truthsayer

Amateurs are the lifeblood of all other motorsports. They pay to race as their hobby. Their entry fees put money into the sport. It supports venues and industry suppliers. There is none of this in speedway. Club racing, well run, can provide a fulfilling day's racing for competitors of all levels. Entry fees, not ticket sales, sustain the clubs. Young riders get an opportunity to practice and develop. Older riders get a chance of competing on their own terms. A few, very few, make it to a level where they make money, or at least break even. If I was a youngster, I'd rather race motocross where I get more track time. All Britain's top racers in other disciplines started off in club racing, it's where talent develops. The whole concept of developing speedway as a professional product for the fans is flawed in my opinion. Develop the product for the riders, a mass of riders. Give them a product that's appealing, that they'd rather do instead of motocross, enduro or banger racing, and let that keep the clubs and venues alive. Venues who feel that they can offer a spectator led offering are, of course, welcome to do so. I can't see a future for speedway, but having a stable base at the bottom of the sport is critical. How can speedway attract new riders when there is essentially nowhere to practice? BTW, speedway is not the only sport in this position. Consumers have more choice now. Going to speedway was a big night out for me in the early 80s. Now I have so many other things wanting my dollar, and they almost always win.

No. For such short races there would be no such issues. The batteries would be so compact that arguably they'd be swappable and chargeable off bike. A bike would have to run for a maximum of 10 minutes and this could be easily achieved using a battery weighing less than a regular speedway engine.

Why is speedway failing? There is not enough words to say why. To me, the fundamental is that there is no amateur structure. There's no club racing, where competitors fund the sport. There are not enough competitors, and there is not enough money going into the sport. It's not a team sport. It's an individual sport. It's a bunch of enthusiasts 'promoting' a sport by committee, with the committee determining their business model.

Crikey all those companies like Volkswagen, Renault and Land Rover investing billions in EV technology, but a bloke on the internet is telling them they're doing it all wrong.... Speedway is perfect for electrification. Six minutes of running a night, no problem. If you want motorsports in the cities, you have to make it quiet.

The problem you have with online streaming is the 'perceived' value to most consumers. So much online is free and unless you are a hardcore fan, the cost of streaming something you think should be free is hard to get around. I think the most likely option for speedway would be to aim for sponsorship to cover production costs. Keep production quality fairly basic, stream it for free and look to get fans to donate what they think its worth to them. Some comedy clubs have been doing this in the past few months and although its not a massive earner, it provides an income and gets people in in the first place. This is my problem. I will not give British Speedway £13 for something that is untried, but which I perceive as probably being a bit rubbish. Give me it for free and I will certainly make a donation if its any good (which might be more than £13). Long term, I don't think streaming is a viable business model, but it might be an additional revenue, erm, stream.

It's a difficult one. I'd like to support but they are charging top dollar prices for it, so I probably won't. Especially as sport on TV is just coming out of our ears just now. Personally I don't have a problem with that price for a top dollar product, but this is British speedway and my expectation is amateur hour. I know the costs have to be covered, but an 'introductory' offer of a fiver would have been a great way to prove the technology and showcase what they could do. That would get me in and give them a chance to prove they have a product worth more than a tenner for future years.

The fact that people are looking at centre green shenanigans from the likes of Johnnie Hoskins, Dave Lanning and 'Leaping Len' says everything we need to know about the awful state we find ourselves in. This is like 40, 50 years ago. The world has changed, times have changed. The benchmark is other professional sports, other forms of entertainment. I don't know the answer, but it doesn't lie in the past.

Maybe this pandemic will see the scales drop from the eyes of British speedway and help it find its true level. I mean... in almost every sport, from football to motorsport, less than the top 1% can even consider themselves anything approaching professional. In almost every sport, the majority of participants do it for the love, not expecting payment and usually paying for the privilege. Not speedway though. Any kid putting a club race jacket on thinks he deserves a dollar. Really? Let me tell you something, Buttercup, you ain't doing it 'to entertain the fans' you're doing it for your own fun (or more likely your dad's), it's your hobby, and you expect others to pay for your hobby. How many amateur riders are in speedway? I don't know, but the proportion of 'professionals' sure seems high from where I am sitting. In my universe, there are about three or four British riders who should be making a living from speedway, a handful who should get a bit of pocket money, and the rest? Pay for your hobby like everyone else. I can't believe that speedway is big enough for more than 50 professional riders worldwide. Those sponsors and fans are subsidies, not salaries, and the sport is broke because its an amateur sport pretending to be professional. Riders should be paying to race in most instances, paying tracks for the privilege of riding on their prepared circuits in the way that almost every motocross rider does. Maybe this crisis will make people realise this. But probably not... PS: I'm Truthsayer. It's my first post. Hi!