uk_martin

Team changes needed, at least in the short term whilst Kean Dicken's broken shin bone heals.: http://www.birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.2423 Hope the lad gets better soon.

You can go to a high street shop and buy bugging cameras and microphones quite legally if you wanted...pretty illegal to use them though. There's all sorts of things that are illegal whether or not the equipment can be bought legitimately. http://mashable.com/2013/08/22/illegal-internet-activity/#GGH.Yo6meuqq

So why have a squad and have training sessions if it isn't going to be put to any use? As you say though this is the BSPA at the centre of this so logic and sense don't come into it.

Poland take on a "Rest of the World" team in a couple of weeks time. Is there a fixture list of Test Matches that Team GB will be riding in this year?

https://youtu.be/3NMwUog-z1I - interesting thoughts about an impending crackdown on KODI piracy. 1. What you can do and what you can do LEGALLY are not always the same thing. 2. Just because there is a small chance of being caught breaking the law doesn't make it right to break the law.

Now that's a good question. In theory anyone at the BSPA 'should' be a person capable of doing a negotiation. These are the movers and shakers after all. These are all the people at the top of the sport. Aren't they? In reality though, who trusts any of them? Who would vouch for the competence of any of them? But if a delegation from the BSPA did the negotiations on behalf of everyone at no commission and without the restrictions and constrictions that currently exist on photos and videos appearing in (social) media then the sport may be in a better place than where it has been in the past.

One spokesperson for the speedway establishment cabale praising another in the cabale. So there's a surprise.

By all means BV could submit a claim, but that's not to say that they are in the right nor that they will win the claim and receive compensation. MCC could well point out that BV were knowlegeable of the fact that the materials being used on the 3rd & 4th bends were "different", and they did not inform MCC of this fact. In other words, BV took the risk and on their heads be it. Now you can see where some Belle Vue fans think of speedway as a £10 sport. £350K split over roughly 35 meetings (NL included) is £10,000 per meeting. Assuming an average crowd of 1,000 per meeting (NL included) and bingo - £10 per person. But as has been said, that's just for the rent. No wonder MCC have conceided that the annual rent is going to be under review this year. Even they will see that there is no hope of any business model being able to afford £350,000. And BIG thanks to the Council Tax payers of Manchester for stumping up the huge losses in the City's finances, with the probable write-off's of the debts not to mention the costs of providing additionial seating for extra non-existent fans who MCC have been hoodwinked into believing will turn up once the extra seating is fitted.

The media platform to show-off sponsors really is the only benefit isn't it? British speedway will receive ZERO in hard cash. BT cover THEIR costs of staging the meetings. Well, yippy do. No compensation to the clubs for the lost attendances at the gate, at televised meetings. So basically the value of that advertising exposure had better exceed the loss of revenue at the gate, else this is a real poisoned chalace.

Young Adam Isherwood has been brought in to the Potters as Assistant Team Manager. Well with all those young brats in the team, Malcolm Vasey needs all the help he can get. Seems that Adam Isherwood has ridden grasstrack and has also been to speedway training schools. So who knows, if there's a rider missing one meeting, someone could just toss him a spare race suit and ask him to fill in... He'd certainly fit in.

News from the Coventry thread is that Mick Horton wants to run a team in 2018. Assuming that finding an alternative stadium in Coventry is no easier than finding a location in Dudley, I wonder if he'll be considering his options...one of which may be buying out Tony Mole at Birmingham?

As I see it then... The SkySports contract is cancelled. There is a "hope" that BT, who seem to have money to burn will have more money than sense, and take on the coverage of the British Mediocre League. Well, as long as hope springs eternal... Let's hope that Terry Russell's mortgage is paid off by now...else this year's repayments may not be on time. Not to mention the point that was raised earlier, that Premiership teams will have a big hole in their finances now if there is no TV money coming in any more. A serious situation could start perculating now.

For the sake of British Speedway on a global scale, we need to focus on those youngsters who are good enough to make progress, and who will be doubling up. If a riders own abilities can't get him onto the first rung of the ladder then maybe there isn't the potential there to devote resources on, to climb the ladder further. We have scarce resources in this country, they need to be used effectively. Having senior riders trying to nurture a kid to maintain his position as a #6 in the National League, I would suggest is not a wise use of what coaching resources we have. TBH, if a rider is in his 30's and is still only a NL reserve, he should be looking for a career elsewhere. If they are just treating speedway as a hobby, they should stick to Amateur speedway and leave the professional leagues to those young riders looking for opportunities. This may be controversial, but IMHO the NL should be looking for, coaching and developing the British versions of Bartosz Zmarzlik, Patrik Dudek, Michael Jepsen Jensen etc...young kids with big futures ahead of them. We've done it in the past with Tai Woffinden, and to Australia's eternal gratitude, with Darcy Ward, so when applied properly, the system can work. It won't work however if resources and efforts are wasted on go-nowhere riders playing out their mid-life crisis's.

Can we just pull things back to basics for a moment? Other than rumours and people being told things by people who apparently know stuff, what EVIDENCE is there that SkySports have pulled the plug? A statement perhaps by one of the affected parties? Although there are no events listed (the season is still some weeks in the distance) this page is still live on the SkySports web site. You'd have thought that if they had pulled the plug, they would have removed this by now? And likewise, what evidence is there that BT will be providing coverage instead? This last point is especially relevant in view of their £1.2Billion deal to extend their coverage of the Champions League. Even BT don't have a bottomless pit of money.

My understanding is that the old men of the BSPA have signed over ALL media rights to British Speedway to Terry Russell at SlowSpeed International. Everything is in Terry Russell's hands. All the speedway DVD companies, all licenced speedway photographers etc etc all have to sign contracts giving Terry Russell god-like powers over the photos and videos that they produce. No contract, no access...simple as that. Soviet style powers to protect his 40% commission on the value of the SkySports contract. Be interesting to see what happens in the post-Skysports world though. If there are any forward thinking people in the BSPA, this could be the opportunity to get divorced from Terry Russel's SlowSpeed International tyrany and drag themselves into the 21st century and the modern world of social media etc.

Good luck with that. Reminds me of the mass gathering by Brummies fans outside the offices of Alan Philips, a few years ago. 13 people turned up from far and wide. Let's hope that more than a bakers dozen can be motivated to turn up on their Saturday Nights out, to a car park outside a derelict stadium in the middle of rural Warwickshire to scream and shout at nobody who's listening.

Actually, Coventry at a stadium that was IN Coventry would be MORE Coventry than ever before.

There are plenty of better riders that the youngsters can learn from in the higher leagues when they double up in them. Old crocs telling the youngsters how great things were back in the 1990's etc when "everything was so much better" are hardly going to do the kids any favours. And how many "young" riders are going to benefit from the older riders at Stoke? If there was an "Antichrist" team in the NL then the Stoke Potters are it.

Wow, that's a bit of a space age question about a sport that's run from the stone age. The BSPA are contracted to Terry Russell's GoSpeed International Ltd for ALL their media dealings. I'm not sure that Terry Russell knows what a Netflick is and he probably still has wet dreams about Amazons of a completely different kind to the ones that Jeremy Clarkson & Co are contracted to. Don't hold your breath about this situation, that's all I can say...

How's the building work on the super new Swindon Speedway Stadium coming along?

Interesting... The BSPA web site still has links to SkySports GoSpeed still have links to SkySports So, if these web sites are to be believed, it's business as usual and nothing has happened. And if you believe that, you'll believe anything. GoSpeed still purport to hold the international media rights to the Polish Extraliga. Maybe some of those more familiar with the Polish TV situation can fill in the gaps, but I'm sure that the PZM revised their international media rights allocation in order to get better worldwide exposure, which GoSpeed was denying them. Wouldn't it be ironic if SkySports were to show Polish league racing at weekends?

You mean that Swindon has the only fans in the country who aren't 70+ ???

Colin Pratt plays cricket?

Good luck Belle Vue...the sport is going to need you.

With today's announcement about the demise of Coventry Bees, where does this now leave the sport? I read that the SkySports contract requires 8 competing teams. Well the BSPA's actions now make that contract teetering on the edge, doesn't it? So if one more club folds and Sky walk away from the contract, and the teams get no coverage and sponsorship money from Sky, what will be the domino effect from this on the rest of the teams in the top leagues?