mikebv

Pretty much so.. Maybe if you said to 'Dave', "You can bring you, your missus and three kids for thirty quid on a Friday evening, Saturday evening or Sunday late (ish) afternoon". He might take you up on the offer..? Ask him to spend forty quid plus for him and his family to attend, on a school night during the week, and I would suggest the likelyhood is he won't..

You only have to look at Poland as to when the best time is to run Speedway.. They wouldn't dream of running at any time other than weekends.. Play offs get decent crowds over here but I would suggest it doesn't make up in any way shape or for how many don't attend during the season due to riding Monday to Thursday.. The other glaring issue is how very few teenagers go.. Meaning free admission to Kids with a paying adult simply doesn't maintain enough interest.. Letting 18 and unders in for free, if still a student, would at least possibly deliver some return when they become 19 and have to start paying.. It would also mean they could attend in groups which teenagers so love to do... And not have to stand with Mum, Dad, Gran and Grandad.. And wouldn't be any financial loss really as they are not there now. But you may make some money at the bar and burger van!

It's not so much the bikes are too fast, for me, it's more the tracks are not designed to handle their speed.. The NSS proves time and time again that fast bikes on that track can deliver awesome entertainment... As does Poland, Sweden and the GP'S, SEC, SON etc.. High speed and great, close racing is the 'Holy Grail' for Speedway. It's just not delivered sadly over here at too many places. 100% spot on with points 2 to 6. Can't see too many of them ever getting overcome though to be honest, given how far away the Sport over here actually is from being able to correct each point you make..

I think the list of other attractions during the week impacts more than not being allowed to stay up.. Since the halcyon days of the sport there are a myriad of things for kids to do post school hours. . Thousands of kids football/rugby/cricket etc teams now operate and train during the week, my lad trained four nights a week for his several sports teams.. My daughter used to attend two dance classes that were packed mid week.. Schools now do an incredible amount of after school clubs till 8pm or so, covering drama, dance, arts, media production etc etc given so many now have state of the art facilities... And of course you then have gaming which keeps the little cherubs up to all hours on a school night.. Bottom line is Speedway doesn't maintain the interest of enough kids, many of whom "save the world" each evening on their PS4, narrowly avoiding 'death' each evening to do so.. Hence 'death defying Speedway' leaves them much less impressed than the way earlier generations used to be.. They simply get their adrenaline rush elsewhere these days.. And let's face it, anywhere your Dad and Grandad go to (and most of the crowd are 40 something and above), cannot be cool can it?

I would imagine even 'amateur' racing would have 'fixed costs' eg insurance and medical cover.. Would the ref cost more too? "Pay to ride" like so many other Motorsports do at entry level would work I would think and maybe persuade more clubs to run such events?

You are correct. Only downside though would be the cost nowadays of 16 heats as well as the expenses to be paid of the second match. Some struggle to pay out for 15 heats now with no second match.. Maybe a six man team/12 heat match would be cost effective? All pairs race against each other for the first nine heats, then do a lowest scorers to the top for the last three heats? No1 pairs up with No6, 5 with 2, 4 with 3 in the first nine races... Then throw in a four man a side six heat 'junior match'? Both pairs race against each other then lowest and highest scorers in the last two races? Three races per rider.. 18 heats in total, meaning all the 'senior' riders get four rides each, the 'junior' riders get track time, and the fans get 3 more races than they currently get now. And overall it may also be cheaper for the promotion paying out six less races at 'senior rates' over the two meetings the home income covers..?

We don't have Leagues structured for progression.. We do have Leagues structured to give riders without overseas contracts loads of races to earn money...

As we have seen from far too many British lads, not focusing on overseas racing when you reach a certain level can hold you back... Max beating lower level riders time and time again over here won't improve his riding.. Giving 100% focus to Poland and the GP's in particular will deliver further down the line in his career I would think.. Hope it works out well for him if that what he decides to do..

My kids too were the same.. The issue though is they didnt pay to get in so whether there or not BV didn't make any money... As they got older and into their teens. Of the two, my lad rather than my daughter was the one who badgered me to keep going, however when he got to 14 or so he started to take the pee somewhat as to the contrived nonsense of select teams (didn't ring true to him as legit, given he was/is an avid football fan who attends games regularly) and became quite indifferent to attending when the 'teams' were made up.. He does though still (now 16), love watching Speedway racing and watches Poland, Sweden and the UK on TV every week, and loves to attend Cardiff, and always wants to attend any FIM events that are based at the NSS. (SON, World U21 etc).. Will he still attend when he has to pay for himself? For FIM events very much probably yes. For UK League Speedway, (unless it becomes credible), quite definitely no... In summary. Focusing on the 40/50/60 something ex fans, and try and to get them back, would be easier than engaging 16 year old kids, and will return more income..

And the great news is that there are tens of thousands of 40/50/60 somethings out there who will either have used to go, or know somebody who still does.. It is a bit "staytin' the bleedin' obvious" isn't it to try and target a market who already know about you, rather than one which has little interest and won't pay full price for a very long, long time. (Should they keep interested that is, which is very much unlikely looking at how few 16-25 year olds attend).. But maybe it isn't so obvious to some?

Ford should be thinking about himself.. He is a business man.. He has made it clear the club is up for sale if the right offer comes in, and has been for a long time, however no one has come in and bought it.. Maybe 'the fans' who want to stay in the Premiership should buy it? Too many 'Promoters' run their clubs as an expensive hobby and it shows in the way they run the sport... "Sustainable losses", supported by other parts of their business, seems to be an accepted year end performance for too many.. As you say, he has been good for Poole and hopefully made money, therefore as a business man if the model you are using suddenly stops working then you need to change it and see if something new does.. Fair play to the guy for doing it as far too many run with the same plan every year with the inevitable same results..

To be fair, the same can be said in many ways for Football, Cricket, Tennis, F1, Moto GP, Superbikes etc etc etc. The admission costs particularly have ensured a much older demographic are their main followers.. 20/20 Cricket in particular though do a great job in attracting families though cheap tickets. And they do this to create the atmosphere that any sporting occasion needs to be memorable and addictive.. The truth is many teenage kids don't want to go anywhere near where their parents frequent as it's all 'a bit sad'.. Mobile phones, Play station, X box, catch up TV, and Social Media give them all the entertainment they need without ever leaving their rooms... Getting the many, many thousands of 40/50/60 somethings who have left the sport over the past ten years or so to return would be far easier than getting a younger demographic through the door... But if those who run the sport don't see any issues to resolve, and can't see why so many have left, then that simply won't happen. ..

Maybe they all start "equal" then after ''x' matches home and away whoever has the highest average becomes the benchmark for the rest to work too? Too often, and too early in the season, there is far too great a gap from top to bottom, and given the restrictive rules around allowed replacements all that seems to happen is the bottom teams do nothing but 'move around the deck chairs on the Titanic', and don't move forwards enough to improve a failing season.. It would also mean that by the end of the season teams should all be closer to each other with their final average meaning that maybe they could start to use the Champions figure as the starting point the year after? Whatever system followed using averages will be inherently flawed due to all the variables within its delivery, and its subjective nature, however ending each season with teams miles apart suggests it needs some improving to deliver what it's supposed to..

However, riders averages are massively impacted by any large home track advantage.. Therefore a team who were very dominant at home can have higher averages than a similar level of riders who don't have that home track benefit.. And, as always, the league starts off pretty level every year, then (it feels since time began), each year a month into the season at least one team is cut adrift, and by the end of the season the top to bottom gap is a chasm.. So much for the sport depending on averages to keep things close every year.. The evidence suggests it doesn't..

But what a team to pull a crowd in wherever they rode around the country? Would be the best crowds of the season at each track I would imagine.. Similar to the way the Ipswich team with Rickardsson, Gollob, et al pulled in fans when they visited all those years ago.. As you say, no one can afford a team like and ironically it would probably reduce their own crowds as they would smash everyone, every week, and be play off guarantees months before the play offs, which would again reduce fan numbers due to many meetings having little riding on them.. You can build a very decent team (and affordable too), to Swindons average (as Swindon showed!)...

Not fair... I didn't really know what I was voting for... So therefore, I want another vote.. And I also demand at least three years worth of prevarication before the original decision is finally verified.. Or isn't..... Anyway, just got in, popcorn freshly popped and ready... Good thread this...

Must admit, if I had a customer of 40 odd years who stopped shopping with me due to my operating model I would be quite interested in their opinion and feedback.. Especially if they have "loved" coming to my store for a long, long time.. Whether I could do anything (or would want to) to meet their requirements anymore is another matter, however any business failing to meet the needs of its customers needs to be told why its failing to at least review its operating model and see if it can make changes to meet expectations.. If it can afford to lose custom to deliver an overall better profit (as can be very much delivered), then that is up to them to follow that path accordingly.. No one would waste time coming on here fo discuss the sport if they didn't feel passionate about it, and it would be very boring if everyone thought the same.. Recently the Unofficial Aces FB page lost some contributors who had an alternative view to many on there, and sadly its content has suffered accordingly... And there is always the ignore option...

Or save the £480 to pay for the 'extras' by giving the 14 riders on show £20 less? Which is a fiver a race based on four rides... No disrespect to any rider but your ideas would have more likely hood of enticing fans to return than their 'name' ever will such is the lack of awareness of the wider public to who currently rides Speedway.. You can do so much to engender customer loyalty which actually costs very little..

Here what your saying. However, I would think though there are enough fundamental improvements that most fans would sign up for, and by their implementation would make a clear, positive impact to crowds.. Running on the best days/nights for your customers to attend rather than planning your opening hours around your employees availability must see an improvement in crowd levels surely? Also running regularly during the warmer, dryer summer months, when the kids are off school, must deliver better crowds than running in dark, cold, damp October? And running finals staggered through the season must also help with crowd levels and rider availability too, rather than cramming them all in post September on random, cold nights, using guests (which devalue the competition), to beat the season dead line? And finally, running the sport with credibilty and integrity must improve crowds simply as those who don't any longer attend due to amount the contrived meetings put out far too often, would go back to attending again.. As you say, many are the varied ideas in how to improve things on here, some almost wish lists, but these four suggestions are pretty much standard, basic business practice rather than any re invention of the business wheel.. In summary... Open your doors when your customers want you to, at the optimum times for them to use your services so maximising your sales... And then ensure that what they are buying is something they can trust and believe in and want to repeatedly purchase.. Pretty basic stuff..

He will be doing both... Any clash would be quite rare I would imagine.. Still, I think it would be better to have 100 or so regulations, sub regulations and sub, sub regulations, written out for any such eventuality... Just in case..

Who gets priority on any clashes? And will the other team be allowed a guest curator or will they need to run CR (curator replacement)? Presume if they are allowed a guest curator the replacement will be allowed to do up to 5% more laps of the track grading and watering than the curator he is replacing?..

It will be fine... We put the clocks back an hour yesterday,..

Spot on.. Should have been implemented years ago.. However I wouldn't think too many clubs would want to pay out (or afford) £300... There would be some mileage though if it was treated as 'free practice' I would reckon... 'Junior scurrys' should just be seen as experience and opportunity for lads to ride a bike and improve.. MX riders often pay to ride at grass roots level therefore entry level riders need to understand getting paid won't happen till they reach the top two leagues...

It's very clear that 'a night at the Speedway', ie two 'teams', 4 lads per race, 15 heats etc etc, simply isn't enticing enough, or being considered value for money, for the required number of potential punters to regularly deliver big crowds in its current guise... Not sure though that those who run their respective clubs all have the capability in doing anything about it collectively unfortunately, as surely they would have done so already? One thing for sure is that continually running events with the priority being you meeting your employees agenda, rather than the agenda of your customers, cannot work in business.. The NSS shows that even with its great racing, 'build it and they will come' is nothing more than a throwaway line from a movie.. Enticing the punters in through targeted marketing, and impressing them from the moment they arrive, to the moment they leave, is the only thing that can drive forward an entertainment buisness... You sometimes get the impression that some Promoters would rather spend more time, energy and focus on negotiating an average for one of their riders to get reassessed down by 0.1% or so, rather than use their obvious passion and love for the sport to focus their energies on what really matters to their customers. .

And that's something so many of the Promoters won't even have considered.. Mikkel Bech, (no disrespect intended as it could be any one of hundreds of riders), will not inspire too many 'ex fans' to the tracks, nor resonate with anyone who doesn't attend Speedway but have a vague recollection of the sport.. Get the on track (and off track), entertainment sorted out and you will have a far greater chance of growing your custom, regardless of who the competitors are...