raymondbudd

Fair play to Philip Rising for raising this with BSI

Disagree guys, the NL is all about rider development and Scunthorpe should be applauded for all they do for giving youngsters a chance. Other promoters who may have a different agenda should not be promoting NL speedway as the real deal, because it's not. Well done to all involved at Scunthorpe for helping young riders get track time.

One issue which may not help is the likely forthcoming title win by Poole. Let's face it, most of the league meetings shown this year were dross. Of the three matches shown in the play offs, only one which was of merchantable quality was Poole/ Swindon. I also recall a piece in the Speedway Star a few years back suggesting there were personality "issues" between GoSpeed and Sky which didn't help the last renegotiation of the contract.

I agree with The White Knight in principle. However having read some of the tweets myself, it's not really the expected conduct of the national team manager. Middlo would be far better off by not engaging with such rampant abuse.

A balanced insight from Phil Rising - thanks. He is correct in that all riders are freelancers, so its up to them where they race. On this basis any form of restraint from either party would not be legal within the EU. I personally don't have a problem with the European Championships as a 4 round series. It's clearly been successful so far and generates additional income and TV coverage for the sport. From a sporting perspective the compact nature of just 4 rounds means that every heat can be crucial. Again on a personal level I don't really mind if there is more of this high quality product, even at the expense of the sport in the UK.

I know that this topic has been discussed in different forms in other threads, however I think that it deserves a thread of its own. In short, what processes and procedures are in place to investigate crashes on UK tracks. I assume that this would come under the boundaries of the SCB, in which case where is it? Some crashes we have seen in 2013 have resulted in serious injuries (Ashworth, Karlsson, Holder). Accepting that Seedway is a dangerous sport, I personally see very little in the way of formal safety investigations. Do such things exist in the UK, and if not why not?

I agree,Emil doesn't appear to be the fastest but is somehow grinding out a decent points haul (inc SGP).

Moving on from the commentary debate. It's a big meeting, in a modern stadium that's packed to the rafters. And the racing is non too shabby either. Outside of the Cardiff GP, I've seen nothing in the UK over the past 15 years that is even comparable to the fayre on offer in Russia tonight.

Fantastic coverage by Eurosport. I don't care if the commentary is less than perfect, it's good enough for me. Frankly it's brilliant that they cover the series, providing a superb HD picture too.

Great stadium, massive crowd, sadly once again illustrating how British Elite League is the poor relation in World Speedway.

Notable tweet from Holder this morning "what's the use of an air fence if it lifts up when you hit it, feet first concrete wall". A very valid point raised, and I think most have seen this happen before. I'm guessing that this phenomena doesn't occur with the polyfoam fence.

From an editorial perspective I think the piece is excellent. Much as I enjoy reading the speedway star, its these sorts of editorial pieces that I enjoy most. I don't have a team to follow anymore, but I do follow the sport. As such the team based news section has limited appeal and its the other items that have more interest. I also agree entirely with the issues raised in the piece.

I agree with SCB, packaged correctly something based around training / community could have as good a chance as any other sport.

Some excellent posts on this topic so far. It would be interesting to see if the viewing figures for PL matches are comparable (or above) those for EL. From where I am, I cannot see any rational reason why they would be down. On the issue of creating their own content. Given the relative moaning from British Promoters, I find it difficult to see anybody wishing to take the financial risk. However the likelihood is that by creating their own product, there is more chance of seeking a substantial enough profit.

Whilst its not ideal, I'm fine with them sticking with the tennis and running the meeting late. I mean the French Open tennis final is a MAJOR sporting event, who wouldn't want to stick with it. I'm just pleased that a broadcaster is picking up genuine elite level speedway and showing it.

Very enjoyable meeting and nice to see international Speedway that wasn't SGP or WTC on TV. I hope that the promoters view it as a success and push on with their plans. Missed opportunity for UK riders to get some experience.

I can just see the confusion regards TV revenue in the BSPA & Go Speed offices now. I'd suggest this is one reason why there is no UK representation yet. According the Go Speed, they own UK TV rights to SGB events. I recall issues regarding the Champions League relating to the rights in 2012. Since the UK representation would be via SGB. It follows that if SGB send representation, GoSpeed will want a share of the UK pie. I think it's great that other promoters are introducing alternatives to the dross that is BEL. Eurosport in particular are aquiring a strong portfolio.

Not sure about the way forward, however there is no doubt that this is a very tricky climate for promoters. The entrance fee cost is ultimately a calculation driven by the costs of running a meeting. I'd say that anything over £15 entrance and it all becomes very expensive for your average person (taking into consideration fuel, programme etc). How that translates onto the balance sheet, I don't know? However there may be some merit in suggesting that some people (promoters) must be making something out of it. I mean, there are many promoters (Machin, CVS, Ford, Louis, Morton, Pairman etc) whom are in the game year in, year out. If promotions are losing so much money, why are these people still there? Any sensible business head would run a mile at the very whiff of such losses. I'm in no way suggesting every promoter is making a killing. I was a Scunthorpe last year and I head RG on the mic thanking the public for attending. It was very clear that he really meant it, and I doubt the club are massively in the black. As far as GoSpeed are concerned, on professional grounds alone they have demonstrated that they are incompetent (the old website) and are not in the same league as other organisations (BSI/IMG). Questions should certainly be asked of the merit of keeping this organisation on board promoting British Speedway. On a personal level, its far to say I'm an ABC1 male and could probably afford to provide significant sponsorship or even buy a club. Will I pay £15 a week to see Sheffield, no, because its just not value for money. Will I ever invest in anything associated with the BSPA, not a chance!

Really enjoyed it, the racing wasn't the best however for the first proper meeting of the year it was good. The HD picture was excellent and the commentary team were a welcome change (in that they were an alternative to week in/week out of Perason/Tatum, nothing more). I hope that the event was a success and that it continues in NZ as it increases the chances of a possible round in Aus (and worth a single trip over). Finally, a big thanks to Phil Rising & Flagrag for thier informed opinions during the close season.

I've always found Kieth Hewen to be an excellent broadcaster (going back to his supercross work in the early days of Eurosport), and like him or not he's always backed the speedway where possible. I would say the same goes for Nigel & Kelvin too. Eurosport is an excellent platform for SGP & SWC, it'll be very interesting to see the viewing figure over the summer. It'll also be interesting to see if the EL viewing figures are impacted with people cancelling Sky Sports now that a far cheaper alternative is available. Time will tell.........

Presenters should read out tweets inbetween heats and during the break, clearly an element of moderation would be required however it would be a good way to make the fans in the stadium feel more involved.

Just watched a highlights video of Belfast Arenacross ( ), can't help thinking that BSPA could learn a thing or two from these guys. For a start the overall branding of the series is superb, trackside adverts, startgate lighting & adverts plus the overall sponsorship by Monster Energy. I'd hazard a guess that the half time entertainment in the proposed speedway series would utilise the freestyle MX ramps on display too. The closest the BSPA came to this type of branding was the superseven series when Jonathan Chapman was involved, sadly it was never really built upon and we are back to the plain old shared events. The politics of all this will probably prevail, however this current situation illustrates to me why speedway is light years behind other disciplines. On a personal level if the sport was run more like this I would be happy to offer substantial sponsorship (although not quite to the level of "the know"), but until it does ill be putting my funds to better uses.

Hardly a two bit organisation, have you researched the Red Bull nationals (note the major sponsor for a UK based series) or the ArenaCross events so far this year (inc 02 Arena / http://www.arenacrossuk.com/). Its also worth noting that each rider is equipped with transponder timing, posting immediate results via thier website and iOS / Android apps. I'm not sure how speedway timing has evolved, but its not exactly at this level. I'd suggest that MCF are tapping into exactly the market that Speedway should be in a very professional way.

Whilst I'm not surprised at the SCB response I'm astounded by some of the negativity on this topic. Like it or not MCF is a legitimate sporting organisation, running several high profile MX events (Red Bull nationals etc). It's also worth pointing out that its sister company events22 (also run by Matt Bates) are currently running the UK Arenacross series, so far this year events have been held at the 02, Oydessy Arena, LG Arena and this weekend at the Echo Arena. They also run the Weston beach race, which is one of the largest, motorcycle events in the country. My view is that the SCB should explore every avenue to accommodate these guys, whom have demonstrated ability to professionally run events. As a former MX rider I'm not surprised that some of the best talent in speedway comes from this discipline (Craig Cook etc), clubs should welcome the opportunity to work with these guys and tap into the MX talent on offer.

Got to agree with everything on here, the track staff made it happen. British Promoters should take note, if you have the will you can run a meeting after torrential rain.