truthsayer

My point really is that speedway promoters have to be free to make the product they think works for them, without being confined to delivering the product they have just now - because that is clearly not viable. It's not attractive to enough fans and the whole business model revolves around getting people through the gate. If 'the right product' means league speedway then great, but if that means six meetings a year at holiday resorts, all-day training tracks, pop-up tracks to tie in with other events, quads, sidecars or vets.... then that is great too. Whatever it is, people need to be able to run more speedway in a way that it can be sustainable.

I understand why people think that way and I don't have an easy solution. The problem with all of this is that the culture for decades has gotten us to where we are. There are no amateur riders because there are no facilities for amateur riders. But I would bet you anything that if there were at least two meaningful 'pay-to-play' Open meetings that accommodated them at EVERY UK track each year then you would get a core of riders who would participate and you would we able to run to such a model. But all of this is chicken and egg because there's only one game in town right now and that's team speedway and no real consideration for any other competitors. Tweaking points limits and depending on a paying audience will not save British speedway. The sport needs to make more opportunities for riders to ride, but only the top few percent can take a living wage out of it if there is any chance of survival.

Hey, it's an example of thinking differently. The Golden Greats thing was, albeit many years ago, a big draw and 'Masters' sport is actually quite a big deal. It needs someone (external) to promote. Bring some big names from the past over for a tour, add in some local favourites. If I'm on the outside looking in I see speedway fans as a bunch of rose tinted old timers who have nothing but nostalgia for the past. I'm not saying it's easy, but would the premise of seeing Steve Lawson and Kenny McKinna bring out some Glasgow fans, or could Hans Nielsen and Greg Hancock be a draw for three or four high profile meetings next summer? I don't know, but it's different and has a PR story that could potentially get people interested.

Again, it's about moving away from a business model which relies on 'crowd levels' and one which relies on competitors paying their entry fees. As I say, it's about allowing promoters to put on the product that works for them. A crowd will come out for a veterans meeting, that's what we can do. We can get 30 juniors and 10 sidecar crews to pay to race? That's the meeting we put on. We think we can get a crowd out to see some world class stars - that's what we run. BSB is not a perfect analogy but it is quite relevant in some ways. Brands Hatch runs a show almost every weekend, but twice a year they get a crowd along to top level bike racing. Places like Knockhill and Thruxton pay money to get the show and make money from the crowd. The point is that competitors pay for the privilege to compete in it (and it's support series) and fans do go along to watch it, even though those circuits host events every weekend. Brands Hatch has a diverse bunch of motorsports happening every weekend. Leicester speedway has the dross that masquerades as team speedway every week.

I think speedway needs to wean itself off a dependency of league racing. If there are 30 possible race nights in a season, 15 can be the league – one a fortnight. Let promoters be creative on those other 15 nights, promoting a product that works for their market. That might be high profile open meetings with star riders, pay-to-play Stars of Tomorrow meetings, veterans, regional leagues, junior racing, handicaps, electric, flat track, sidecars… you name it. Let’s have a veterans’ series, promoted externally and touring the country/continent that promoters can bring in for a night – or a British ACU championship, like a Grand Prix series but for British riders (a la British superbikes) that travels to different venues for a fee. There needs to be new thinking. If I was a speedway promoter I’d be limited to selling the bucket of cold sick that is league racing. Let them bring in what they think will sell and not just the ‘one size fits none’ approach we have just now.

I think it's so cute you guys think there's such a thing as 'TV money'!

This assumes TNT are paying for the privilege to show the sport. I strongly doubt they pay anything. If anything, the sport is probably contributing to the TV costs.

Not being funny, but that kind of 'marketing' is the reason speedway is deep in the trouble it is. Advertising these days involves digital, paid for social media advertising and utilises platforms like Instagram and TikTok. I'm not saying there's no place for old fashioned promotion, but there needs to be far bigger thinking and a much better product if speedway has any chance to continue as a professional team sport.

Last one from me. I think we're not so far apart here. But speedway should be such an inexpensive and accessible participation sport, but it is not. It is not particularly accessible, despite what you say, and the number of people taking out of it cannot be justified by the amount of money in it. Every other sport I can think of has a clear delineation between the amateur and professional ranks. In amateur, the participant pays, whether that's car racing, tennis or fishing, and this is an industry in itself, one which is bigger than the professional side. Speedway does not have this, the number of amateurs should outrank 'professionals' by at least 50 to 1. It is an amateur sport, with amateur sport levels of spectators, run (largely) at amateur level venues with presentation and promotion from enthusiastic but ultimately underwhelming individuals. The insistence that it continues to be this contrived team sport will be the death of it. The world is going to some dark places just now and the idea that league speedway exists in the UK in five years time seems impossible to me, sadly.

They certainly keep that quiet! It's good to hear, but I stand by what I say. Not enough facilities, not enough riders and no grassroots to speak of. What worked in the 1960s isn't what people want today and focussing on a business model which relies on fans turning up to watch team speedway won't have more than a few years left in it.

Here's the thing though, how can you create professional riders if you don't have amateurs? And wouldn't speedway prefer me to spend the £3000 I put into the motorsport economy each year with them, rather than giving it to other organisations for track days and club races? I take nothing from it, only contribute. I put more financially into motorbike racing than a fan who goes to every round of the British Superbike Championship. Speedway doesn't want me as a customer though, unless I go along to be bored as a spectator every week from March to September. In every single professional sport I can think of, the number of participants paying to play outnumbers those being paid to play by multiples in the hundreds and thousands - this is as true in football and ice hockey as it is in motorsports. The only sport I can think of where the majority of participants are paid (even if most still lose money) is, you've guessed it, speedway! The business model is so utterly unsustainable yet here we are, thinking that changing a points limit and making riders do a victory lap will somehow bring the good times back again!

This is the thing. I don't care about fans. I am 48, I just want a hobby. I can spend a few grand a year like I do on track days but there is no outlet for anyone who doesn't want to be part of a team. This 'professional from day one' mentality has been around speedway for around 30 years. I seem to remember training tracks like Iwade, Felton and Linlithgow, where you could just pay your money and ride your bike. Some would just ride, others would go into a team system. An individual race series, where riders pay to enter and compete, would be a more typical business model for speedway. Most motorsports rely on entry fees to be viable, with sponsorship, TV deals and trackside audiences only really making a significant difference to the very top tier series. Speedway is not a motorsport, it is a team sport and it needs to be a participation sport. With all due respect, you don't seem to get that club speedway is dead. It is not relevant now and you are watching it die in front of you. It's not a case of not many fans want to watch me, not many fans want to watch. Full stop.

Paying £100 a point (even if that's a maximum) suggests a wage bill of around £10,000 per meeting (assuming we also pay bonus points). I find it hard to believe a speedway attendance can profitably cover anything close to that. No. Where. Even. Close.

On one hand I don't disagree with you, but these things are so far down the list as to be irrelevant. The presentation of the sport is stuck in the 1970s, it needs to be addressed, but the utter lack of riders and facilities are what will be the death of speedway. That's far more important than connecting to the pitiful 'crowds' the sport has. Comparing British league speedway to Formula One is also completely irrelevant. As a sport, it should be comparing itself to the likes of non-league football, ice hockey and motocross, other sports which are struggling to survive. I've always maintained speedway's biggest problem is that it is a sport for spectators and not riders. There is no grassroots and this means the sport will die. As a contrived team sport, it relies on imports it cannot really afford, serving up a product only the diehards really get. Speedway can't go forward unless it reinvents itself as a grassroots (individual) sport which competitors wish to spend their money on as a hobby. If it can achieve that, the team/professional sport may have a chance on the back of it. As someone who might be interested in racing speedway as a hobby, I have no real outlet but I can always ride some motocross, do track days or race karts. These are far bigger issues than riders being paraded before the start of a meeting.

British speedway has attendances in line with seventh or eighth tier football. Those are not professional leagues and the overheads to run football is much less than speedway. If speedway wants to carry on with the notion of being a professional team sport, it is not viable on those attendances and those overheads. Parades and victory laps are irrelevant when it comes to the survival of speedway.

Not enough riders, not enough venues, not enough income to sustain a professional sport. I don't see a future for British speedway as a professional sport, and I don't see any desire to repackage it as an amateur/grassroots/competitor focussed sport. It's an outdated product held at outdated venues, which will not attract a new audience or competitor base. Any talk about standardised engines, scrapping playoffs and wokeness (whatever that means) does nothing to address the core problem.

Speedway is an amateur individual sport masquerading as a professional team sport. The end is nigh and only a massive reset will save it (also IMO).

Why does Tatum always have to say the word number before he says a number? Indeed...

I'm not sure. Not for one second am I saying that speedway is well run, it is nowhere near well run, but it is always going to be up against it, as all motorsports are. Speedway is a very specialist sport. There are environmental, cultural and financial reasons why it faces a bleak future. Lack of venues is the key one and it is hard to see how any landowner can see value in a speedway track over commercial or residential property. The country has, in all aspects of life, relied on imported labour for many years and this is coming home to roost after the self imposed annexing of 2016. Speedway's lack of homegrown competitors, combined with a lack of facilities, an outdated business model and an almost complete absence of a grassroots/amateur system is creating its long and painful death as a professional sport. It's something being witnessed in other areas of industry too. The Sky money could potentially have been invested into a grassroots and developing a new business model, but frankly the base product isn't good enough for modern TV. If I watch other sports on TV, they start on time, conclude when expected and are not cancelled because conditions are bad. The base product sucks for the modern consumer and I just don't see how that can change until the sport dies and it is forced to reinvent itself.

No rubbish!

For real? Loads of people? I mean, there are so many reasons to stay away from speedway and loads of people do stay away from speedway. But are 'loads' of people staying away because of the length of time the starting tapes are held? Really? Am I missing something? Is this really speedway's salvation?

He does seem to be able to figure out the dirt line and make it work later in the meeting. Early on the track is fresher and the inside line generally advantageous. As the dirt builds up on the outside it favours the brave and the skilled who can ride the berm. Its the dirt that generates the speed and he is the master of it.

Totally, this really is no big deal. I don't think the optics are great, but really it's not important. - it's their money - the cost, in the grand scheme of running a speedway club is tiny If they think going away for a business is worthwhile then who am I to disagree. Not how I would conduct things in 2023, but not my money. It won't put any clubs out of business.

Yes (they come back), because they are fans and running a speedway team is their hobby. It's not a serious business proposition any more. In their heart of hearts they must know there's no way back, but they are fans first and foremost and can't bear to put it out of its misery.

A 'tax deductible business expense' is still an expense. It reduces your tax liability on your profit, but tax deductible doesn't mean free, it just means it ultimately costs less than it otherwise would. And of course it's an expense, which will come out of the non existent profits made by the clubs. Equally, speedway promoters are losing a crap load of money. I am not going to begrudge them an overseas jolly/business trip. Without them there is no sport as we have it just now.