Theboss

''Sky are ditching their coverage of speedway's Elite League. It is another hammer blow for the sport after a botched opening of a speedway-specific stadium in Manchester that is now in financial difficulty and the closing of the Coventry track. The one hope for British speedway is that BT will pick up the rights.'' Does not make pleasant reading and shows how terrible the BSPA must be at managing Public Relations, lets hope BT Sport can see past all this and realise what a wonderfully exciting sport Speedway can be.... 4 riders, 4 laps, no brakes and no reward for finishing last!

The fact tsunami (the official but unofficial voice of the BSPA) has not been on this thread to defend these rumours speaks volumes

This was actually one of the reasons they didn't think it was a good idea, it would potentially reduce programme sales.

Seems like their was is enough money to finance the new engine deal.

The price has dropped considerable over recent years. From memory I had a quote about 6 years ago and price was £75k, but now I would estimate it is half that due to advances in LED technology. Often the problem is the camera feeds and a decent visual editor to get the footage broadcasted. When I was director of super7even I hired a mobile LED screen that was at each and every super7even event, the cost was only £2k per event and I did a separate deal with re run video to supply the live video feeds to it at zero cost and in return they had the rights to sell the DVD's. Due to its success I actually put a business plan together for the BSPA to purchase it's own giant screen trailer for around £70k and send it out to tracks for a discounted price of £500 per match. I anticipated it would be busy 5 nights per week and would in fact end up being paid for within a season and another would be on order within a few months due to demand. Unfortunately the committee at that time did not see its relevance or potential, unfortunately I did not have the funds to bank roll it myself either. Moving onto today's world and I have already posted on another thread regarding video and live replays and in my opinion it has now moved on another stage from LED screens. The majority of fans now carry their own mobile screen (smart phone) in their pocket and through dedicated WiFi networks at each track and a fancy new app, speedway could lead the way in developing a live sports network for fans to interact with the event whilst in attendance.

Very good comment. I think the problem is that at the majority of tracks, promoters are super fans rather than business people.... Hence why they are desperate to have the best riders in their team at whatever the cost.

I would advise going through the small claims court, can all be done online and will get a resolution far quicker.

I think it would be fair to say that TV exposure has not been maximised to its full potential

Only a few weeks until the season starts and whilst I sincerely hope this does not happen, I think it is worth discussing what would happen if either of the following scenarios developed: 1) Sky find a way to exit the 5 year contract without any financial penalties. The broadcasting rights then revert back to the BSPA but they can not agree a deal with BT sport that matches up to what the 8 competing teams had budgeted on receiving. 2) Sky decide to simply stop showing speedway to save on production costs, and are happy to honour the payments for broadcasting rights rather than do a deal with BT to broadcast the matches. However the knock on effect to the clubs is that sponsors will want a reduction in their agreed deals or even pull out all together, which I would estimate to be worth just as much to the clubs as the sky payments and would again leave their budget descimated. So in either scenario what would happen to the Premiership? For example would riders take a pay cut or would their be urgent action taken by the clubs and top riders replaced with national league riders. Or is it worth all clubs taking a financial risk and running as they are but possibly cutting the league short after the first 7 home and 7 away? No doubt some forum members will accuse me of doom mongering but who knows what is happening behind the scenes, and surely worth discussing 'what if' openly on a forum for supporters of British Speedway Premiership clubs....

Quite correct but it does not mean that other broadcasters will want to agree to the same deal. There offer could be more or it could be less, however when you only have one buyer then more often than not the offer will be less!

Firstly, have sky found a way to ditch the 5 year contract without any financial penalties? If so then you have to wonder if the delay in getting a deal with BT is due to what they are willing to offer BSPA for the rights, remember all Premiership clubs (barring Belle Vue) would have built a team with the security of TV income in their cash flow. Or secondly if Sky have decided to simply ditch speedway to save on production costs, and are not willing to do a deal to release the rights to BT, then the knock on effect to Premiership club's could again be significant as whilst they will still receive their sky money I am sure sponsors will want a reduction in their deals or could possibly pull out all together (I estimate this to be worth just as much to the clubs as the actual sky money). Either way let's hope a way forward is found otherwise lots of riders could find themselves taking a pay cut before a wheel has even turned. PS also makes me wonder if Mick Horton threw the towel in once he had a sniff that these problems were coming, and hence why he didn't turn up at MC meeting to fight his case about Coventry being allowed to remain in the league. And would also makes sense as to why MC did stop Coventry running as it would allow each remaining club a larger chunk of whatever money is coming from either Sky or BT.

/b]....Family probably better off then[/color]. Tsunami this type of comment diminshises any credibility you may hold and exemplifies your bitterness towards me. For the record I doubt either party is better off however life goes on and as I said before I have no axe to grind.

Need not waste my time writing a reply to this drivel, however you did make clear in your previous post your personal jealousy towards my achievements when you quoted how stupid I looked in my convertible BMW whilst driving to Cardiff. I therefore believe it is you who has an axe to grind, I am now simply a supporter who is seeing the sport he loves continue to be torn apart and nose dive into a place of no return. I would comment as I do now, no matter who was in charge. Obviously too much brain power required for you to comprehend and easier to try and protect the BSPA and its actions by tarnishing my comments as rubbish because I have an axe to grind.... sorry but I don't. I can confirm that I left King's Lynn at my own free will and any family issues are down to personal reasons away from speedway.

Bearing in mind Sky Sports contract requires 8 teams to participate, I don't think anyone would be wise to have an opinion on this until Belle Vue has been confirmed..... personally I can not imagine that the members of the BSPA would allow it to fold if the contract relied on it.

I can not imagine for one moment anyone would revile in the fact if the Aces were to close. I do however believe people will continue to speculate and ask questions, after all is not what living in a democracy gives people the right to do?

WOULD concur with that. Having previously seen and heard many of the happenings within speedway at first hand I DO NOT AGREE with this. I believe everyone's actions should be open and accountable for good or bad, without this there is no deterrent and can even be classed as enticing for people in a position of power to act in an unethical manner. Maybe it is time for the fans who WANT openness and transparency to start a movement and demand answers. ps before anyone comments that it is rich coming from someone who took King's Lynn up into the Elite League in the place of Peterborough and Coventry, I would welcome any questions regarding that especially concerning what involvement the BSPA and other clubs had in that decision, albeit as the press obviously did not have the funds for investigative journalism at that time

Simon was a great guy and all round rider. One of my all time favourites along with Bobby Ott.

The promoters will put it wherever they think it will earn the most money.

This is not factually correct, only the smaller events are bidded for such as semi finals. The main events (which used to be branded super7even) are shared. No Danny, the jealousy stuff is because I heard it first hand from when I was involved in the sport, the British Final tickets was just something mentioned by someone else. I do not understand your question, it could be relelated to a number of matters so please rephrase?

Are you being serious? These are shared events so it would be damn right stupid not to give it to the best stadium and race track in the country.... especially when the pot of gold is being shared! I would also hope lessons have been learnt through this whole sorry saga and the promoters that were jealous now realise how important Belle Vue is to the survival of British Speedway. ps not surprised to see Tsunami liking your posts, predictable to say the least (and so is his follow up response coming my way )

For this particular project the only negotiating required would be with go-speed and I am sure they could be pursuaded to support it. However not sure if Phillip Rising would as it could potentially have a devastating effect on speedway star sales?

As a first step I would roll out wifi access points around every speedway stadium which required email address/name/DOB/team to access it. Once that data is captured it can be used to keep contact with that fan and send news, sell tickets and wish them a happy birthday along with some free tickets for them and their friends if under 16. Then I would build an app which could be layered over for every club and within the app rider interviews would be broadcasted directly to it as well as the PA, so effectively a TV is being placed in the hands of every user. Upon entry a code could be printed on the admission ticket which would allow a premium upgrade and live meeting results would be sent to it (replacing the need for a programme) and replays could also be shown on it to bring the best elements of SKY TV to alive meeting. In addition to this think of the all the advertising that could be displayed on the app during the meeting. Taking it one step further all the video content captured around the country over a week could then be put together for a weekly highlights video magazine to keep fans up to date with everything going on around the country! Anyway list goes on with the possibilities and something like this would only cost each Premier and Elite track around £10k each including app development and the equipment needed... shame technology like this wasn't as easily available when I was a promoter otherwise I can guarantee King's Lynn would have led the way with it's development! Anyway good to see some posters are going out to every track, the sport is certainly making a statement with that idea

Exactly, so wouldn't it be great if their was an android and Apple app that interacted with the kids (and adults) during the meeting. Times have moved on and paper programs are a thing of the past!

I am un-sure as to what owing money to other clubs has directly to do with Manchester City Council. You have said to investigate but if that was the case surely it would have been done with the consent of the promoters and lease holders in an open meeting with the aim of finding a solution. Perhaps you can explain further?

Having previously been a doubter I was astonished when M&G got the go ahead for one of the biggest things to happen in British speedway during my life time. Obviously like many it was sad to see the opening night end in tears and whilst many were quick to point the finger and use it as an opportunity to vent their jealousy I thought it was the last thing they or any one else needed. And now after reading the non approved leak I must say that all I feel is anger towards the way they have been treated by MCC and the BSPA. Something does not sit right in not receiving the support they rightly deserved, after all the fault squarely lands at the contractors and not them. Does it surprise me? I guess not because I am fully aware of the jealousy that members of the BSPA held behind closed doors. I would not be surprised to see M&G launch legal action and win.