mikebv

It is quite baffling isn't it? Millions shelled out over the past 20 years, as a collective... Non stop, year on year... And all to deliver what we have now? Quite incredible... Not for one single moment it appears did anyone within the ruling body think.. "You know what, I don't think that this is working"... Yet. Thousands and thousands of fans of the sport, by their lack of regular attendance, and social media comments, were clearly telling them that... Millions spent collectively to try and win something that they then choose to destroy the credibility of... I can only describe it as being akin to 14 bald men paying six figures every single year to enter an annual lottery... Where the first prize is a comb!!! A quite amazing two decades or so...

Hey. As it stands Kings Lynn are in the play offs...😄

But keep those oh so popular Monday and Thursday nights.. Where would the entertainment industry be without those two key nights?

For me... Pretend no one knows about the sport... (Won't be too difficult).. And launch it as if were brand new... Build a profile for it, make it a brand, get its name out into YouTube etc, with 10 mins behind fhe scenes vlogs, focus on making riders the personalities of the sport, share all merchandise costs and profits using a generic look but with each individual club having their insignia on their version of the merchandise.... Employ people who can influence and hype up the sport to a younger demographic, make websites look like they were designed today not when the internet was invented, use an interactive UK Speedway App, with clubs having their own individual interactive versions... Stop being so insular, staying sat within a "Speedway Bubble Echo Chamber" and instead open yourself up and bring in people much younger from outside the sport (if the skill set doesnt exist within it already), who can bring fresh ideas that white, middle aged men wouldn't even consider... Put the fans' "match night experience" front, back and centre of everything you do... In short. Look at what successful sports do and use as many of their ideas as is possible to help grow Speedway.. But, most of all, run it on the bloody nights that your fans find are the best ones for them to attend with their kids!!! And also find a way to get a fair few dozen away fans in attendance to add some bloody atmosphere!!!

Ipswich as a town only has it's football team (who don't win much), but have recently discovered a new sport called "Boxing" I beleive!. They don't have top level Rugby Union or League teams on their doorstep... They don't have top level Basketball or Ice Hockey teams on their doorstep.. They don't have a top level County Cricket team on their doorstep... They are not in a major conurbation surrounded by towns with Football Teams who can deliver five figure crowds each game... Therefore, Ipswich Speedway has a real opportunity to keep going I would think, as their population will see it as being 2nd to Ipswich Town I would imagine.. Missing Chris Louis will be a blow but the crowd numbers and excellent sponsors will be a huge legacy he leaves... It would be a shame if they don't come to the tapes next year...

And when the GP's started to impact the UK version of the sport... And when Poland started to impact the UK version of the sport.. "No! No! No! I want expensive GP riders who won't make much difference, if any, to my crowds, as I will have to run on Mondays and Thursday, but will mean I need to keep doing inflation busting price increases"... A brilliant plan...

Reset and Relaunch.... Invest the money saved on "top stars" and employ a marketing company to nationally promote the sport... I would be amazed if 95% of the 80m population have ever heard of any GP rider... Run on nights you get your best crowds.. In short... Learn from your mistakes that has led you here, and start the sport again!!!

Lack of any dynamic Leadership.. Lack of any short, medium and long term plan.. Lack of any clear vision and strategy around operating model, business plan and national marketing.. Incredibly well meaning people willing to put literally millions in to the sport they love, each year for decades... But without the skill set to properly run a professional sport.... Nor the will to pay "someone" from outside the "Speedway Bubble" who just maybe have could...

The slow death started about two decades ago.. When the GP's became the priority for those riders, it should have been reset radically, with at least 3 ring fenced places per team, every team, for UK riders... And when Poland took over it should have been reset radically., with at least 3 ring fenced places per team, every team, for UK riders... And when the Pandemic ended, it should have been reset radically with etc etc etc...

Yer Buy One! Yer Get One Free!

What a very avoidable mess.... Don't listen to your customers, and only open when your employees tell you they want you to open, whether your fans can get there or not, and you get your exactly what you deserve... The top tier has to be gone now surely?

And Slough....

I am just basing my assumption on the sponsors Ipswich have... Maybe some of the biggest ones would take over...? And the crowd levels... Chris as a "guide" in the background would I am sure help anyone taking over..

The biggest frustration for all the fans, I would think, who, most of them, could clearly see that the path being followed was inevitably going to implode.. Fudge. Fudge. Make do and Mend. Pander to individuals. Have a plan. Change the plan. Have another plan. Change the other plan. Hope everyone gets to October. Ensure the riders get prioritised in front of the fans. And then. Rinse and Repeat every November... Surely now. Those running the sport will wake up and smell that coffee... Maybe make Chris Louis the CEO? He knows what he is doing ..

So... It's either one league or a five team top tier? Louis said he wouldn't countenance either... Should be quite easy to find a buyer for such a well ran club I would think... I wonder what is actually up for sale these days... Air fence? Starting gate? Tractors? Goodwill? Anything else?

Great work!!!!

Me too... Glad I didn't go to bed around 530am though... Like I almost did!!!!

And that is one of its major flaws... It isn't really a "professional sport" at all is it? It is in reality a bit of a contrived "sports entertainment" that "makes do and mends" continually to hopefully reach the finishing line each season with all competitors still in tact, and also, hopefully, able to go again the following season... And the "governing body" is "themselves" with each of them wanting different things from running a Speedway Team... Some pay their mortgages and live their lives from what they generate, whilst some are quite happy to have an expensive hobby and, as long as losses are within their expectations and affordability, are quite happy to carry on throwing their own, and compliant sponsors', money at it.. With all quite happy to put "any Speedway" out, regardless of whether it is a credible offering or not, or even if the fans actually want you to race on some of the chosen nights...... It has very much become something set up for the riders to remain "professional" rather than something that, in the wider world of sports, can be taken too seriously... With no one really "in charge", for the last "forever" we ultimately arrived where we are today.. As was always going to happen...

When I worked, I ran Supermarkets and, often, they were the biggest employers and most visited shops in the various towns across Scotland and England that I worked in... None of them with less than 30,000 customers per week... Therefore, one of the first things I did when moving into a new store was join the various FB and Twitter accounts covering "the town", as invariably, many on the Socials were my customers.. With my stores often being mentioned and, as we all know, online feedback is heavily critical rather than good... However. It was vital for me to improve each store as the feedback was databased, therefore, accurate... Even perception is truth in the eyes of the person complaining...... With leadership you need a very thick skin, however, never take feedback personally, and act upon it, (if you can)... Unsolicited feedback can be like "Gold" as one person being peed off could mean 100's... One piece of info I got was on FB and it was about young lads doing a car cruise on my/council joint owned car park every Friday night into Saturday morning.. Drifiting and music blaring etc.... I got hold of the Police and VOSA, and worked with them to have a presence the following Friday with tax, insurance, licences, tyres, etc etc all being checked... Never again did we see the cars... And, (for a very, very short time), I was a hero!!!! It soon stopped... Sadly, with the BSP there doesn't seem to be anyone in the structure where "the buck stops"... And a rudderless ship will only end up eventually crashing...

We know who you are.!!!....

Another excellent Speedway Star this week... Covering the current malaise in detail with a thought provoking piece by Paul Burbridge, and also Peter Oakes making a suggestion for two leagues of seven, but of the same level, and with promotion and relegation involved.. Reading both pieces it looks like they must "lurk" on here... Which does give hope that at least some insiders within the "Speedway Bubble Echo Chamber" do see opportunities that are not same old/same old, rinse and repeat ad infinitum... For anyone wanting details, it costs £3.60, and is available on subscription for less, and digital for less... And is a cracking publication considering it covers such a poorly led sport... NB. There is also an interview with Richard Coleman of Mayfield Sports re possible GP expansion outside Europe... I am amazed he found the time to do it!!!!

To be fair, it was ever thus... Self-employed workers being "assets" springs to mind as one of the biggest challenges that could have been made down the years .. With these self employed people getting banned for withholding their services when not being paid, being particularly something that would get slaughtered... No asset system anymore obviously...

If they do get bought out by Paramount, (and you would have to think their value drops hugely with losing this contract), Paramount would get a bargain.. Possibly part of Paramount's thinking when they bid so much?

But that would only leave just over 10 for the fourteen teams to use.... Impossible to run one league.... It will kill Speedway.... Lights touchpaper... And steps back to a safe distance... 5 4 3 2 1... Incoming!!!

Interesting they have gone for sports watched mainly by those in the AB socio-economic groups... More disposable income maybe? Presume more "high end" advertisers come on board too...