enotian

Well the idea would be that the TV rights across Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Germay (not sure what the TV situation is in Latvia) provide more income than the current individual deals on the basis that you have four/five home nations to broadcast to. With Polish riders involved you also potentially sell the rights to a Polish broadcaster. Then you have more potential to attract pan european sponsors rather than the local plumber or national brands. And hopefully, if the product is any good (best riders on the best tracks at the best stadiums) and you have a wider catchment area within only two teams in the UK the attendances increase. People still like spending money, just not on rubbish. Clearly none of these income streams are guaranteed but you can negotiate TV deals and with sponsors ahead of committing to rider contracts. The GP stars appear to want more competitive action than the Polish League offers and if the Polish authorities continue to drive down rider rates then it shouldn't be too difficult to attract these stars within a budget. Especially as you're not competing with another two leagues for their services. The opportunity for the riders would be Polish League and Euro League. If the don't accept the rates the Euro League are offering then they only have Poland. Potentially putting them at a competitive disadvantage for the SGP compared to others riding both leagues. If the riders want it and the supporters want it then there'd seem to be away to make it happen. Or you could stick your head in the sand say it's not affordable, pedal the same old tripe to an ever decreasing fan base until it is no longer sustainable. At least if you try something new there's a chance it might succeed.

I'm wondering if Birmingham and Newcastle were given a bail out by the BSPL, Eastbourne asked but the pot was empty?? Or maybe because Eastbourne has a much more attractive 'asset' base than those two. Couldn't they just sell Tom Brennan to the mega rich to raise some cash.... ...or do they just now 'own' him by default. This won't be popular but I have to say weren't Eastbourne one of the teams that insisted on retaining their 2020 line up in 2021 even though there was no precedent or legal requirement to do so. When it was obvious that was going to mean there wasn;t going to be enough riders to make all of the teams competitive. A team they then appear to have been unable to afford. Madness.

Doesn't have to be entering the Polish League does it. It looks like all of the GP riders are looking to do at least 2 leagues Poland and A N other. Doesn't look like Sweden can afford them all but what is there to stop a 'Euro League'. A couple of tracks each from Sweden and Britain, Vojens, Daugavpils and one or two of the better German tracks. Get the product to an equivalent level as the Polish League (GP rider heatleaders, best domestic riders at 2nd string and best domestic U21 riders at reserve, using the best FIM/GP standard race tracks). All of those nations could do with getting their younger riders exposed to top level competition and you get to sell the TV rights to five home countries, more opportunities for riders to attract sponsors. Bi-weekly home fixtures featuring the top riders in the world (if there were two teams from Britain that would only be 14 UK fixtures in the season) should boost the crowd levels. Yes you couldn't use Sundays but with combined bargaining power you might be allocated a Friday night race day or the odd Saturday. Regardless, between those nations you'd have Monday to Thursday guaranteed for fixtures. It's not just Britain who are struggling to compete with Poland (in terms of their domestic leagues and young riders) so why doesn't everyone else pool their resources together to produce an equally as professional high standard league. Providing a similar pathway to the highest level of the sport that the Poles enjoy. Hopefully Brexit and Covid haven't made it a permanently logistical nightmare?

Can't agree with that. When he arrived at Newcastle he could put the bike wherever he wanted on a track that not many can. Liquid speedway. Maybe red mist Nicki took over too often making him look ragged but that's his winning mentality. I think we only saw red mist Nicki once at Brough when Stuey Swales wouldn't let him past. I'd struggle to think of any more naturally gifted riders of the era. Gollob? Maybe one for another thread...

Sums it up perfectly for me. It could actually be both things if they were done properly. But what it can't be is individual riders trying to earn as much as they can from whatever team masquerading as a team sport. Which is what it has become. But that's the crux of it. How do you go from the current situation where the pool of riders are in two leagues and guesting earning from 50 plus fixtures to restricting them to say 30 fixtures if there was one big league. It's a 40% pay cut. Or it's £8 more on the entrance fee. The numbers don't add up anymore. I've said for ages that the pay per points is counter productive in a team scenario. Does not incentivise team riding which is why it no longer exists. Why not have a purse for each heat (different values depending on which heat it is i.e. £200 for heat two £1,000 for heat 15). The purse is split between the teams based on the heat result (50:50 for a 3-3, 70:30 for a 4-2 and 90:10 for a 5-1). If you're a heat winner in a £1,000 heat you earn £500 in a 3-3, £525 in a 4-2 and £540 in a 5-1. Even promote it in that way. I guess back in the day discussing money was frowned upon (probably because of the unfair class system in this country but that's a different debate) but now the reality is everything is about money. So why not embrace it. The obvious problem is how many people would be impressed by a £1,000 prize pot (just using that for illustrative purposes). I guess there's nothing wrong in promoting it as a £10,000 heat, just not mentioning there was a £9,000 entry fee . The point is you can see how it would promote team riding and teamwork which would hopefully improve the on track product. A different dynamic. Of course it still doesn't get you away from the problem of reducing the riders earning capacity as a result of reducing the number of meetings they can ride in.

So basically we're saying that even if any Newcastle Promoter was mega wealthy and could afford to run a loss making business they still couldn't attract a competitive team. Unless they moved race nights from a Sunday. Which doesn't seem to be an option either. And you can't run a team at a lower level because (apart from it only having a handful of fixtures) the crowd levels wouldn't cover the stadium rental. Sounds like we know where to find the writing..........

Exactly the point though isn't it. It's not about what you want to see or what I what to see. It's about providing what the vast majority want. Lowest common denominator stuff. That's why you get stuff like the Hundred. (Garish) Style over content. (Don't tell my boss) but I spent today watching the first day of the Lords test followed by Northern Superchargers vs Manchester Invincibles. (Absolutely terribly contrived teams to attract the widest fan base, you might as well refer to them as Popchips vs McCoys) Clearly the skills set and tactical nuances on display at Lords were far greater than the risk and reward slogfest which was the Hundred. But even though tonights match was a thumping home win and not even a contest it was still very watchable with lots of big hitting and then wickets tumbling. With presumably sane members of the public singing and dancing along to terribly cheesy tunes during the very short delays between sets of five (not overs). Total escapism. Which is exactly what entertainment (not neccesarily sport) should be. If speedway is to reinvent itself it needs to appeal to these lowest commom denominators. Unfortunately for speedway for the masses the equivalent of a big six isn't a big five one it's a big crash. Interesting debate during the test match about scheduling of matches and how the ECB have introduced the Hundred because the game is too reliant of International matches subsidising the counties. Something speedway in this country could only dream off..... ....or is that the way forward??? A showpiece International tournament with a competitive GB team? Using the Hundred as a template you don't even need the best performers you just need non stop action over a couple of hours, merchanside, loud music, crowd interaction, booze by the looks of it. Nobody seems to be that bothered about the standard relative to the best in the world (must of the big name England players are now no longer in the competition [imagine if the Premiership started with all the GP stars but they all left once the SGP's started!!!]), as long as they can entertain. Nobody seems remotely bothered that the players have no affinity to the teams they represent. They're all double or even treble uppers. None of this matters because it's a great show. Can speedway in this country replicate it?? I doubt it.

astonishing isn't it. imagine Coca-Cola sales plummenting and their Marketing Director suggesting they solve the problem with a new advertising campaign. the slogan "Coca-Cola if you stop drinking it we'll stop making it!" Genius. Been happening at Newcastle for decades now. As much as it's a shame speedway just isn't sustainable in Newcastle. Brough Park is an expensive millstone which is too costly to allow the club to operate at a lower level and lower crowds and, lets face it, doesn't produce a great deal of exciting racing in the modern era. Speedway in this country reminds me of loads of those TV shows that viewers lost interest in after season three but are still churned out year after year until inevitably someone realises that nobody is watching anymore. The trouble is that those making the show are having a great time making it. They just never realise that watching it is nowhere near as entertaining as making it. I think it's called lack of self awareness.

The irony is cricket had adopted a couple of key aspects common to speedway. A variety of formats and more recently players who play for numerous teams. However they've done it somewhat better than speedway does. On a much larger budget of course. Would using the 4TT format for the league be the way to answer the current ills? Fair enough you lose team riding but that's, as stated earlier, rare. One league 16 teams. Facing your 15 opponents twice home and away with some kind of end of season play off and grand finals (4 of them, 5 if you add a neutral track). That's 10 regular home fixtures (similar to this season) and 30 away fixtures. Just about the equivalent number of fixtures riders have this season doubling up. 16 teams of 4 requires 64 riders (80 if you include a reserve) which is about the same number of active riders this season across the two leagues, so no need for riders to ride for more than one team. Rank the riders A, B, C, and D and each team would consist of one of each (maybe have a pre-season auction to generate interest). At each home meeting you have the potential for three sets of away supporters (or even streamers) as opposed to one. It won't happen because it's 16 (20 inc reserves) riders to pay for instead of 14 and 20 or 16 heats instead of 15.

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.