SJA

Technically 800 fans as each as each home meeting covers the cost of the away fixture as well. Although the figures I have been quoted on the guarantees are closer to £4k each.

Before team racesuits became a thing I think it was Henka Gustafsson in 92 or 93 who had the Kings Lynn Zetor race bib as part of his leathers design so he didn't have to wear a race bib. I though that was a design innovation and ahead of the time.

The best signing Glasgow can make is a new Manager, Cami cost you the league this year by not picking Thompson for the Superheat.

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Henka Gustafsson for me. His balance on the bike was amazing. At the opposite end of the spectrum was Bo Petersen who was all legs.

If the rumours are true and it looks like with a low points limit maybe at the back of all the promoters mind is replace your existing number one with another rising star and you will save a massive amount of money has I have heard in some cases what a number one gets at some clubs is about the same as the other two heat leaders get combined.

He is the Lion that increased his average by the most. With a low limit I would thought he should be the first or second signing.

That would leave 11.17 for the other three riders if the rumoured 36 point limit happens. Fricke is simply unemployable on an 9.89 average if its a 36 point limit for team building.

I asked the questions and was told the figures are supplied by BARB which the ad agencies use to evaluate the reach and value of audiences as they develop throughout commercial TV programmes. Its the industry standard apparently. The person in question has work in broadcast media as Advertisement Sales Manager including Sky Sports when they had the rights to Speedway so I would expect understands the figures he quoted.

The ad window is 7 minutes per hour at peak times. Speaking to a Commercial Manager of a Premiership club he said the issue is not only the raw numbers but the demographics. Fans are to old, and to poor to appeal to mainstream brands. The comparison he gave was a netball viewer was 28 years younger and earned £22,000 more per annum than a speedway viewer. This would make the sport a hard sell to free to air channels. BSPL could be faced with decision between a small amount of money per club from a broadcast partner that has the sport "hidden" behind some form of paywall and a free to air deal with no money and where BSPL pick up the production costs but gets the sport to a wider audience. This greater reach could then be used to gain more commercial partners for the clubs as it would appear more to selected national brands.

The best deal is the one that gets the sport to the largest number of non speedway fans. But how to achieve this? My opinion is that the sport is not suitable for live TV but ideal for a hour long, prepack, magazine type programme. You focus on the best races from a couple of meetings with additional races that are talking points from the previous week. In a 52 minute programme (plus 8 minutes of ad brakes which is the maximum allowed) as the spot ruling will not be applied to speedway due to viewing figures you should be able to cover this. I would get BSN to prepare it and offer it prepacked to Channel 4 or 5. Being on a FTA channel but as highlights will not impact on people attending a live meeting as much as the present deal does. And you stand a chance of attracting new fans as its not behind a paywall. The key is to get a broadcast (TV) partner as a streaming service only engages existing speedway fans.

Was this one of the meetings the SCB insisted senior tracks held if they didnt have an National League level side? If so what happened to the other ones?

And this makes my point perfectly that the Poole Promotion prepare a track to give their fans what they want which in turn maximises their gate revenue.

The issue is not necessarily track prep but speedway's business model. A home club has to pay the home teams point at home and the corresponding away fixture from the home meeting gate receipts. Therefore, it's paramount the home Promoter maximises the home gate income. From what I saw last night Poole achieved this.

I was at both, and Ipswich had more people in a much bigger stadium. However, many of the Ipswich fans around me were "questioning" where these people were for the rest of the season. One thing that impressed me was the amount of Lions fans at the fixture, which had you believed the media was all done and dusted. I thought it was standard Poole fodder last night. Slick track, set up to suit the home riders and supporters. Poole always strikes me as a club where from a fans perspective winning is more important than the quality of racing. I think this is different to other clubs including Belle Vue, Leicester, Scunthorpe and Redcar where the fans are more than happy with a meeting with lots of passing rather than the result. What cannot be questioned is Poole's business model, are they possibly the only track in the top two divisions to turn in a profit?

I thought Jamie Courtney picked the Berwick team

Leicester have suffered in the Premiership for always having one of the latest rising star picks. And next season will be no different if there is no change in the rules. Joe Thompson had twelve rides across the semi final and final and did not score a single point. It makes the performance of the team even more remarkable when you take this into consideration. Congratulations to Ipswich who had the strongest 1-7 and were worthy of the favourites title many gave them at the start of the season

I would imagine that he stuck by Kemp as based on the September averages he has put the largest percentage on his starting average. Be interesting to see who the Supporters Club give most improved rider to this year as last year Becker won the award and was the only Lion to reduce his average throughout the season!

Is it to much to ask of the expert commentator to actually know what the rules are regarding awarding races?

Looking forward to this meeting. I think Leicester by six on the evening. I guess it depends on how Tom is feeling after yesterday's crash, or do we get to see Harris top up his pension fund? Its just a shame that Leicester are a six man team in most of their meetings.

I understand that that is still happening today. I was speaking to the Leicester Team Manager who said that getting guests was hard as they paid what the league suggests and riders with a little experience want more than this.

I've just looked on google maps at the Northampton track. On satellite view the entry to the bends looks very narrow. Factor in the width of a airfence panel and I would say its almost impossible to get good racing there.

I think that is the better option for Tolley. Look at the clubs Rogers has been involved with and most have closed down while he was there. No one person can consistently be that unlucky.

Last night was my 58th meeting of the season. I have been to all Premiership and Championship tracks at least once. Fifth time at Leicester this season (4 prem, 1 NDL) and I have to say its a very enjoyable experience, decent racing, which the track very rarely gets the credit for, decent views all around the stadium and nice staff. Well done Leicester in making the final and well done to the track curator for another good nights racing.

Has it - I thought they were separate, and distinct legal entities.