mikebv

"Less guests" is your typical Speedway half arsed measure of success., But as we know, in reality it's no measure at all.. How many guests can be used to keep the Sports credibility and integrity? How many guests can be used before the Sport has no credibilty and integrity? A typical Speedway measure of success based on subjectivity rather than a tangible attainment... BV have been involved in meetings containing 17 Guests this year. (14 used by them). Is that OK? Does that maintain credibilty or not? Or is 16 the level of success? Or maybe 18 or 19, before credibilty is lost..? One thing has though clearly emerged by the way 'fixed nights' have been implemented.. And that is Guest riders are a main fundamental part of the operating and business model of the Sport (if they were not then simply all teams would have been planned in to ride on the same night)... Therefore the Sport has gone well past its tipping point re ever being ran like a 'proper sport', so surely the best thing for it to do, is to leave each club to run whenever it likes on nights it can bring the most customers in? Guests will always be required it seems as there is no appetite to change this, so you might as well just put out two teams of any random riders on the best nights for your customers who (by the definition of still attending as they do) don't see Guestfests as an issue, (or if they do, they see it as a lesser issue than how the race night negatively effects their capabilty to attend).. BV this year has seen crowds drop. They have used many Guests (or maybe not that many, who knows???) However, riding on a Friday or Saturday would still have meant Guests (and maybe even more), but crowds would have been 300-400 bigger I would suggest.. And an extra 8000 punters per season would bring circa £100k in after VAT (about a third of the rent)... Time to accept what we have is all there will be and stop trying to meet things 'halfway'.. If it has to be Guestfest after Guestfest then so be it... But be transparent about it...

Get a successful GB Team and the media profile will increase. Rugby Union and Cricket latched onto that years ago to compete with a Football obsessed media and population.. When GB ruled the roost in Speedway, Terrestrial TV and the Newspapers were interested... Then along came all the Scandinavians and Americans who we trained and Terrestrial TV and Newspapers no longer wanted to cover something without the 'feel good factor' that successful National Teams bring.. Do that and the domestic scene will naturally start to see benefits (like it has done previously) through its association. (Ideally with the most recognised British lads riding over here!).. Have some kind of reward for the League Winners to make that competition relevant. Do this by paying 'Team Prize Money' each meeting rather than individual points money and have a Trophy at the end of the season for the team that tops the Leagues. (You can still divide up the cash individually 'off camera' as per each riders agreement..) Then have the play offs.. If, as now, the play offs are 'all important' why bother attending matches before that when they are nothing more than a warm up for the main event..? To encourage regular attendance flog discount tickets at each meeting for the next two/three/four matches etc, it is quite stark who 'irregular' the 'regulars' can be... Simply, get those who do actually know about the sport and do attend, to attend more...! Don't bother with season tickets as far too restrictive to encourage 'special offers' through the season.. And the 'die hards' will come anyway. .. Ride on the best night for your business with riders committed to putting GB first.. And No 'Mickey Mouse' "arr but this is Speedway" make it up as you go along rules. .. (Poland and Sweden never use "arr but this is Speedway" to justify nonsense administration do they?).. It looks like GB actually now have a 'proper plan' led by people with clear vision with, most importantly, Woffy well on board, so maybe, just maybe, there is a small light at the end of that long tunnel?

Surely more 'ludicrous' is facilitating a fixture list to allow teams to race on different nights to simply just allow teams to share competitors, as well as let ringers be brought in for or a myriad of reasons, with all the nonsense that this comes with...? If nothing else though, these comments do tend to confirm that those who run the Sport in Britain have effectively given up on ever running its various competitions with credibility... Its probably 'ludicrous' too for fans of the Sport to expect it to be ran like a 'proper Sport' would be...? Still, at least those who still attend now know what to expect and shouldnt therefore complain.... As, by attending, you give 100% endorsement to what you are having put out in front of you...

What if you have fixtures planned in (like Worky did for example) and then get them removed? A bit harsh penalising teams then...

To be fair... If Thousands of fans NOT attending each week, every year, for the past 20 or so, and finding something else better to do, hasn't influenced them one iota... Not really sure what else will to be honest....

So money talks.... What Poland wants, Poland gets....

My lad plays Sunday League Football... His Club has teams from U8 to U18... There must be around 200 lads/girls in the whole of the Club.. They play in a League that has 40 teams per age group over Four Divisions.. Thats approx 400 different teams in total... That's approx 8000 lads and girls.. Many of the games are played on adjacent pitches so three times on a Saturday and on a Sunday all pitches are full of kids playing football, coaches coaching football and lots and lots of parents, guardians, friends, relatives etc etc of the kids watching football.. Why dont Speedway clubs sponsor their local League and set up 'roadshows' at the various game venues each weekend..? They could either do giveaways or flog £5.00 tickets for adults with kids free.. (These people invariably are not attending Speedway now so hardly any threat of loss of revenue I would suggest).. Plus you would get 'teams' turning up together which can only encourage further visits as individuals won't be 'the only kid there' which looks to be often the case currently.. (As BV have a football pitch in the middle of the track maybe they could even put some short games on during the interval or maybe a longer game before the Speedway starts)? It costs approx £3000 to pay for the end of season prize giving day trophies... My team (BV) must have circa 20 different football Leagues in and around the Gtr Manchester conurbation, in towns such as Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Inner City Mcr, Bolton, Wigan, Tameside... A huge amount of U18's to be made aware of the Sport and targeted... Add to Football, you have Rugby, Cricket, Hockey, Lacrosse and even Cycle Speedway Leagues, (many U18 riders of which don't attend Speedway)! (?)... There are lots of opportunities to get Speedway noticed in its local community with many not costing the earth to do so..

Maybe with it being ran on a designated night that Poland have priority to use, the FIM cannot do anything anyway? The BSPA have thought of the 'One Sport' Comps as nothing more than glorified contrived competitions in the past not allowing riders to ride in them.. Maybe a 'Test Match' not on any international calender falls into the same category in the eyes of the Poles?

Or one of them breaks ranks and goes on Dragons Den with them....

Would they have to if they are only using songs from "K-Tels Hits of The 70's"...? Maybe it works like Car Tax and you don't pay if what you are using is of a certain age?

The harsh reality is that with Rye going and possibly Lakeside, approximately just around 1500 people (at best) will have to find something else to do each week (well month), (or maybe every fifth week etc etc)... In fact if EVERY track closed then out of over 60 Million people in the Country about 30,000 (again at best) will have had their regular Speedway fix removed.. To put it into context Stockport County's final regular League game of last Season had over 6,000 there in the Vanerama North... 'Desperate times' would actually be a step forward I would say...

We go back again to an independent governing body.... Maybe the SCB could step up to the mark and actually run the Sports regulations and disciplinary code rather than the Promoters 'self governing'...? Other Sports eg Rugby's two codes both run salary caps and have both taken disciplinary action against teams abusing it.. The bitterest and possibly saddest irony of course, is how Promoters often try and seek an advantage to manipulate victories to win a competition that is deemed completely 100% irrelevant by the very manipulations they are taking to win it... You must need a degree to truly understand the level of how ridiculous that is... However, if the Sport is actually ran 'properly', ie with credibility and integrity, then maybe Leagues will actually become worth winning?... And Promoters then see what a positive impact to their crowd levels their transparency has?... And stick rigidly to all the rules and regs, not only to the letters of the laws, but the spirit of them too..! Please.... Let me believe for just a few more seconds...

The saving would be a salary cap of £5k per team per night. . Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten riders! It doesnt matter. . £5k per team per night max.. Divided up any way they want... The 'price point/number of races' conundrum would have to be well thought out but they couldn't go over £15 per adult I would think...

Teams should pay no more than £5k a night... £10k needed for the home and away payment... Five man teams quite possibly the maximum.... Top rider earning around £3000 for both meetings, and No5 earning £1000... Maybe some performance related pay in line with any crowd increase above "break even"...? Maybe even £5k a night is too much in the current climate? Bottom line is 400- 500 people paying £17/£18 and clubs keeping the same outgoings is nothing more than a road to nowhere... You cannot pay seven riders out for two meetings on that at the current salary levels.. And £17/£18 admission isn't going to ever bring thousands in, with no doubt a planned inflation busting increase next year to pay for this seasons drop in attendances adding to the exodus of fans.. Something has to give... And reducing the number of 'employees' thus reducing your payroll, allied to a reduction in operating costs, is 100% the 'short term' way forward for any struggling business... The secret then is to grow your customer base to allow you to pay more in the future to allow you attract a higher standard of employee and/or increase your head count again... I think that this finally may be sinking in as Promoters realise that working in splendid isolation is actually no longer beneficial to them individually, and definitely isnt for the 'collectives' long term positive future...

To make one league work the standard would need to be 'Championship Lite' I would say.. 1000 per match paying a tenner wouldn't even cover that level though I would think... Maybe 1000 at £12-£13 could cover it? But sadly 1000 may be too high a crowd level for some maybe?

I really do think that the 'penny has finally dropped' with most (if not all) Promotions, that collectively they are as close to rock bottom as they ever have been.. Even the most myopic now can see that without other teams to race against their own business isnt worth a jot... Necessity is truly the mother of invention so I can actually see them (for once) working together... Without sounding too cold and calculating the demise of Rye and possible closure of Lakeside (and maybe others?) will actually release riders to be shared around the rest of the tracks which can only help the credibility of the Sport as guests shouldn't be needed as 'subs on the bench' will be readily available awaiting team places.. More riders and less team places can only help in driving down salaries too as supply will actually be more than the demand required... And then who knows? Maybe admission costs will come down to a level that reflects the Sports standing rather than trying desperately to cover it's frankly ludicrous salaries for such a tiny minority Sport..? Surely, the only way is up from here? Let's hope those who run it can be radical enough to deliver the required improvements..

8 - 10 points that may ultimately help knock his own team, his own fans, and incredibly HIMSELF out of a chance of being a League Champion... To be fair though.... Max Fricke did his level best to do the same on Monday.... No Promoters (or fans) should ever moan about why stadiums are empty, and the mainstream media persist in completely igoring the Sport, whilst such nonsense is allowed to take place... What you got away with years ago simply doesn't wash anymore in the glare of the 24/7 public scrutiny of Social Media... "Arrr, but this is Speedway". Is the stock answer from those who bury their head in the sand and collude with the promoters by attending and pretending that it is a 'real' Competition... (Those few who still attend that is)... Those many more thousands who have given up ever hoping it may one day gain credibilty to make it a bona fide 'proper' Competition, have a somewhat different view I would suggest.... And have 'spoken' loud and clear through their continuing absence....

Also all four riders line up and not allowed on track till the pits Green light is shown... No drip feeding... All come out together and have two mins to make their way to the tapes.. Every race so far I have seen has had 'tapes up' (at the very latest) just seconds over two mins from the Green light, with the vast majority starting well under 2 mins from it... It all looks very professional.....

I would say technically you are correct.. As him being in the team gives the only chance of winning....

BT now lost the rights to show UFC and NBA... Coming on the back of losing Serie A maybe a chance for the BSPA to negotiate a better deal? Won't be many Sports left on BT so maybe Speedways stock can rise..?

"A Five One-er"... "A Four Two-er"...

Exactly... Ipswich for example must be better off surely riding twice a season at home, in a bona fide League competition, that has credibility, against 'local' rivals such as KL, Peterborough, Mildenhall, Rye House and Lakeside than once a season against Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick, Redcar, Newcastle, Workington, Sheffield and Scunthorpe?. (Ten matches against 'local rivals' rather than eight against teams a minimum 3 hours plus away MUST deliver better crowds you would imagine) You can still race once a season against the teams from 'The North' to add variety to the competition but race more often against your 'Southern' neighbours.. Getting the team strengths right would be important to encourge teams to maybe leave the NL and five man teams may facilitate that... 'Championship Lite' would be the standard I would think that possibly could be affordable maybe? No1. Current Championship No.1, 3 or 5/Premiership No.3, or 5 (many are the same rider!!) No2. Current Championship No.3 or 5/Premiership No.2 or 4 No3. Current Championship No.2 or 4/Premiership No.6 No4. Current Championship No.6/ NL No.1, 3 or 5 No5. Current Championship No.7/NL No.2 or 4... Grade riders for each sector of the five team places and use an overall mean average of all the riders within the Grades to deliver a team total that teams cannot go over (ensuring no team can pay out more money to entice the best riders out of each Grade)... Affordable to deliver one bigger league of say 16 to 18 teams split into North and South? And all teams race on nights they feel with deliver their biggest crowds, with the caveat that if you want to use a GP rider (or ones with GP/World U21/SEC/Overseas Leagues intentions and ambitions) then you don't get to use guests to replace them should you decide to run on Tuesdays/Wednesdays/Fridays/Weekends... (If GP riders ride for the money on offer obviously) which would be a fair few quid less than current I would suggest... £15 admission (tops), £5k per team per night salary cap.. 'Stars' may be lost. (And let's be honest, not many generate 'extra' on the gate now anyway)... But 'new Stars' will be found.... And a British League with a heavy majority of GB riders can only help the National Team in the long run too surely?

I would say not... The inflated money that the GP riders got would have increased the salary expectations of the 'next level' of riders too. (And the same no doubt through all the levels)... And these 'next level' riders have now become the No1's in the main so salary expectations will be higher rather than lower I would imagine... And we still have GP riders Doyle, Cook (would have had Holder), and I am sure NKI who rode during the Sky Money days won't be earning loads less than two or three years ago... The difference is rather than payout the £100,000+ given to them via Sky they now have to find this themselves or to maintain the income/cost balance, reduce costs by around circa £3.5k per team per match.... (I would suggest not too many have been able to do that)... In fact, given the lower attendances reported down to the fixed nights being non weekend I would think even more costs now needs reducing to 'break even'...

Sky pumped in Millions over many Seasons.... This is the first full Season without it... This money would have been very important I would suggest in keeping tracks open during the time of the contract...

A good template to use may be something based on the US Conference system...? Maybe 16 teams, five riders per team? = 80 riders needed.. (Meaning plenty of subs on the bench for injuries).. North and South Conferences 8 teams in each... Home and Away twice in your own Conference (more local opposition) delivers 28 Matches, and then one match home and away v each team in the other Conference (16 Matches)... Meaning 22 Home matches and 44 Matches in Total per team.. A max of £5k per night, per team, salary ranging from £1500 to the No1 to £500 to the No5.. Meaning £220k income needed to pay riders for the regular season. An average crowd of 900 adults would deliver £297,000 (inc vat) at £15 admission... Top four in each Conference play off v the other Conference top four Home and Away, eg First in North v Fourth in South, First in South v Fourth in North etc.. Using the Top Fours should hopefully keep most teams interested for most of their Season.. Finalists would have therefore a total of 50 matches, with effectively Three play off home matches to hopefully generate 'better than 900' crowds... Maybe run each meeting with an advertised £10k Prize rather than just paying out the £10k in Salary to both teams..? Much better for marketing purposes... In fact advertise the Prize Money for the League as the TOTAL of ALL the matches that make the League up, (it will run into MILLIONS)... Not 'small time' that level of Prize Money!... Now THAT would make people sit up and take notice of the Sport!! And more 'proper' matches against local opposition has to be the way forward surely if 'team speedway' is going to continue? And plenty of 'subs on the bench' can replace injured riders or off form riders (just like other Sports do) which can only deliver the credibility oh so lacking when 'guestfests' take place. Two Conferences would bring variety too... Who knows? Maybe the 16 teams could market themselves collectively like the US Conference Leagues do? eg, Sharing all production costs of a range of bespoke branded merchandising nationally and therefore share the sales income too? Producing merchandise for 16 teams will deliver a mucn better purchase cost price and profit margin than each track doing it individually and each product can be 'branded' the same apart from the Club Insignia.... Whatever the way forward.. Each club will need to recognise that their business can only be successful if the businesses of their opponents are at least sustainable, and egos may need to be reigned in somewhat too when it comes to aligning yourself with certain levels of riders. The level of rider YOU may want to have in your team may not be affordable for the collective so compromise will be needed... 16 teams coming to the tapes at the start of the season all with a reasonable shout of the 8 play off places would be the utopian outlook I would suggest... Whether it can be worked out as a collective, honestly and fairly, and without anyone getting 'stiched up' is obviously open to debate...