mikebv

They haven't for the past two decades when they should have done, hence we are where we are today... Maybe those chickens have finally come home to roost...?

Dead rubbers .. So picking and choosing... Packed for Wroclaw and Torun I would think... And the play offs... A similar pattern to over here... But obviously they start with many thousands more so less impact financially. Hopefully a cracker coming up... @ShanoXtra give us a wave..😁

Heat leaders plus 4 to 5 for fhe Aces... The rest, plus 10 to 12 for the Witches...

Me and my lad will be there weather, (and rider availability permitting), so that is at least two more than last week... I don't have BSN simply because with Poland, Sweden, SEC, GP and domestic UK Speedway on TNT, all available to be watched, that is "quite enough".... By Monday I usually have "Speedway fatigue", especially as I am now retired, so I can watch Saturday's Polish meetings as well... Even Sweden on Tuesday can often be missed, (until the play offs).. UK Speedway hasn't moved forward one iota with the decades of regular national TV coverage since Sky started showing it, so maybe it's time to ditch it? Sponsors, however, may be impacted though and they do seem to be the "lifeblood" of many tracks looking at attendance numbers, so maybe the TV coverage is actally keeping some going?

If the promotion was serious they would drop Sedgmen, Kerr and Rowe, and bring in BZ, Laguta and Lebedevs... Need to be ruthless, there are riders out there, etc etc etc...

It is a balancing act isn't it? If the weather is dodgy then last minute decision streaming means clubs get some money that they wouldn't if that person had stayed indoors.. On the other hand, if you have paid for a BSN package then you are probably more than likely to use that instead of, rather than attending in person, especially given the oultay and the current economic situation.. In house streaming costs the club to produce, but BSN doesnt, and actually provides income.. TNT definitely impacts attendances, but, they again pay for their coverage, and, let's be honest, clubs do very little to promote the TV meetings in a stand alone capacity, so they must be content with the situation.. Speedway is truly one of the very, very few sports that hasn't seen growth, or major sponsorship, via regular, sustained TV coverage over the past 30 years... Which suggests the issue lies much closer to home than any TV coverage dissuading people to attend..

I am still truly amazed they didn't... It was a complete free hit to reset the sport and relaunch it... Nobody even lost money as they were shut, so what an opportunity to spend some of that cash on some proper relaunch marketing... That they came back with the "same old, same old", you can only assume they felt nothing needed to change... Which, if correct, is also truly amazing...

Let's do some numbers... For two GP riders it must be (based on info from a few years ago), a minimum, circa £3k a night... With two, it is £6k... So, £12k needed in sponsorship and attendance, (and it may be more), from your home meeting to pay them for the next away meeting too.. And, if rumours are true, for some, £3k is on the lower end of the scale... Taking BV as an example, if you removed Brady and Dan next year, and ran with five rider teams, (the same lads as now), then that would be a huge saving... 10 meetings @ £12k is massive... You could bank £6k a night from the current outlay, and use the other £6k in knocking six quid off 1000 tickets which might entice those less regulars, or even those who stopped going, to get to the NSS.. Watching the Polish top tier stars is truly a different level, but, the brutal truth is they don't "pack em in" enough to justify the outlay, and, beyond them, you still have the Mickey Mouse aspect that dilutes what their incredible talents deliver. Good to read that Chris Louis is involved in the future plan. And intelligent fella, and one of the very few that seems to grasp what is needed.....

Ipswich Town was full as it is (was), a novelty value of seeing truly some of the worlds best players after so long... And relegation was a shoe in from an early part of the season so why not still go and watch world class players? Even if they are on the other team.. And £40 is "good" for the Premier League... The GP and Polish Top League riders generated initial uplift in crowds, but then the "novelty" wore off, (as predicted), and now unfortunately could become surplus to requirements..

You could wear it in the pits helping out a rider... I have seen arse crack on TV and a "V n Hal n" T shirt being worn..

Agree on every point apart from the 15 mins of entertainment... There is zero to keep me entertained during the gaps between racing.. 1970's music? Really? I attended an indoors MX event in MCR ten years ago and every Speedway promoter should have gone to it... The on track action was only a part of the evening.. You could win a mini MX bike, (just £5 a text), and 1000's of dads texted in. (Me being one).. They fired, via air gun, t shirts (all small so kids got them), into the crowd, and my lad got one... Each rider had a merch stall, with shirts, photos, selfies etc.. And Monster Energy Girls... (Ahem)... The guy in the middle kept the evening flowing, the music reflected the hi octane, adrenaline fuelled sport... And I didn't have a clue who anyone was but paid seventy quid for me and my then 12 year old lad... And it was worth every penny.. Some on here say that the gaps between races is a chance to talk with those they stand with and haven't seen since the last meeting, which is fine.. But what do those attending for the first time do? Twiddle their thumbs? A high octane, adrenaline fuelled sport should have an off track package that reflects it... UK Speedway's off track entertainment is truly dire...

His voice wasn't "great" last time I saw him... Mind you... His face wasn't either.... I looked more like him than he did....

Is Bomber singing insted of Bruce?

100℅ agree... Charging me over £70, for 15 minutes entertainment, to watch a competition where it really doesn't matter who wins it, and providing competitors with 12 months money, for less than six months work... In front of circa 1000 fans... Will never work... My lad plays semi pro football and plays in front of four figure crowds, which UK Speedway would kill for, but none of them has to spend £20k on their kit, and, therefore, none of them, expect to not have to work six months of the year on the money they get paid... The UK Operating model is simply not for fit purpose, and has been so for decades... It sounds like someone has finally realised that.. Unfortunately those who have suddenly realised this have also been running the sport for the past decades... Not holding out any hope...

A Mickey Mouse Sporting League.. Four guests and RR? Not a problem, please take it seriously like we do, and form an orderly queue... Swapping two guest riders (so they ride for both teams) in the middle of a play off final ? Not a problem, please take it seriously like we do, and form an orderly queue.. Bomber helping Ipswich knock BV out in the semis, and then representing Sheffield to beat Ipswich in the final? Not a problem, please take it seriously like we do, and form an orderly queue... First v Fourth in the play offs? (Unless of course commercially it is better to change the rules?) Not a problem, please take it seriously like we do, and form an orderly queue.. Adam Eliis and MJJ only agreeing to ride for the first few weeks of the season, and their club, and the umbrella organisation, not informing the fanbase? (And then making them out to be the bad guys, even though all on here knew the reality).. Not a problem, please take it seriously like we do, and form an orderly queue.. For me, the wife, and my lad, it is over £70 to attend... Come on UK Speedway, treat us with a modicum of respect as to what you serve up.,. And, who knows, we may attend more...

Glaringly obvious for years... When emergency surgery has been needed for decades, we had sticking plaster, after sticking plaster... Tens of thousands more still follow the sport than feel attending each week is worthwhile... Just get them back onside by listening to them, and delivering a great night out for twenty plus quid..

A purple one if history is a guide...

600 to (on a good night), 800, was never going to sustain a competitive team in Div 1.. And, before some come on and say previous promotions did it, they didn't have to lay out big money to expensive top riders as very few rode over here for several of those seasons.. And they also often were in the lower leagues that crowds of 600 to 800 could be coped with... They simply should have been allowed to ride Mondays in Div 2... If that meant a few "guesfests" then so be it, (what's several more added to the overall total?)....

Why change the habits of a lifetime?

And the Sky money was over a million a year... For, was it 20 years? Some top names got to retire from the UK off the back off that... Before earning shed loads more in Poland...

With the same old, same old, operating model being used.. I suppose if it was good enough for the 70's it is good enough for now, over fifty years later... An amazing concept....

Top three v Top three (at the NSS), the Aces shade by maybe four... Bottom four v Bottom four (anywhere), the Witches are considerably better, (12 points at least I would suggest)...

Those who still attend are pretty much "lifers" and will mainly turn up every meeting... And, with the end of the Brummies, maybe a few more of those who have drifted away from the early Tony Mole days will attend...? Plus, a few more away fans on a "last chance to see" mission could add a few dozen to the total.. I think he has probably spent enough over the years, so fair play to him for not spending more...

.And require about an extra £5k to £6k outlay to pay for the home and away matches. Even for an "average" Polish top tier rider... Who would put hardly one extra person through the turnstile... That is the reality, hence no point in chucking good money after bad..

Maybe Wroclaw had paid for his physio...?