mikebv

2.5 million people live in the Grt Mcr conurbation... All within 45 mins drive... The track has fantastic motorway links, ie straight off the motorway and onto an dual carriageway/A road. Drive five mins and you are there.. Mcr City Centre is five mins away by bus. Many routes run past it.... Its less than five mins by taxi and train, (the station is five mins walk away)... Belle Vue have a 100% monopoly as there isn't another track within 30 plus miles... To get less than 0.1% of Manchester to attend isn't too positive a measure for those who run it I would suggest..

Go back twenty five years or so and there were considerably more attending the dog bowl on a Friday night than attend the NSS currently on Mondays.. .. Sadly I would say the NSS is simply fifteen to twenty years too late to be successful... The 'lost generation' of fans show very little signs of coming back and 'newbies' are very much conspicuous by their absence... A shame for the sport in general not just for the Aces..

Team racing might be the lifeblood Phil, but it simply doesn't work in this country.. Keep doing the same thing and the ever decreasing circle will eventually disappear.. The fans who have deserted the sport in their tens of thousands over the past 20 years are testament to team speedway 'not working'... To run a team sport you 100% need the emotional attachment from your fans to 'their team'... Yet (British) Speedway actually allows ringers to be brought it to replace riders virtually every week of the season somewhere... (And the way some fans accept guests makes you think that Speedway is the only team sport that gets injuries)! Let's face it, winning with guests gives you zero satisfaction. . And losing against a team of guest track specialists pees you off.. Why bother therefore putting in your emotional loyalty to a team when it's often nothing more than a random collection of riders, riding for that night under whatever flag of convenience has offered them the rides..? And ultimately, why bother then attending such contrived, artificially put together 'league speedway'? Who really cares who wins that particular night or indeed at the end of season given the contrived way any team gets to the play off? And if that is your starting point, god help anyone trying to make a success of it.. Many on here now say they attend simply to watch the spectacle of four riders racing around a track, and ignore all the nonsense that surrounds such a simple concept.. And for me, the raw material product is still worth watching.. Hence I will attend the SON and Cardiff this year.. The spectacle does still have a crowd pulling value without any shadow of doubt.. Just not (in this country) built around a team concept... (Unless of course very radical decisions are made, which given the track record of those in charge, would seem very, very unlikely)...

Team Speedway in Britain simply cannot work anymore.. Not enough riders to fill team spaces means guests and doubling up, which smashes any credibility of the competitions.. As a team sport, inevitably promoters 'want to win' , no matter the 100% lack of any kudos in winning a domestic speedway competition, a lack of kudos driven by their very own operating model, (couldn't make it up could you?).. Therefore, to win, they need the best riders they can get, riders who then are expected to have good equipment, good equipment that costs them a lot of money, a lot of money that promoters then have to pay out to the riders so they can pay for their good equipment and make a profit to live off.. And all the while bored, disillusioned and disinterested fans leave the sport each year whilst such nonsense goes on annually... For me, the racing is as good, bad and indifferent as it ever was, however run competitions with genuine credibility and you will still attract crowds in this country.. Less meetings, ran at individual level, with entrepreneurs hiring tracks to do one off 'weekend specials' will still get decent crowds I would think... A BSB Superbikes type offering, lots of different age and capability level events held over one or even two days.. Team Speedway, ran midweek, with two guests per team, and rider replacement being used for another two riders, as all the missing six riders need to be 'elsewhere' that evening, simply will never, ever work... Because it can't. ..

Reading the RG comments you couldn't help but get the impression of someone 'stating the bleedin' obvious'! It's almost like a summary of the past five to ten years on here!! However you then read comments around the fact that 'all promoters now realise what needs to be done' and you then think (amazingly), that maybe there have been some promoters over the past five to ten years who must have thought it was all going 'OK'! Maybe there now is a true realism of actually where the sport currently sits amongst the rest of the sports in Britiain and realistic plans will be put in place going forward? But you then read comments around guests for example, where they get dismissed as an almost 'inevitably', without even a thought to eradicate something that destroys any credibility the sport has, and you think that maybe after all that the reality will be more of 'same old, same old'.. He did mention being in the 'last chance saloon' so hopefully there is some real focus as a collective now... My doubt to be honest though is that as they are the ones who have led the sport to its current position (whilst blindly not seeing the obvious and inevitable conclusion that such a ridiculous operating and business model would bring), then, are they really the ones capable of sorting it all out? I hope so, but do have my doubts..

Loads could be done... Sadly it seems it never is... Almost like they have given up and have decided that attracting new fans, or lapsed fans back, is a bridge too far, and that cutting costs and hoping to maintain the 'die hards' is the way forward.. For a Sport that has a 100% monopoly not just in the town/city they are in, but at least for circa 30 miles around it too, it is amazing more isn't done to get the message out locally.. 60 million people live in Britain. About 25000 at best attend Speedway each week.. What an opportunity to improve that equation, given that you are the 'only show' in so many places countrywide..

The difference now though BW is that Wolves would run with three or four guests (all small track ringers) and RR for their missing riders rather than do what they did in 93 and have to reshuffle their team through signings... Meaning the same 'play off' nowadays would be another contrived farce.. Henka guested that night and therefore it could be argued that this was 'contrived', but for me as his presence had no bearing on his own team's chances of the League it seemed 'fair enough'... Maybe calling him a 'short term loan' signing would have been more professional than calling him a 'guest', however him being there (on a very good incentive too I believe) meant two very even teams on display... When Speedway is done that well you do have to wonder why they don't try and do it more often..

On the way out one particularly peed off/slapped arse Wolves fan who has been gobbing off all night after virtually every heat when victory had seemed a formality, said something of the sort of "Yowve unli wun it boi wun point, an if weed av ad Sammoi yowd err not wun it"!!.. We replied laughing.. "Yeh!, we know!!!" As we walked past we then asked the people running the 'megastore' if they had any 'Wolves 93 Champions' car stickers... They were not very friendly in reply..... Although that could have been down to the big stack of brown boxes piled up behind them.... Boxes full of what we will never know...! What a night, truly it compares for me with United winning the title in 93 after 26 years, and Barca 99... Pity you couldn't bottle it and produce the same crowds and drama today..

An incredible night in 93... Seem to remember the Aces were eight points down with three races left... A 5-0 changed the meeting... One of the Wolves riders got help off a member of the track staff when he fell off and remounted...(Wainwright rings a distant bell)? And after the race he was excluded... That point made all the difference.. Huge crowd, and a great atmosphere...

Not sure how it will be more competitive... 80% of the riders will be Championship riders so it will be as similarly competitive as it would be in the Championship surely? And a rider like Doyle, who is head and shoulders better than all but a few Championship riders, could make it even less competitive..

Wasn't it something like £150k to £200k to host a GP? If so. A 9000 crowd would need a minimum £30 adult entry I would think to hire the stadium, build the temp structures needed, and pay the VAT.. Not sure any room for concessions at these numbers either... Maybe the GP costs have dropped though? At circa £100k I would think it would be doable... Maybe BSI would want to avoid another GP in Britain though, as they may feel it could have a possible impact to Cardiff where I think I am correct in saying they promote and hold the rights for..?

Never really understood the point of season tickets.. Your most loyal fans will attend anyway so you might as well charge them full price.. And running an ST means you restrict your opportunities of doing 'special offers' through the season as this will reduce the ST 'value'... Maybe let those that way inclined pay up front for the season the same cost as attending each meeting individually, but give them a free programme or free car parking (for those who charge for parking your car) That would be worth around £50 I would imagine over the season, and it would then let the club do some 'specials'... Instead of an ST I often think there would be more mileage in rewarding 'loyalty' several times during the season... eg attend five meetings and get the sixth half price, you could put a token in the programme which means a programme needs to also be bought, and anyone with the five tokens can then claim their next ticket HP, (with a HP programme thrown in)... Many moons ago Man United used to do a token sheet via the programmes which actually helped them sell thousands of programmes, as even if you didn't attend you got your mate who did to buy you one. These tokens qualified you to try and get 'big game' tickets when they were an all ticket affair.. Speedway could go down this route and take the increased programme sales, or simply mark any tokens as 'declined' in programmes over and above the one purchased by an any individual... It seems barmy restricting a whole seasons long marketing capability to tens/hundreds of thousands of locals by flogging, at best I would say at most places, a couple of hundred season tickets... Especially in a sport so desperate for increased footfall..

Had a bad day acef? To be fair cannot argue with the sentiments of your last three posts.... The racing standard nowadays is largely irrelevant to the level of crowds watching in so much that the only people who can see any decline (if there actually is any) are those who go regularly... And as they are very much the diehards of the sport, who still attend regardless of what is put in front of them, they are obviously content with what they see.... I would suggest anyone new to the sport would still be initially 'wowed' by the sport at any track with any standard of racing.. It would only be over a matter of time that they could then become opinionated as to whether the racing was as good as they first went or not and decide to continue paying to watch... The initial 'wow factor' is there at every track, the bigger problem is that not enough of the local conurbations know about the sport to attend, or plenty of them have tried the sport regularly previously, and given it up due to its Mickey Mouse operating model.. The NSS delivers racing far superior to most and infinitely more so than the 'dog bowl' ever did.. So why isn't it full every week? 2.5 Million people live in Grt Manchester, all within 45 mins drive from the NSS. Which is 5 mins out of Mcr City Centre for those who use public transport.. I would suggest 2.4 Million of them have no clue (or at best very little clue) who the Belle Vue Aces are, or indeed, what Speedway is.. Thats the biggest problem the Aces have.. And that situation is I would say replicated around the country.. The standard of racing is irrelevant if hardly anyone knows it's happening in the first place..

Not sure why this is being done to be honest... There must be (at least) around a 50% drop in attendances over the past 10 years, and much more than that in the last twenty.. Therefore, talking to people who still go (the huge minority in the country) won't for me give any solutions to any issues.. I personally don't attend (British domestic Speedway) anymore due to the constant Mickey Mouse contrived nonsense put out in front of me, however those who still go obviously are happy to collude with Promoters that it's a bona fide professional sporting competition, and fair play to them for their stance.. Therefore, by their very attendance, they must be reasonably content with what is being offered. And by their very belonging to a Supporters Club in the first place, it also suggests this.. What the BSPA need to do is their spend time engaging with the 99.95%of the population who don't attend a Speedway meeting each week rather than the 0.05% who do... A failing business would be far better off speaking with those who used to use you, or have never heard of you, rather than those who have remained loyal, even more so when that business has haemorrhaged so many customers in the past couple of decades in particular.. Several other Sports run similar meetings to see if it can any add value to, and enhance, an already strong operating and business model... Speedway sadly doesn't possess such a thing, so not sure that even the best ideas will do much more than cover the gaping wounds with a sticking plaster in all honesty..

Maybe given the demographic of its fan base, the sport would be better off letting fans train their own pigeon to take their selection up to the referees box attached to their pigeon's feet? Maybe there could then be a prize of two tickets to the next Cup match to the owner of the pigeon that has come from furthest away?... Think of the excitement it would generate... Maybe one of those representing the supporters clubs at that BSPA think tank thing could suggest it? Obviously it won't be completely straight forward, as if your pigeon is injured and cannot fly on any given night, something like a wing injury or damaged shank, or your pigeon is already competing in a race over mainland Europe on the same night. Then there would need to be some kind of 'guest pigeon' system required to ensure everyone has a chance... Based on speed, colour and weight of the pigeons, and their previous performances I would personally suggest.... However I am sure a workable solution could be found... No ideas a bad idea etc etc etc..

Three Comps all ending within a fortnight of each other is crackers.... Spread them out over the season... Workington should have had several weeks of locally building up the hype of their potential double then subsequent treble.. Not to mention time to celebrate (and make the most publicity wise) of their first trophy won.. Expecting fans to attend every few days, like they had to, will inevitably also effect attendances negatively due to the cost... Spreading out the trophies will also potentially help teams that might start the season well and then get injuries.. Speedway should do as much as it can to keep itself in the public eye so spread out the Finals...

Is that February this year?

Paying out £20 grand for 14 riders per meeting in Premiership, cups and play offs, (over 90 or so meetings in total), would be £1.8M alone without the Championship costs.. Or have the days of £10k per team per night now gone?

Hype! Hype! Hype! You cannot sell the Sport to people who have never seen it nor are even aware of it... However. Advertising ten meetings locally, with a £200k prize fund, would trigger some interest from those who are blissfully unaware of Speedway I would suggest.. Its got to be 'in your face' these days to get your message out... And Speedway spends literally millions to remain 'small time' and unheard of... It needs to get its message out to the wider sporting public so they know exactly just how much is on offer...

All tracks pay their seven riders a fiver less each race..? (£300 a meeting). That would put a few grand a week in to get someone 'decent' across the Leagues.. BV used to pay (if 'informed' rumours were true) circa £3k a night for Matej Zagar... £6k a week if home and away... Since he left I haven't seen a mass exodus of fans so he didnt bring in anybody extra.. Yet giving £6k a week to a good marketing company would have I reckon.. Speedway spends millions each season on riders who deliver very few extra bums on seats, using an operating model ran by people with a vested interest, which actually dissuades people from attending... It needs to invest its millions far more wisely to get a better return..

Good call... I've said before, Speedway must pay out Millions to riders yet gets zero publicity to that effect..... The average Premiership club must pay a minimum £20k to riders for both meetings they have to pay out from their home match.. Thats on crowds of circa 1200-1500... Maybe advertise that £20k as prize money for an individual event with proper advertising and more than 1500 will attend? Throw in any current team sponsorship into the prize money to increase the prize fund.. Give all 16 riders an average of £1250 each and maybe they could be charged £250 to enter with the four finalists getting the £4K collected on a decreasing scale from the winner to fourth.. If you can generate a 3k crowd then double the prize fund which can only grow further interest.. Bottom line is. It cannot deliver a credible team sport currently so why bother keep flogging that dying horse? Maybe different promoters could also use the same track? Newcomers to Speedway doing one off meetings with fresh ideas? Less meetings maybe, but well marketed and credible, would be much more beneficial than what we have at present.. The racing can be great to watch, as good as in any era, so sell that...

As has been said countless times by riders, the practice sessions seldom reflect track conditions in the GP itself.. And flying out the night before is quite normal for riders.. As for injuries, riders ride now the next day with lots of minor issues and only serious injuries mean their absence (concussion, broken limbs etc) and getting them the night before or the week before would mean they still miss the GP.. I am sure common sense will prevail with regards to fixture planning, especially given the huge potential for Polish clubs to get even bigger crowds swelled by 1000's of overseas visitors flying in for the GP... Conspiracy theory Alert! Should this be Poland's backers' 'back door' way of trying to take more control of the GP's by holding riders to ransom (so they have to make a choice), it will at least mean BSI have to stay on their toes and up their game with regards to the rewards riders get for competing... Which is currently quite poor when you measure it against Poland's salaries.. I would suspect most riders would take the Polish meetings regardless of whether this would impact their GP place or not, given the financial rewards both currently bring. Especially now with the increased TV exposure for their sponsors... Being able to tell every one of your sponsors that their name will be on live TV every week must be a huge positive for both riders and the clubs themselves.. Time for BSI maybe to make their GP series 'unmissable'?

Pretty sure I watched BV race on a Friday night before the Bradford GP in 1990.. It was planned in that way to attract the foreign visitors over for the GP.. So nothing 'new' about this if it happens.. I suspect the Polish GP's will be similarly targeted to attract the overseas fans and boost the attendance of the League match.. The splitting of the TV contract will I am sure benefit the League, and therefore the riders, enormously, as more money comes into the Sport in Poland.. More chance for the riders to get themselves known to a wider sporting audience as every rider will be on TV every week.. We shouldn't knock Poland's 'power to do what they want' as their professional business and operating models give them that deserved status..

I think with the way riders ride all over Europe, and domestically for several teams in different leagues, the process they follow is this.... 1. The Premiership build their fixtures based on the rest of Europe's fixtures.. 2. As soon as this is confirmed the Championship build their fixtures based on when their DU riders are not riding in the Premiership... 3. The NL then build their fixtures based on what dates are left....... But for all the fixtures after April I am not sure what system they use!.... Rock, Paper, Scissors would work..

That they are all still there at the start of the season and don't get suddenly removed from their positions?