mikebv

My first sporting hero as a four year old kid.. Sad news... RIP Ivan... A TRUE Legend of the Sport.

Or run the Sport properly and make a signing or run RR? If RR then the next two riders should be able to take two rides each... Too easy to run guests hence the Sport does... Hence it sadly has no credibilty. ..

Spot on GW... 2.5 MILLION potential fans reside in the Greater Manchester conurbation, all within a 45 min drive from the NSS, with good motorway links to get there off the M60 Motorway Ring Road... Aprrox 1500 of these 2.5M (at best) attend each week... The ONLY Speedway Track and Team within their area... With a potential 'reach' of that magnitude, something doesn't add up does it?... And as the racing is generally VERY GOOD indeed at the NSS the lack of support has to be down to the cost of admission.. And I quantify that by the fact that there are probably 3000 - 4000 or so actual people who would consider themselves BV fans who attend sporadically over the Season with varying degrees of regularity, but simply don't see paying out the current admission levels each week as within their ongoing capability fiscally.. On here, we often talk about how to engage new fans, and mention how poor the Sport is marketed both locally and nationally , however, within most catchment areas there are a huge amount of people who 'used to go', possibly to an even higher number than those who still attend.. Just getting those back each week would be an enormous leap forward.. But at current admission levels I would say it would be very difficult to do that... Just as a throwaway thought, I always think it 'interesting' that when you do see meetings advertised in local papers either through adverts or in the weeky 'piece' put together by the local journo, they often never mention the admission costs as part of the meeting info... Most businesses who want your business scream out about how much they charge don't they? Strange that Speedway doesn't..!

With all the early call offs there must be an agreement between clubs to save as much as they can.. And to be fair, myself and around 500 others I am sure would have given tonight a swerve if the weather looked ropey.. The sad thing is not one rider there tonight would attract 500 extra punters over and above the usual crowd yet the weather will remove 500 due to the fact we have all felt conned in the past by getting meetings on at all cost or watching nonsense racing to get a result... The irony is that using just a fraction of the TV money over the years for track covers would, I am sure, have given greater confidence to those 500 to attend, as more chance of a meeting being on if all the rain has fell pre start time, yet millions have been spent on riders who have very little impact on the crowd levels.. A strange business model indeed...

EVERY spectator counts I would imagine (in particular this year), given the lack of TV money and the demise of crowds over the past few years or so... Simply even what may be called 'regulars' will often give it a miss if there is even the slightest chance of a meeting being called off/effected in quality, therefore saving expenditure has become something that needs doing, literally, 'at all cost'... Not ideal I 100% agree, but this is where British Speedway has now placed itself through the operating and business model it has chosen to run with over the past 20 years or so...

Difference was HTG that in those days mainly semi pro riders rode a full seasons calender every week, riding 80+ times a year, earning good money to back up their 'day job' earnings... Riders also didn't have several bikes and mechanics in several countries that required them to ask for (and receive) thousands per night in salaries.... Salaries that mean admission fees have risen hugely in advance of inflation since the 70's... An unustainable business model that no one seems to want to admit to, nor change...

To be fair, I think SS was 100% correct with his forecast.. It can only be presumed therefore that it was the weather that was wrong....

Imagine trying to launch an enterprise that at the core of its business plan is the belief that it will be successful by only opening sporadically and inconsistently.... And that its opening times will be heavily dictated to by the employees telling the owners when they are available, rather than the owners opening their business when they can generate the highest customer numbers (and income) through their doors..? Any business person coming up with that idea would be considered certifiable!!.. Yet year on year, this incredibly is how British Speedway allows itself to be ran... Cannot think why it isn't more successful....

Just another in the catalogue of "make do and mend" decisions which have been delivered over the past few decades, and left the Sport (in this country) where it currently is.. It will never change until the day an independent person or body runs the Sport with a clear vision for it... Someone who will make decisions for the greater good of the Sport rather than any individual's specific needs and wants... And as we know that is never going to be allowed to happen the Sport will continue to regress at its ever increasing rate..

There would appear to be a more concerted plan to call off meetings earlier so far this season.. Some will criticise if on the night at start time there isn't a cloud in the sky but from a business angle it's the right thing to do... Many fans now steer clear of nights when it 'looks a bit dodgy' as most have felt ripped off in the past thru either paying for an abandoned meeting or watching riders going through the motions to get a meeting to the required heat to force a result... Therefore calling off a meeting early and saving thousands in costs, which will never get recouped from a low crowd, has to be the right thing to do... Especially as Speedway is now pretty much down to the die hards so every spectator counts..

Clashes will be inevitable through the 'two set nights Premiership' actually being a 'three set nights Premiership'.. Just another typical 'halfway house' British Speedway decision that tries to appease everyone but invariably ends up working well for no-one..

And the added issue with 'getting in early, whilst they can', and then not getting meetings on, is that fixtures start to pile up so tracks end up running three times in seven days later in the year, which then creates reduced crowds due to the costs involved and the 'guestfests' that often get created... As an overall business model, if you showed it to a bank manager for a loan to finance it, I would suggest not many would give you the cash..

I think it's simply the 'bumper crowds' that Easter brings is the only determinant... Given the paucity of fans who now attend, those extra 500 or so who go at Easter must become a significant part of the tracks business plan.. Rendered a complete waste of time obviously when the weather is so poor.

Another fantastic publication that launches every Speedway Season so superbly.... Just a shame that the Promoters of the Sport, as a collective, don't launch the Season so superbly too..! Anyone delivering such an excellent piece of work should be very proud of it and their achievements...

Let's hope for Lynn fans that 'Kings Lynn clap, clap, clap' isn't similar to something the Japs would chant!!!

I don't think Season ticket holders will stop going in any great numbers because as you say they have already paid up, however Poole do definitely have an issue with 'fair weather fans' who turn up regularly when successful but taper off when not doing so well.. To be fair, all clubs have the same issue, not just Poole, but given they generally have the highest attendances in the country 'when doing well', it just seems to impact Poole more when they have not such a good season.. My team for instance were pretty much dire for the last decade at the old track with a bottom two finish pretty regular every year, which meant crowds were not great but the 'hard core' 1000 or so went virtually every week regardless of result. Poole, in particular, seem to have 1000-1500 or so more fans each week I would say when doing well, whereas BV would only get around 200-300 more if having a 'successful' season.. Hence, Poole are probably victims of their own success over the last ten years or so, in that they created an expectation for their fans which is unrealistic to keep delivering in a Sport that changes team strengths so much with its 'survival of the weakest' Mickey Mouse rules.... Add in the 'halcyon days' of the 'turbo twins' in their pomp, who would also have brought people in, and you can see why the Poole of today (and Matt Ford in particular) need to try and stay one step ahead of the game when it comes to successfully building teams.. And no one should blame him for finding an angle in team building if it is legally there for him to find in the first place.. Poole Speedway has to make a profit, and to do that it with the make up of it's fan base, it appears to have to be successful to deliver that profit.. And lets be honest, there's nothing wrong with aspiring to be the best..

No need really to trial anything... They already have the control mechanic to reduce any drawn out evenings. . It's called the putting the riders on '2 minutes'!! They just need to bloody use it properly!! Put everyone on two minutes after say two minutes of the previous race finishing.. I would also add that if there is an unsatisfactory start then absolutely no pit gates open and the riders come back round straight away, meaning the bike you started the race on is the one you start the re-run on.... No faffing around adjusting clutches or indeed any other mechanical adjustments that get disovered by the 'false start'. (And surely fuel isn't required just by doing a false start)? Call the 2 minutes, and if the race hasnt already started by the time the full 2 minutes have expired, send the tapes up the moment 120 seconds have past and start the race, riders ready or not. (Excluding them will just delay meetings further whilst decisions get made as who will race in the re-run/riders go back to the pits gate to 'faff' with their bikes).. It will take a fortnight or so I reckon to embed the consistent use of what already exists, but isn't used anyway near effectively enough currently..

Spot on.... Watch any of the PDC darts streams from the 'floor tournaments' that take place almost weekly around the country as qualifiers for other TV tournaments. Many have no commentary at all.... Many are played in sports halls in front of 'one man and his dog' and sometimes played out in front of no public whatsoever. If a stream has any commentary it is often just someone detailing the scores.. It can very often be therefore mind numbingly dull, with the only sound heard being the match score announcer and the 'thud' of a dart going into the board. There's no way on earth watching that would get you 'into the darts'... Then equate that to watching darts on Sky and ITV... The SAME 'sport'. The SAME players, MVG, Anderson, Cross, Wright, Lewis, Wade etc etc have to play these 'floor tournaments' but its millions and millions of miles away from exactly the same thing played out on a Thursday night in the PL, in front of huge 10,000 crowds with commentators shouting out loudly what's happening above the ear splitting crowd noise. .. Tatum and Pearson bring their passion to the Sport, and as it's a high adrenaline, high octane Sport, there is nothing wrong with trying to impart how exciting it can actually be to a (often ignorant of Speedway) watching nation.. More power to their elbows (and vocal chords)...

Mmmmmmm.... Atmosphere at a high octane, adrenaline fuelled sporting event? No doubt infused by fans' noise and engagement to what they are watching? Now that there is a 'novel' idea..... Wonder if it will ever catch on? Who knows, if it does, maybe some fans would go back the next time to sample some more of the same?.... Nah... What am I thinking?....

WOW!!! Just WOW!!! Form an orderly queue Kings Lynn fans and get there early for the first meeting... If this doesn't pack em in, then nothing will...! Can anyone beat this though? Surely there must be some on here who could even eclipse this stupendous effort.. WOW!!! (again)

That's the reality of the situation and the fundamental issue the Sport faces.. If you attended the NSS for your first meeting, and Cardiff for your second, you would find watching racing at the NSS is a million miles better than the racing at Cardiff, yet watching the 'greatest race ever' at the NSS with around 1000 others, will not generate anything like the same passion, emotion and atmosphere that a Craig Cook 'mundane' tapes to tapes victory at Cardiff would bring with 40,000 alongside you... As Workington have tried and proved, there simply isn't the take up for the Sport at its 'normal' current admission costs, so sadly you will never deliver those 'big crowds' anymore.. And, as it would seem, these admission costs won't come down anytime in the near future, then the simple truth is that there is no way forward for the Sport in its current guise in this Country.... Which is a shame as it can be a fantastic nights entertainment (When done well, with credibility)...

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss... You will get fooled again...

To be fair to the Promoters, not really sure of what benefits there are to any individual club getting their name out there at a Speedway GP in Cardiff... The event by definition is attended by (in the main) Speedway fans only, who no doubt can name every club in the land and what nights they race on... Having any representation there by a club would simply be preaching to the converted.. The event itself is successful I would suggest due to many 'lapsed' Speedway fans attending and others like myself who miss plenty of domestic meetings due to their lack of credibility and use the money saved to enjoy a weekend at a 'proper' sporting event... The vast majority of fans who attend Cardiff know what is served up at their local tracks each week... Hence domestic Speedways attendances....

Always wondered why riders don't stand together more when payment isn't forthcoming.. No riders, no Speedway meeting...! Didn't Captains once have to sign something to say that all money was paid and up to date..? Sadly, you sometimes think that some riders would jump at the chance of taking a guest booking to replace another who takes a (ludicrously unfair) 28 day ban for "withholding his services" rather than standing as a collective to get a fair deal..

Spot on... What so many promoters over the past twenty years or so have failed to grasp is how important that 'emotional attachment' to your team actually is... The riders mentioned (and many more) helped engender that loyalty bond between fan and 'their' team.. Nowadays two random, cobbled together septets riding under a couple of 'flags of convenience' masquerading as body colours, simply can never engender that loyalty... Running a team sport with such a concept and expecting enough of a fan base to buy into it to make it successful is frankly ludicrous in the extreme... Oh for Wilkie and others of his like today...