enotian

could be massive this. seemed to have something of an impact tonight, interesting to see how it evolves. if it reduces the number of re-starts it can only be a good thing. of course in theory or even reality the referee releases the tapes after a random amount of time in that they don't time the release so that it's the same every heat. so there is no real change but psychologically for a rider if you're told the release time is random and automated the dynamic changes and the concept of anticipation disappears.

I noticed the same. Isn't there a worldwide doping ban on Russian athletes/sportspersons. Something to do with the Russian Fereration refusing to co-operate with WADA. So I think Russian competitors have to compete as athletes without representation or some such description, hence no flag. I then think it's up to the sports governing body to decide if any Russia nationals are allowed to compete. Presumably on the basis that they believe them to be free of doping and/or that the individuals have co-operated in testing. I think the same will apply at the Olympics. Although in the Euro's the team was definitely referred to as Russia. Interesting to see what happens at the SON. Are Sayfutidinov and Laguta still the defending champs?

Marcus Bisson of Poole Seemed be progressing mid 80's, 7ish average in the National League then disappeared. Not sure if he picked up an injury but I did see him riding on a beach in Jersey early 90's. Maybe he just didn't want to leave the Channel Islands too often. Who can blame him.

interesting model. presumably the auction is a pantomime with all deals having been sealed beforehand? still an interesting way to launch a season.

currently but if it was financially beneficial (better TV deal or larger market for sponsors) I'm sure they'd consider the proposition. alternatively propose something similar to the Swedish/Danish authorities. Maybe add a German and/or Latvian club so the league is held at GP standard venues. I just feel that the sport in this country could do with having a top tier product that British fans could access. The current strategy to improve the standard seems to be by developing British talent (which they're doing a great job at with limited resources) but even if the current batch reach world standard don't they just (justifiably) follow the Woffinden/Lambert path and concentrate on continental fixtures? I don't think there is any future in a six team (5 promoter) top league without any world stars

randomly and only some weeks. I've a series link set up to catch them.

Not sure to be honest. I assume he was an asset of BSPL. Maybe Coventry was his last "owner"? I'm not sure if Newcastle had to pay to acquire him but I was told he was retained over Mountain (at the point he was released) because Roynon would become an asset and Mountain wouldn't. So the notion still exists even if it has zero financial status.

you're not allowed to be that creative. From an association perspective they may insist upon clubs having rider assets. Indeed I understand that is why Newcastle picked up Roynon this season. But from a business valuation perspective the riders are not assets and do not feature on the balance sheet. By acquiring a licence you might obtain the riders 'registration' which entitles you to first option on that rider or a loan fee from another club but these are just rules of the association. I think it was Matej Kus where there was a stand off where he refused to ride for Redcar and Redcar didn't want to loan him out and Newcastle didn't want to buy him. Ultimately he rode for Newcastle as a compromise was reached. Not sure if Newcastle bought him but got their fingers burnt on his baking trays if they did. The riders are sole traders or private businesses in their own right. I don't think if I sub contracted some work to Google that I could include the value of Google on my companies balance sheet. Might be worth a try. If you look at Newcastle this season. They've had to raise £8k via Just Giving. As far as I'm aware at no point did another promoter offer to buy Archie Freeman. A young talent who could go very far in the sport and the potential to improve dramatically over the next couple of seasons and entertain supporters for hopefully many many seasons. In ever sense a potential asset to a club. Just not from a financial perspective because once any contract he has agreed expires he is effectively free to sign a contract with anyone else despite what the association might think. Especially as he might at some stage decide to ply his trade in Poland or Sweden, without any transfer fee being applicable. The IPL in cricket is an interesting comparison. Ben Stokes went for £1.4m in one of their auctions. Who received the £1.4m?? Durham CC? the ECB? Ben Stokes? I'm not sure who can claim to 'own' him?

Just watched Zielona Gora v Czestochowa recorded on Freesports. Fantastic advert for the sport. There appeared to be a great atmosphere in the stadium and the racing was top notch for the most part. I don't think there was any R/R or guest riders but admitedly I did fast forward as there were long gaps between blocks of heats. Maybe for TV but certainly too long even if the 15 minutes of action were mostly fantastic. I'd definitely pay £25+ to see action of that standard and I imagine if someone new to speedway watched it I'm sure it would have caught their interest. Notwithstanding the length of time the meeting took. Unfortunately this is the benchmark British speedway is up against and it doesn't compare favourably. Even if you could attract the big names back plenty of tracks are just not conducive to modern racing and/or the stadiums are basic. I can only imagine if someone new to speedway had watched that match on Freesports and thought they'd fancy watching some live action in the UK they'd end up feeling disappointed. I know there is no magic wand to resolve this but I've said before, if you can't beat them join them. Once people decide freedom is worth the risk again if you could enter Belle Vue into the Polish League there'd at least be some top level action supporters could access in this country. Maybe if it was successful in attracting visitors to Manchester other local authorities might be interested in having a similar facility? However fanciful that might seem right now. Of course it would undermine the position of the Premiership being the top level of sport in the country but that might just temper expectation. Although I'm not sure what that would mean for the pricing. My general point is that the sport needs to find away of being able to provide a product of comparible standard if there is any chance of attracting a new audience.

I don't think you can include rider assets on the clubs (promoters company) balance sheet. They are not true assets in any real sense as the clubs who "own" them have no legal control over them. Just as you or I are not on the balance sheet of the companies we work for (if applicable) because we are allowed to leave our posts should we wish as long as we adhere to the terms of our contract (i.e. notice period). The only difference with a speedway rider is that the contract they sign is for a fixed period of time. Normally the duration of a season. Once that contract expires the rider is free to sign another contract with anyone else. Of course others will say that the clubs do have rights over their rider assets and indeed clubs do seem to focus on building 'asset bases' but the fact that they are not contained on balance sheets and that transfer fees are infrequent at best reflects the fact that rider assets have zero value from a business valuation perspective. I believe this applies to footballers. Even if they have a long term contract their associated value is not held on the clubs balance sheet. Something introduced after the Bosman legislation I think.

lots of excuses here. I don't like masks, I don't like paying on-line/in advance, I don't like weekdays. I don't like the promoters etc etc The truth is that if the product was any good you'd more than likely be prepared to overlook these issues to get your fix. Unfortunately the product is just a bit naff. 2 hours plus for 15 mins of action some of which will be spectacular most of which won't, in mostly basic venues with zero atmosphere. Having attended about 99% of fixtures at Brough Park since 1986 I've not missed attending at all and can't see myself returning, certainly on a regular basis, and not just because the team is rubbish. In truth I'd just been turning up out of habit for a good while prior to 2020. The reason? It's just a bit naff (importantly) compared to the standard most of us can now view via the SGP coverage. Yes watching at home should be way less exciting than attending in person but the reality is that the British Speedway product is nowhere near as attractive (and I'm not even saying that SGP is unmissable stuff either). I appreciate that the pricing reflects that the standard of racing can't be as high as SGP but the product on a whole is just a but tired and lacks credibility. I actually enjoyed the last P'bro v Wolves TV match. Some of the racing was pretty good and as I'd recorded it I could fast forward the numerous breaks and what I expect were dull interviews and wittering. Didn't inspire me to buy a ticket for Newcastle's next match because I know the action wouldn't be on a par and that I wouldn't be able to fast forward the endless tractor revolutions (which never seem to have a positive effect of the standard of racing anyway). Maybe I just got bored with it. The trouble is I'm not in the minority.

Is he on the Rising Star list? I don't think he was on the original list but that's not to say he hasn't or won't be subsequently added.

it suggests the opposite doesn't it? i.e. where do another 35 riders come from? Going back to 2019 double uppers were getting ave 28 PL and ave 26 CL matches (excl KOC and play offs). So an ave of 54 standard league matches. If there was one big league of 16 (although not all would be able to afford it) gives a rider an equivalent of 30 matches. That's almost half the chance to earn than before. Yes you could increase fixtures but would clubs want to change from c14 home meetings in 2019 to c27 home meetings give the riders the same amount of meetings? Could they even? It's an impossible mess and a totally predictable one at that.

I recall there being a reality TV style series which I think aired on E4 around a class within the BSB championship for young riders. It was a good while ago because it featured the likes of Jonathan Rea, Tommy Hill and Tom Sykes. From memory it was a higher level than the British Talent Cup but they were all young lads trying to climb the ladder. There wa as much behind the scenes footage as there was actual racing coverage. Focusing on the rivalries between the competitors and their backgrounds. Not something speedway has ever been short of!! Imagine if you could document the previous rivalries between British riders alone. The North South split etc I guess the stories are endless. I wonder if any youtube content would be best focussed on a (GP style) series for young riders to try and reach that younger audience. I'm thinking the current crop of youngsters Brennan, Kemp, Rowe, Palin, Flint, Thompson's etc. Maybe throw in a young American, Aussie. Europeans etc. riders of similar standard and age range. Invitational to ensure the right 'cast' and product. Charge £10 for spectators but have each competitor provide background content to build their own brand to attract sponsors. Hopefully attracting a younger audience (who can relate to the competitors ) and even an older audience (who relate to their parents) and maybe even attracting youngsters who want to emulate these youngsters. It should be relatively low cost to run and at the very least would give these youngsters track time and hopefully media exposure. And you never know some people might just follow these youngsters journeys beyond the series.

Easy to do the maths as well. If anything I wrote was wrong please advise. Not being negative just pointing out the risks.

not if you're just converting £18 into £8 for someone who would have attended in person but now just watches from home. Or worse still say a family of four who might have spent c£50 who now spend £8. Does the income from away supporters and neutrals offset those losses and the cost of streaming? If attending the event in person was a much better experience than watching from home it might be worth the risk..... I've said before, I can see it working for shared events when multiple teams are involved but not for individual league matches.

Is Atkins the Rising Star? And therefore need to be replaced by another Rising Star? Which might include Stoneman but might not.

Can't you just VPN to appear to be more than 50 miles away? That's a thing isn't it?

Long over due but all a bit low key. Maybe get some public votes for some of the middle order men who were never big names but played a massive part in British Speedway. As you say there are so many worthy entrants with some many interesting stories.

60 on Sunday. Get Well Soon.

Perhaps they should be offered a refund if the product wasn't up to standard..... .....how much did people pay to access the stream??? Honestly, some people. Well done for making the meeting available online.

Sorry 'Skunny' thread but when/why did assessed averages for new foreign riders get reduced? I'm sure Nicki/Bjarne Pedersen and Kenneth Bjerre can in on 9 or at least 8 assessed so they had to have a certain pedigree to be given a chance. It got reduced to 7 when the Diamonds went for Rune Knudsen which obviously didn't pay off but it's now 4??? If you're in the game of collecting rider assets you'd probably always go for a new foreigner on a 4. Whack it back up to at least 7 and, importantly, don't let their average ever fall below the assessed level. Just to bring it back to 'Skunny' they'd not be under the points limit if Aarnio and Piper had assessed 7 averages

classic but you might want to brush up on your ladies topiary

fair point. as it stands I wouldn't be able to attend as I've not been offered a vaccine. but it would mean I couldn't take my father who has had his. but I was talking more generally. I'm sure pub owners will be delighted to open their establishment just for the vaccinated whilst the young people who spend more money are barred. Who is going to pay these businesses the resulting shortfall? Starting to feel like some kind of Black Mirror dystopian society in which you only get access to recreation depending upon how much tax you've paid in your lifetime.

so not only do you have to have had a vaccine but you also need a smartphone!!! incredible really but I'm not informed enough to comment with authority. i wouldn't have thought having had a vaccine makes a person less likely to transmit the virus, they are just (hopefully) immune to becoming ill from it. so if the unvaccinated public are now those less likely to become ill from it anyway what difference does it make? I'm not sure who we're protecting now??? sounds like the young people in this country are being handed a rough deal. they're the one's who've put their lives on hold to protect the elderly and NHS, they're the ones who'll have to pay for all this (in one way or another). imagine if the strategy a year ago had been only the old and vulnerable had to be isolated, for their own safety. not sure exclusion of a section of the community would have been viewed acceptable then.