1 valve

The immediate issue with promotion & relegation is that there is every chance a promoted team would have to change its race night to either a Monday or Thursday. And we all know what the self serving promoters feel about that!

There have been very good and well meaning observations & suggestions on what should happen in 2026. However, maybe we should speculate more on what we think the promoters will actually instigate in 2026. For me, a move to two leagues (six teams in the top tier) with a dumbing down of both competitions by lowering the points limit and in doing so move the rising star concept to the lower tier. Note: this is what I think the promoters will do, not what I think should happen

All the big decisions have been made. AGM needed to formally ratify & minute for the purpose of due process.

Although in essence a great idea, as always the devil would be in the detail, in this case the cost and quality of the production and in particular who would be responsible for ensuring both are met at a consistent level. Speedway UK does need TV but considering only current fans are the vast majority of viewers TV coverage of fixtures is not & will not drive growth of support. What is required is a TV series similar to “Drive to Survive” which has served F1 to have an all time growth in the sport on a global basis. For UK speedway, a combined fly on the wall series & fixtures shown on TV would lead to new spectators seeking live events.

It was distributed to vested promotions in an equitable manner who decided by and large to spend the vast majority of the income on paying riders inflated pay rates. What didn’t happen was that the money was handled in what the sponsors hoped for which was to use significant amounts of money to invest in the infrastructure and development of the sport which in turn would lead to a growth in interest and value for their subscriber base. As a comparison think what football, cricket, Rugby & darts have done to use TV money as a catalyst to greatly improve facilities and evolve their sport to provide bigger & better experiences for both attendees & viewers alike.

The key decisions have already been made. Just need the AGM to ratify what is necessary to do so as a matter of record. Not a great deal of time required hence one day in Rugby to do the business.

Not quite. Top league will still have fixed race nights of Mon & Thur leaving days free for riders to race in Scandinavia & Poland. Biggest positive for UK speedway by reducing doubling up is to give credibility to the sport. That said I’m not convinced promoters will actually see it through.

Great to read JCB continuing their much valued sponsorship & support of the Lions in 2026

And/or a restriction on using riders who double up?

There will not be one league but there maybe plans afoot to limit the number of riders who double up.

Highly unlikely given the Friday GP came about at late notice due to the demise of Cardiff. Not even sure the UK will host two GP’s given the lack of suitable venues although as mooted elsewhere Ipswich could be possibility with its overall available capacity for crowd and other activities associated with a GP weekend.

Losing the RS system would not be to save money but to make way for higher average and competitive reserve. Saving money comes from doing away with the top scorer. The RS initiative would/could be adopted by the championship as part of consolidating riders from the NDL & championship to accommodate a lower points limit in the second uk league.

The money saved by substituting a number 6 with a RS is absolutely nothing compared with dropping a number one for another 4-5 point reserve & dropping RS altogether.

Maybe to unilaterally remove the cost and points of at least one top rider per team and remove Rising star concept in favour of another reserve.

Two leagues? Top tier to see current no1’s depart with no rising stars but an increase in points allowed for two reserves. “Rising stars” accommodated in tier two along with points limit 2 or 3 points lower than top tier

I’ve read elsewhere on this forum that 36 point limit for Premier League next season. If so the presumption must be the limit for the Championship will also be significantly reduced, perhaps to facilitate the integration of NDL riders? Not sure this approach is the “exciting plans for 2026” indicated by the Oxford promotion when announcing the end of the Spires - but there again speedway promoters have on many occasions instigated changes that leave fans wondering what planet those in charge of the sport are living on. If it is to be 36 points, we’ll sure puts a different consideration of team building for 2026

If that is to be the case for the Premier League would it be a fair presumption that the Championship will also be reduced to something like 33 points? Maybe this is the way two leagues will be formed to incorporate NDL level and say “bye” to the top earning stars.

He may well understand them. But nevertheless is incorrect in this instance.

Councils have to be given very good reasons to become interested and care for something new in their jurisdiction and the fact that they had a famous team at a time when the whole sport was entirely more profound and popular 40 years ago is not something that would rock their boat today. They need selling something that is relevant today and something that will grow and appeal to many across multi cultural society...Is that something speedway truly does? I fear not. Regarding Cradley Heath manufacturing past, it was most famous for chain link manufacturing including that used for the Titanic's anchor. Also general foundry work which included manhole covers, Nail making and of course mining Now all but all gone as Cradley becomes primarily a residential area, though it retains some manufacturing and commercial zones the focus is on building new homes on former industrial land to meet housing demand and we know how speedway sits with new housing developments.

Just a couple of points. Ad window Peak hours (6 PM–11 PM): Up to an average of 8 minutes per hour, but no more than 12 minutes in any one hour. Daily average No more than 7 minutes of advertising per hour averaged across the entire broadcasting day. Demographics. Employed folk aged 40-49 have the highest median average annual pay circa £40k Boomers aged 61 - 70 Have a median average annual income circa £33. Not sure where your Commercial manager is looking for his averages but it is highly doubtful that average pay of a netball viewer is £55k per year. and similarly, to say speedway fans are to old, and too poor to appeal to mainstream brands is complete and utter misguided nonsense. Mainstream brands have a very clear understanding that older folk such as boomers may indeed have less income having retired but, they do have considerable disposable income and less fixed outgoings then the younger set, given that they have done with paying mortgages, Kids have flown the nest and believe it or not, now have time on their hands to follow leisure & entertainment activities. All of the above doesn't detract from the fact that speedway promoters have for many years failed to engage in any significant activity at local and national level to greatly improve awareness of the sport. Frankly, highlights or full meetings on TV will not make any difference whatsoever to attendance at tracks as the only folk who will watch the program are those who already know the sport exists.

Although I’m no great fan of Tatum as a commentator and agree that at a good number times he appears to lack knowledge of basic topics relating to riders, it is a tad unfair to compare his performance with football commentators. who besides there own research & prep are provided with up to date media guides by the teams which contain a wealth of information about each player as well as having A "spotter" in the booth with binoculars to identify players and provide crucial information. There are also statisticians in the production truck providing “in ear” information on stats/time gone, remaining - subs warming up etc. That type of support is something Kelv can only dream about.

I’ve asked about the crowd capacity at Glasgow which apparently is small which most probably rules it out to host a GP. Regarding Ipswich, I’ve suggested it could be a suitable venue using the existing track or as some folk think the circuit is not suitable, maybe utilise some or all of the stox track build a temporary track for a GP. Yes I do know air fences can be leased and do not see that as an issue for either of the Ipswich suggestions. Re Bradford - what’s with a 1 metre run off area? Where /why would it be located? And how will that resolve the challenge of removing a building which currently negates a neutral zone being in place? You may say “rules can be changed” maybe so - but whilst that building is in place no rider would take to the track nor frankly the FIM expect them to do so as obtaining insurance would be impossible.

I recall a few years ago Matchroom saying speedway did not fit the profile of sport they could be involved with. They actually went with swimming as an experiment which worked well until the folk at the governing body didn’t like the changes being proposed.

Your time for meetings is not possible nor may I suggest accurate. As example, Why does a 33% increase in heats from 15 to 20 require 50% more time from 60 to 90 minutes? In all seriousness, the minimum that can be allowed for each heat is circa five minutes taking into account riders entering and exiting the track before and after races, preparing to start and of course track grading and that is without on track incidents. You are correct that more can and should be done to fill the time between races - Having a bloke on the centre green talking inane nonsense and laughing at his own jokes which nobody understands is just not good enough.

For a good, consistent quality show to be produced week on week there would need to be one company responsible for creating the product. I’m not convinced clubs across the board actually have consistent quality, albeit it’s quite possible for BSN to step up to produce something viable. However, terrestrial tv & Sky do not take content produced by/for streaming channels if that content is not exclusive for a while. But maybe the future being created by Speedway futures ltd such considerations have been accounted for.