National Sporting body must surely carry more weight behind it than individual clubs, especially in the eyes of those decision makers who will want clear belief that any visa restrictions will be managed and controlled as agreed..

Just let it be with all these Beatles puns and start talking about the Speedway. . For me, if Wolves go with a team two points below the limit there is no chance for you Wolves fans that next year you will get back to where you once belonged.... But on the positive side, it at least looks like none of your team will have visa problems so all of them should have a ticket to ride.. I'll get me coat. ..