Littleze

Absolutely, surely it starts with the track, fit for modern day bikes, raceable, room to overtake etc, that’s what makes it exciting, along with the no brakes, the danger element, noisy bikes et al. People are tribal, they want to get behind something or someone, align yourself to a product etc. Guests, ripping sides apart year in year out, rules forever changing, thus the lack of meaning to hastily arranged competitions, resulting in little credibility. This is before, stadia/facilities & everything else countless people have mentioned previously. Jim Radcliffe will tear down Old Trafford, as it’s falling apart/leaking. The sport is a mess, maybe no tv deal money will be make or break, you’ll have to go if you want to watch it, if the numbers drop off further it’s surely doomed. People have mentioned the likes of Barry Hearn etc, why would they get involved, what’s their financial return on their time, investment, tracks/stadia are largely not owned either. There’s quite a few old riders still going, enough coming through to replace them? Most of the promoters are 50+ too.

What part of handing out sweets and having a mascot is working for BV? Genuine question… it adds to a family day out (possibly/probably) but it’s not adding numbers to the gate, it doesn’t encourage late teenagers/20-50yr olds through the door. It doesn’t add professionalism or credibility, these are things to add on when your product is working, not a starting point.

Until the sport reinvents itself, I don’t see how anything changes. You need salaried riders, a squad and no averages (for team building purposes) but you can’t do that, as no money, not enough riders or interest in the Sport, it’s not football where all you need is a ball. If riders can/do manipulate their average then you’re essentially watching a bent product, which was probably part of the *sports undoing back in the day. This is before modern stadia, all weather surface or preventable measures to minimise rain offs, then you may have some credibility, which is a starting point…but that is all it is.

Cycle Speedway has better facilities too! And a younger audience 😊

A good listen, if only there were more/some people in Speedway like him, clarity, vision, knowledgeable etc.

Who knows, I’d say unlikely though.. why plough money into something that isn’t up and running, and the current state of things, many other sports or junior sectors would be more deserving surely.

The current situation, can’t help Peterborough & co.. they aren’t viable. Unless the *sport tries to punch up, it’s doomed imo. There are many small wins they could achieve, but they can’t even do that. It’s boring in all honesty.

On the Christmas Sherry already? 👀

Plus they are professionally managed, that have global appeal and credibility, with a young/er audience.

Maybe it was well run and his personality/vision etc secured good backing, if it wasn’t competently managed, I’m sure the Speedway community would be letting everyone know.

Another reason why this *sport is ridiculous.

That is the selling point.

It’s all desperate measures to see if something sticks.. that’s not a plan.. make a long term sustainable plan and see it through. If it works, great.. if it doesn’t, start again or close the doors for good.

It looks like Chelsea have a team… maybe Arry’s influence has started. 😊https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/new-speedway-collection

I think the Sport not looking good occurred a few centuries ago to be fair.

This is undoubtedly true, but then the *sport will never be taken that seriously, which is where we are now. Low attendances tell the governing body that by and large very few people are into Speedway, so seek meaningful change or call it a day.

I don’t disagree with what you say, but different times, different choices, expectations etc, plus they were one offs, not a gp series. I paid for travel, hotel and tickets + anything else.. the minimum I expected in 2023 is a track you can race on, they couldn’t even turn or tried to in some races.

Probably needs to happen though, adapt/grow or die. Choose a clear path and give it everything, if it doesn’t work, then there is clearly no real appetite for the Sport.

Please not local bands, or stuff of this ilk, it stinks of village fete stuff. I remember Colin Horton doing this will a local dance school, great for the girls, but it was embarrassing really, this isn’t going to entice people through the door. Newmarket Races during the summer nights, have the likes of Spandau Ballet and so forth after the racing…as a comparison. This isn’t a dig btw.

I went to Cardiff for the 2nd time, I believe it was 2yrs ago, when the track was an absolute disgrace, I can’t even recall who won it, I took a mate was a long time lapsed Speedway fan, it was embarrassing, crowd levels poor and I felt the day around the City centre was muted/lowkey. So when they have the infrastructure the basics (track) lets it down. The whole sport needs to grow from the basics, professional, credible, modern stadia, unaffected by weather as much as possible. The trouble is it needs money + more, and I don’t see where that comes from, the sport has had this before and it’s gone backwards. I don’t want to see some fat bloke over 40 with an ill fitting top, as the start matshall, or a bloody traffic cone stopping the tapes from sagging, or track staff smoking.. blah blah.. image, respectability, perception counts for a lot. I’ve said this before on various platforms - to a letter in the Speedway Star many years ago. AFTV was started by one guy essentially, with nothing to sell other than fan views, this channel has daily podcasts, interviews etc. if the powers that be can’t sell a product, their club, riders etc, to the world on various social media platforms in this day and age, the *cough “SPORT” has no chance, all it/we do is reminisce, was it much better years ago.. to some degree yes, but probably not as much as we think it was. It needs to be an out an competitive sport, or be a contrived entertainment (which is what has been for many a year) Anyway…

What is something in between though? The whole “sport” is contrived, hence why it isn’t taken seriously. No points limit, reduce rider numbers in a team, relegation/promotion, squads, no guests.. so much to unpick.

A million pound prize fund is hardly big news in any modern sport, so personally I’d disagree that you can sell more off the back of it. It wouldn’t suddenly make the sport credible, or more attractive imo. Until you sort out the basic rules, and infrastructure it doesn’t move forward. If the powers that be can’t sell a sport that suits modern audiences (concentration levels low) with powerful bikes, with no brakes, suggesting danger, a team sport too. A million pound bounty won’t disguise that stadiums are dire and crowd levels are poor. I’d have a squad of riders, no points limit (but I guess that’s not feasible for all sorts of reasons, unless you go to 5 person teams?) Could you run regular double meetings on one day, utilising the squad? Thus getting 30 heats and fixtures fulfilled (weather depending) but I suppose costs would scupper that too.

The grandstand was outdated, and pretty crap if we are being honest. Find somewhere else and make it a multi functional facility. I accept there is a lot of history etc there & this will irk many.. and the challenges are obviously big.

Can they not even spell benevolent..