mikebv

Kurtz simply couldn't get outside for the first two laps due to having two Lions between him and the fence... He then decided that he was never going to get out there in time to build up enough momentum to pass them in the two laps left, so stayed inside, running closer to the kerb to find that extra bit of grip the NSS has down there.. Nearly worked too...

No! No! No! We must keep team racing with seven riders per team, 15 heats of four lap speedway, and maintain the excellent facility to upgrade your team by using better riders from your competitors on an adhoc, make it up as you go along, basis... The riders should be expected to have at least £20k of kit available at all times and the promoters can then pay them several times that.... And do so through an admission fee that bears little correlation to the standing and credibility of the sport, but has everything to do with paying out those tens of thousands to riders so they can be fully professional in a sport that barely generates 20,000 visits a week from 20 matches across the country... Keep that fantastic operating model that devalues any and all competition's, and there really is no need for any change at all... Rinse and Repeat, roll on 2026... Next on the agenda. Find the next cannon fodder team to make the top tier up to seven teams, rather than doing anything radical...

Are they still sulking about him not being a permanent wild card for the GP's?..

Poland desperate to get Dudek back into the GP's....

With the saddest thing being that all this was crystal clear before a wheel was turned... The Birmingham riders will earn a good few quid guesting for Leicester, Oxford and KL I would think, as I am not sure they would want a rider from a potential play off rival to help them out.....

Which, to put some perspective to it... Around 35 to 40 UK top tier meetings worth of fans...

Kurtz and Bewley....... PC and Mort couldn't have done it any better... And that is the highest praise I can give them having watched those two in Ht13 in those days winning many a 5-1....

That was exactly the same case over 2 years ago... Why did the penny never drop?

Lewis Kerr riding around bends 3 and 4 twice.. Quality coverage....😀

We say it every time for the TV matches... They do p1ss all to attract a decent crowd in for nothing more than a play off qualifier... They therefore get the crowd, and all the negative impression of the sport it creates on TV, that they deserve...

Some are not looking too healthy to be honest....😀... Several hundred with very, very red faces looking at the Grandstand... Oh hang on, no, they are seats....

Riders riding in several leagues can easily outlay well over £30k a season... They need some decent money to make sure it justifies that level of outlay... Hellstrom-Bangs, a couple of years ago, said he spent well over £100k, on his equipment and tuning, in an interview in the Speedway Star, and said that is what is needed to give himself the best chance of success, particularly in Poland...

A completely different outlook then, from now... Big crowds provided "working men" with additional income, who, often several evenings a week, earned, on each evening, more then they earned in a whole week of doing their "day job"... Only the very top riders had the sponsorship and salary band to make Speedway their profession... Nowaday much smaller crowds (maybe a tenth of 40 years ago?), are funding even juniors as full time professionals for at least 6 months of a year, (and for some all year!)... With the ultimate irony being of course that promoters expect their riders to spend tens of thousands on kit, so they pay them even more tens of thousands in salaries... And then collectively get together and devise an operating model that pretty much devalues hugely every single competition they "desperately" all want to win!!! Unsustainable madness and a true race to the bottom, as has been seen over the past 30 years or so, with absolutely nothing changing.... (Other than we had a green helmet cover for a while, which, very surprisingly for me, didn't bring tens of thousands of fans flocking back)....

Birmingham should have been allowed to ride in tier 2, on Mondays... A complete waste of time, money, and credibility for the league itself, allowing/making them ride in tier 1...

I came back to the sport when the Aces went to Kirky Lane in 88, and remember paying either £6.50 or £7 to get in... It went up to £8 within a couple of years! A huge inflation busting % from the initial cost I paid.. This for me was the start of the "big" decline in attendances as, year after year, as disillusioned fans stopped going, the promoters, (instead of doing some research as to why their crowds were dropping), started to offset the drop in income by more inflation busting annual increases... The result being the vicious cycle of less fans turning up, more increases, less fans turning up, more increases, less fans turning up, etc etc etc.. Even today, no research is done as to why fans (many of whom still passionately follow the sport), don't attend.. Many clubs have more followers on their Facebook pages than visit the track each meeting, (their own fans, not generic fans of other clubs who "join in").. With some having several thousand than actually turn up to watch.. Social Media is a perfect mechanic to gain some feedback and then take action to rectify the issues and move forwards.. It will never get used...

But! But! But!.... It's about winning three of the most prestigious, financially rewarding, and publicity gaining, sporting titles you could ever hope to win in any sport in the UK!!!!! It's definitely not about growing the sport in UK, and making the international team so successful that the wider mainstream media take notice of it, (like they did when "England" consistently ruled the roost and like EVERY other sport, that isnt football, focuses on to get their slice of the publicity left that football hasn't used up)... And it's certainly not about having plenty of riders to fill in for absent riders without resorting to using credibility destroying guests, (because they are a "necessary evil" don't you know?) .. ... No, far better to keep flying in the Speedway equivalent of a dozen and more "Carlos Kickabout's" with all of them making it very, very clear, that you are the (at best), third of their priorities, behind Poland and their relevant home nation's league... As you say, madness.... But, not surprising...

The sport does have "more than enough" of a following of those who "love it", yet what it never does is target market them.. Why do those who turn up (every year) at tracks on BH's then sometimes never attend again that year? And, more importantly, who are they? The club's spend nothing to directly market their product to individuals who actually purchase their product "sometimes", or even "semi regularly", yet spend millions on riders, who, clearly, don't put many extra bums on seats by their attendance.. You only have to have an email or a mobile number to see how businesses try to keep punters coming back, as you get bombarded with "special offers" once you have purchased something off them.. Speedway in the UK would be far more successful than currently if it just got those who do know about it, actively follow the sport on TV, and also attend occasionally, to make more visits.. You do that by using the information your punters provide and then target them with specific personal offers to try and attract them to attend.. Much easier than expecting 500 "newbies" to suddenly attend is to get 500 "non regulars" to attend with some inducements, and, as we know, the bigger the crowd, the bigger the atmosphere, meaning, potentially, the more chance of crowd levels consistently improving, as the virtuous circle gets turning.. An example is the BF. The crowd must have been around 2000 down on the previous year. Therefore all those who didn't attend, but did the year before, should by now have had an email offering them 15% off next years event.. Speedway doesn't need loads of "new fans", it just needs to get more repeat visits from those who actually do follow it.... To do that however, you need a marketing strategy fit for the IT generation of 2025...

If the Colts were "the only ticket in town" then their crowds would be up around 1000, and maybe more, I would suggest .. It is indeed good family value but, for many, that is on top of already paying out for watching the Aces, either the week prior or the week after... As for newbies? The "World Famous Belle Vue Aces" would hardly get a recognition nod door to door in Gorton, Longsight, Levenshulme, and City Centre Manchester, therefore not much chance of the Colts being known in areas "on the doorstep"... You only need to see the response when fans get asked to pay just six quid more to watch a double header after the main event featuring their NDL team to see how little regard and interest so many with a team in tier 1 and 2 have in "junior speedway".. As I said, maybe if that was the only speedway they had, many would attend...?

He wants everyone to know so any lapsed fans may go along for a few final "fixes" before they lose the sport forever in their city... And, obviously, each tezm will be attending for the last time at some point, so that again should bring an away following in excess of what a normal meeting would bring... It may also get some local media traction and they could then gauge the level of response so as to ascertain if there is any hope for the sport going forward in Birmingham.. A sensible time to call it from a business perspective...

And too many will only stay at a certain level even when their fanbase numbers suggest they financially cannot hope to compete with other teams in the league they want to be in.... Meaning that their very presence in that league lowers the standard of it, and create's dozens of "mis-matches", which does nothing but lowering its already unsuitable level of fanbase, plus, adversely impacts the attendances at other tracks when they race there... What a plan!!!!

And the way Poland pay their riders, it may not be just one meeting's worth of money... If he has been given some signing on money (often used for getting the speed required in the riders equipment), that too could need paying back for missing their fixtures...

Ipswich traditionally always get a big crowd on BH's, (particularly when the weather is good). I remember the GF crowds were often the highest in the UK for the whole of the season... The issue they have, like all other tracks, is maintaining something similar the next meeting, let alone the rest of the season.. Where do all these disappear to? And why?

Spot on... And teenagers don't want to be seen out where their Dad and even their Grandad goes... They also "hunt in packs", so let them in for free, as many mates as they can muster, until they leave school, and see if any stay on and pay as adults... There are hardly any there now, so almost zero to be lossed...

It's all very "Mickey Mouse" isn't it? But, to be fair, that is pretty much Speedway's level in the UK, and has been for several decades.. Far too late now to change anything... They missed a huge trick when coming out of lockdown to reposition the sport with a fit for purpose operating model and even maybe a salary cap... Instead. They chose to carry on doing the same failing nonsense that clearly wasn't working given the dwindling crowds year on year.... It's just "tick, tock, tick tock" for UK Speedway, unless anyone grabs it by the "wotsits" and directs it "off the track" to deliver the following the "raw product on the track" deserves...

But, this is where the play off system comes into its own., Hopefully, in 3 months time, both will be able to represent Ipswich in the play offs...