SJA

I think what last night demonstrated is that A} Leicester were correct in not resigning Fricke B} Despite what many Leicester fans thought in the closed season Douglas is a real number 1 and they were right to build a team around him.

If the headline figure of 200k is hit I am told that the demographics need to be attractive to advertisers so age and disposable income which are never strong aspects of the sport. I am planning on having both of my TV's running itv4, laptop and desktop streaming itvx and also recording the meeting. As they say, every little helps.

The only thing itv will care about is viewing figures. If my source is correct they will be looking at a 2% share of between 10,000,000 and 15,000,00 Saturday night viewers. I suspect this is best described as ambitious.

I thought it was a decent meeting last night on a well prepared track considering the drought like conditions. Some good passing by both teams. But I thought the presentation of the medals was shambolic and unprofessional. Far to many people on the centre green who appeared to have nothing to do with the actual professional. I have seen better from my Grandsons under 8 football team. For a club that generally runs a meeting at a good pace I was surprised that the presentation of the trophy at the end of a second leg appeared as a surprise to the Club. Maybe get the Clerk of the Course involved next time as they seam to know what they are doing.

I can only see an easy home win for the Lions tonight. But I hope its closer than I fear.

Apparently not. And if my understanding is correct trackstaff is the issue rather than rider availability. If this is a re arranged fixtures I guess people have plans in place to do other things.

Look at football kicks off at the advertised time and the introduction of players happens prior to this. Speedway just appears an amateur sport in comparison to others

No just 7:30 - look at football kicks off at the advertised time and the introduction of players happens prior to this.

First of all well done to the Foxes. Now for the not so good bits. My Uber from the station was not allowed to drop me off by the turnstiles & basically told I had to be dropped off once he was parked in the car park causing me to have a painful walk to get entry on an uneven surface. Yet again a club that advertises a 7:30 start time yet the first race was 7:44 because the crowd was outside. I have never been to another sporting event besides speedway that does not start on time. If meetings started on time the crowd would soon understand that they have to arrive earlier. The late start meant that my prebooked return Uber to the station would not wait so I wasted £22 as had to book a second ride. I know their were some on track events that caused a slow meeting but for the love of god please start on time. You charge the best part of £30 to sit in the grandstand. I consider this to be the fee of a professional sport. Please behave like one. 1. Have a drop off point for people getting lifts to the stadium. 2. Start on time so you do not appear like an amateur sport.

Thanks for the tip. That would be at the limit of my range.

Agreed this or medical cover not being in place.

I agree Leicester are possibly the most reliable track regarding start time but even they have delays the start to a meeting I attended this season. I am never keen to rely on the last train which means I need to be back at the station for 22:10 and the local cabs/taxi/Uber struggle to find the speedway car park.

Speedway fans know if they turn up late the meeting will be delayed. It makes it harder for me as I rely on trains to get to meetings. One late start has already cost me £185 for a unexpected hotel room. But the issue is a professional sport should start at the time stated. 19:30 start for me means ready to start heat 1, which also means 2 minutes goes on at 19:28 and a parade should start at 19:23. Not start time at 19:30 and first race gets underway at 19:45 or later.

Yes. How many other sports delay the start time as regularly as Speedway. I have already been to five meetings this season that has started late which is unacceptable for a professional sport.

Thanks for posting Roger. The studio presentation looked very corporate and reflected well on the new club. Fingers crossed that the promotion are doing enough to engage with locals so that they are not reliant on the general speedway fans attending but develop new local speedway fans.