mikebv

I would think its down to the 'every £ is vital' situation that the sport has 'sleep walked' itself into Phil.. Probably worth over £2k all those £2's.. Pays for a heat leader I would think..

Bang on the money.. Those tracks that still exist in inner cities are often surrounded by ethnic minorities yet very, very few of those on their 'door step' are in attendance.. Running a shop one mile away from BV, my customer base is 31% Asian/Asian descent, and 5% West Indian/West Indian descent.. Guess what? I bring in loads of products Asians and West Indians want to buy!!!.. Asian families too are often larger than other non Asian families.. A rich untapped market.. Seemingly ignored..

No, just entrance fee.. Car Parking and Programmes will bump this figure up to a fair old amount at some places... But they are, like consuming food and drink at the venue, both 'optional extras'... I always park out on the side streets at BV and never buy programmes.. If I did it would take the cost well over £30 quid for the two of us.. NB in the SS this week it has corrected Leicester's admission to £16. Still very good value....

"Struggling with the set up, we just need to work harder to find it".. "The track is very different from practice" "I need to find my gating gloves"... etc etc etc.. And then produces a storming ride when its needed most, which very, very few could emulate, and belies several months of utter mediocrity... Not a new phenomenon how Chris' season's pan out so shouldn't be any surprises.. (He seems to be doing well in France)...

Isn't Lambert riding U21 this year? Thought he was, doesn't it depend on your age at the start of the year or season? If not then Dan Bewley would be a great U21 'third' rider, particularly at the NSS.. Would make sense crowd and PR wise too. Bring a lot of local fans in who may be undecided abut going, and give BT a positive narrative about the 'future of British Speedway' etc..

Dont think it does cost 'loads'.. With ITV being regionalised often you find complete ad breaks given over to 'small' businesses in your local area, which, I presume, is offered out for less than the usual going rate? Here in Granada land we often see ads for local car sellers, caravan sellers, private hotels etc etc. Not usually during peak time but during lesser watched programmes.. A bit like you used to see in the cinema with Pearl and Dean.. Par Par Par Par Par Par Par Par...etc Maybe given the 'close' proximity of Busters three clubs, a collective advert covering all three might be worth it? Or maybe, heaven forbid, the sport does one as a collective and goes national with it!

He is correct though... Poole by definition of their success attract more fair weather regulars than clubs who win nothing each year.. When in the odd year times are not so good, these fans seem to disappear.. Hence Matt always makes changes quickly if he thinks the team isn't play off/title winning material as he knows expectations are much higher than at lesser achieving clubs. 300-500 fair weather non attendees each week will leave a big hole in the coffers .. Victims of their own success to a large degree I would suggest..

You can't take your eyes off this one Nige... Speedway out of the top drawer... Pretty sure that's what the two Polish commentary lads just said!!! Can see me quite getting used to this every Friday...

I believe ''someone' said recently Kenny Bjerre wasn't at heat leader level in the UK any more? Hope that person is watching him tonight being a heat leader in the top league in Poland..

I have a suspicion the sponsorship he brings helps.... Good meeting this....

What a ride from Shamek 1-5 to a 3-3.... Superb.....

130% more to watch the same fourteen riders? As you say, it must be blinding racing at Kent...

Some common sense ideas.. So much could be done.. Flood secondary schools with free tickets, do the same with colleges and uni's... Lads and Lasses doing mechanical courses, give them some hands on experience at the track.. Dont bother with 'free when accompanied by an adult' rubbish, teenage kids hang out in packs, let them all in for nothing.. They are not there now in any amount of numbers, so absolutely nothing at all to lose, even if ultimately no gain.. And you may sell some more teenage/18+ fodder, burgers, pop, booze etc. So those who own their food and drink outlets would benefit from the extra footfall if nothing else..

Whilst I am sure the racing matters, for me the lack of any atmosphere generated by having so few fans st Speedway meetings is what's killing it quicker. Perceived poor racing in front of a big crowd always seems so much better, and vice versa, great Speedway comes across as much less than it should when played out in front of 'one man and his dog'.. Hardly any away fans, and a home fanbase quieter than a Library, means a very flat atmosphere, and ultimately suggests the meeting isn't one that has any value and therefore not worth your continued patronage.. Unfortunately poor crowds are a self fulfilling prophecy... As why should you attend when hardly anyone else does? And slowly and inexorably the rot sets in.. Maybe collectively the sport should agree away fans get some special deals to encourage their attendance..? Fuel costs now are far different from 20 years or so ago meaning an away trip can be an expensive night out.. To help offset these costs, maybe charging just a fiver entrance to away fans would be worth it? Tickets they have to purchase from their home track direct on match nights in person, so as not to allow any 'non away fans' to jump on to the offer by post or via websites.. "Buy a ticket to tonight's meeting and get in to the next away match for a fiver"! Hardly any away fans go now so selling tickets for a fiver wouldn't do too much damage to profits I would suggest, and it may just deliver a better atmosphere... Which may also deliver a more positive self fulfilling prophecy?

And will he be riding in the SON? Would Rosco pick a rider not competing at any where near the highest level when many other Brits are in the top league? Also he wouldn't be as 'match fit' as less meetings will have been ridden..

With Sky's money paying for so many of them... Over £100k per team given out for a long, long time... Now, no Sky money therefore a lot less 'top quality' riders.. Time for some clear re-alignment and re-avaluation when it comes to salaries in the UK, and it looks like it is starting.. Maybe it will need several more steps back to eventually start to go forwards..?

Same thoughts struck me... I have a fairly decent salary but not sure I could afford (or justify) £100+ per month for four Speedway meetings out of my disposable income, with the inevitable teenage requests for food and drink on top! There are so many other costs these days that have to come first.. Kids aged 13 - 16 are conspicuous by their absence at a great many tracks, maybe charging for them to get in also dissuades parents to attend who otherwise might go if their teenagers got in for free? Use free admission for their teenage kids as a 'loss leader', as let's be honest you don't see many teenagers now at many tracks so hardly a huge income loss... Do those who let teenagers in for free now I wonder see a reasonable amount of them there? Someone needs to replace the ageing demographic over the next ten years or so..

Reading the Speedway Star, and looking at the admission costs listed for each track, I thought I would see what the cost would be for me and my 15 year old lad to attend each circuit.. These teenage years (last year at school) seems to be the ones when 'kids' drift away from the sport, just at the time you would want to keep them interested as they are only one small step away from being potential paying customers themselves.. With the SON being just £22.50 for me and my lad to get in, it certainly puts into perspective some of the admission charges being asked for, and may also give some steer as to why terraces are hardly full to bursting. Some real disparate numbers for 'the same product'... Fair play to Buster, his three teams are by some way the lowest charging in the Premiership.. £27 - Glasgow, Edinburgh (Booked Online pre match day it's £25 at Edinburgh) £25 - Poole, Belle Vue, Wolverhampton, £23 - Swindon, Kent £22 - Redcar, £21.50 - Birmingham £21 - Scunthorpe, Somerset £20 - Newcastle £19 - Cradley £18 - Kings Lynn, Ipswich, Peterborough, Plymouth, Eastbourne £17 - Berwick £16 - Sheffield £15 - Leicester £13 - Isle Of Wight, Mildenhall £12 - Leicester Cubs £10 - Belle Vue Colts..

I would suggest the 'natural level' of the attendances you can get determines what league you race in rather than the standard of riders in view... Somerset and Leicester for example, are for me traditional 2nd tier teams... Both have recently had a dalliance with the top league and decided that they couldn't justify paying out for a higher level of rider as their crowds didnt increase sufficiently (or maybe even at all), to cover their costs.. Every team has its 'natural level' and it is quite pertinent that teams always need their 'arms twisting' to come up, such is the risk their crowds won't increase, and their lack of belief and confidence that increased crowds will happen... I actually think the Aces for example would still get 1300 - 1600 or so on a Satuday night charging circa £15, riding at a '2nd tier' level as that is their 'natural crowd' level.. Clubs such as Poole, KL, Swindon, and Wolverhampton are all for me similar to the Aces in that they will get 'the best crowds in Britain' regardless of whether 'World Class' talent is on show or not, (as long as they are allowed to ride on any night that is best for them)... Hence the top tier is the 'natural position' of these teams... Most teams who average 800 - 1000 are therefore naturally 2nd tier, and regardless of who gets brought in, their crowds will pretty much stay that way I reckon..

There did need to be some 'balancing' and it looks like Buster is the man who has taken it on himself to do it... Read Craig's comments in the SS and understand his view completely... However, bottom line is, you work for someone under their terms and conditions.... Or you don't... I am sure Craig will get a team place given the nature of the sport.. And who knows, maybe some team in a difficult position will offer him even more money than he would have got at PBoro....?

£16 in 2008 is worth just under £22 now so sitting down at the Aces is still more. However charging just under £22 at each top division track as your base price would be a disaster I would think.. I think the admission price surge of the late noughties though were a reflection of the rising costs that the 'superstars' started to incur as they started to ride around Europe virtually every night, and the fact that crowds were starting to drop significantly, so inflation busting rises were being pinged in to balance the books.. Around 2010 I think the sport reached that tipping point where promotions finally realised (at EL level) that they couldn't keep squeezing more out of an ever decreasing number of people year on year, and slowed up the increases to try and keep the fan base they still had from leaving too.. This was the start of the 'exodus' I would say of the very top riders as EL promoters couldn't justify having three top heat leaders per team as the crowds wouldn't cover the cost of doing so... The PL just seemed to jump onto the coat tails of the EL prices and kept their admission charges a pound or two below in the main, even though they had no 'superstars' to pay for which always surprised me, especially given how the 2nd tier mainly had EL level second strings at No1... Presume it was the Sky Money that heavily subsidised the EL?

Damned if they do and damned if they don't.. I remember being in a crowd once, a crowd full of anticipation to see a new track, (maybe you were there too?), and coming away thinking "Speedway! No matter how many times you give it another go, it will always be a Mickey Mouse amateur shambles"... At least this time a couple of thousand fans (including Aces supporters again no doubt), won't have yet another reason to feel so peed off with the way the Sport is ran once more... And no need for humble pie either, as with any Speedway meeting, the track may have been absolutely perfect on the day but the heavens might have opened so no meeting would have taken place anyway... The season finishes many months from now, so better to wait and do something properly, than rush things through half arsed and spectacularly fail... Especially when you are in Swindons unique position where they will want to be seen as ultra professional in the eyes of the public and local officials, given the challenges they are facing with their new home.. A brand damaging opening night farce could have been a disaster that they just may have struggled to recover from..

Leicester v Somersets crowd on a Saturday night would be worth a review I would suggest. . Last year it would have had the then World Champ turn up on a Monday night.. This year it won't... It will be interesting to see if having the World Champ there on a Monday brought in many more than 14 'lesser riders' will on a Saturday.... The Aces crowds didnt seem to have been adversely affected by having no Zagar last year, a then top eight GP rider...

No riders missing but fans missing.. Already one fan on Facebook needing a refund as he has changed his working nights to a Wednesday as he believed Speedway is now ran on Monday and Thursday's.. It didn't even last a week...

No nights will ever be right given the nonsense that pervades as its operating model.. If the day ever dawns when it sorts itself out, and can run itself as a team sport based on one rider having one team, and can cover absences from squads rather than sharing riders, then weekend has to be the desired times to open.. For Worky running so many meetings in such a short time was the disaster, rather than running on a Saturday, and Lakeside had to vacate the stadium.. There is a reason why Poland run at weekends. The crowds this weekend show it. If they ran on Monday and Thursday's this week the crowds would have been many thousand poorer (even though every superstar on the planet would have ridden).. Lets be honest, hardly any riders now riding in Britain put 'bums on seats' so you might as well run at weekends to see if non superstars can generate big enough crowds. Currently 'Superstars' don't bring the crowds in on a Monday, Wednesdays and Thursday's so got to be worth a try..