MattK

It's being sold as "Redevelopment potential" so the agent clearly thinks differently.

Hold on a minute. Haven't those people been heavily involved in the speedway over the last 20 years, precisely the time when speedway has been in decline?

OK. Three ideas for promoting speedway within a large company... Firstly, the simple. Get a friendly supporter to put up posters on the noticeboards and distribute leaflets into the common areas such as by drinks machines and comfy chairs. This requires supplying more materials by the club, but should cost less than a hundred quid. Two - a bit more involvement from the club. We have sports and social clubs ranging from the taking part such as football and tennis, up to wannabes, like the karting club that I am a member of. Sponsor a "speedway supporters club" by offering a staff discount and something for people to remember their first speedway meeting by, such as a pit walk or watching the last heat form the centre green. This idea is more reliant on employees organising and signing up members, but a few times a year there is a sports and social roadshow, so introducing at least a couple of hundred new fans to speedway should easily be possible. Third - which requires the most effort from the club. We have a number of local and national businesses which offer staff discounts. Every eight to ten weeks these companies do a roadshow where they come to our head office and promote their products. The club would have to have a TV screen with a DVD playing, maybe a bike and even a rider in attendance to get people's attentions, but again I am confident you could introduce a couple of hundred new people to speedway by this method.

But part of promotion is raising awareness among people who aren't aware of speedway. I work for one of Swindon's largest employers (around 3,000 people in our offices) but there is absolutely no mention of speedway on the noticeboards, sports and social clubs, news items or staff discount schemes.

Unfortunately, these old codgers are part of the problem, not the solution. I do wonder if the resistance to appoint anyone from outside of speedway is in case they suggest sweeping away all of the hangers-on.

I don't see why you'd need a "supremo" type figure, but I've always wondered why promoters don't employ a marketing company to re-brand, re-launch and promote British speedway as a whole. You could even share the "profits" with them to reduce the up-front costs and give them some incentive to succeed.

Fair comment, although I think "quaint" is a perfect description of modern league speedway. Maybe clubs should offer people real china to drink their flasks of tea out of?

"But there's something undeniably quaint, even old-fashioned, about speedway. And it's devoid of glamour, unlike the multi-million pound industry that is Formula One." I think these two sentences perfectly sum up modern speedway.

I guess the BSPA earn money from sponsorship of TeamGB, so if top riders are missing and/or the team doesn't progress, then this reduces the value of that. BSI probably don't care either way, as GB are fifth or sixth on the rankings, so are unlikely to make the final. On the other hand, King's Lynn have presumably paid BSI for the right to host one of the qualification rounds, so Nicholls missing may reduce the crowd and therefore reduce KL's profit?

I have no problem with them making a living, but if earning money is their first priority over the ambition of being the best possible rider they can be, then I don't think they should get a free ride into Team GB.

Of course it's competitive, it's the strongest league in the world. That's why all the young Poles, Danes and Swedes ride there. Were are the young Brits though? Too busy doubling-up in our semi-professional leagues. And then we wonder why there is no young talent coming through. And anyway, how is chucking them in an the deep end only for them to get annihilated in the World Cup going to help their progression?

The World Cup should be able your four best riders. If Cook, Auty, Worrall and Garrity want experience then they should sign for Polish and Swedish teams, like the young Poles, Danes and Swedes do. That is the real reason we are miles behind on an international stage. British riders are lazy and/or lack ambition.

It's funny, most people bemoan Terry Russell owning the TV rights to British speedway, but I wonder if the BSPA (or whoever) sold the rights to TeamGB, whether someone would make a better hand at getting sponsorship, encouraging the top riders and eventually being more successful on the track?

And it was Kennett in heat 15, not Kildemand

I appreciate what you say, but Monster do seem to be trying to drag the sport into the 20th century. Do Sky or the BSPA cut a "highlights" clip of each meeting on YouTube? As for other commentators, I'm sure Eurosport could find them. I quite liked Jonathan Green's commentary on SGP, although anyone who doesn't say "Woofy, Woofy, Woofy" would be a good start.

The other thing that I would be interested to know is how Pearson and Tatum fit in with the imagine that Monster want is trying to portray for the GPs. This video ( ) and its soundtrack doesn't really sit along side two middle-aged men and their tired catchphrases.

It is really though? For example, all the revenue from Twickenham goes to the RFU, where as at this stadium, as far as I'm aware, all the money will go to Belle Vue speedway. So if that is the case, the "National Speedway Stadium" name is little more than a marketing gimmick.

The whole act of sponsoring a rider seems to be shrouded in secrecy. I've often wondered riders don't have a section on their web sites where their kevlars and bike are laid flat and businesses (and individuals) can "bid" on a section.

In this instance I don't think your comparison to football is a mistake. If Ryan Giggs did guest for Spurs in place of the Bale it would be farcical and the Premier League would be the laughing stock of the sporting world. However, this is a common occurrence in speedway and another reason why it is not taken seriously by the wider media and members of the public.

The Elite League at least seemed to be moving in the right direction (IMHO) towards a squad system, with each team having a #8 and pairs of double-uppers. However, this season DUers have been reduced to single riders and the concept of having a #8 appears to have been dropped, although not officially announced as far as I can see. Personally I think teams should be made to bite the bullet. Their #8 comes in at the bottom of the team and then every other rider moves up a place.

One thing we can all agree on is that ironically the presentation of speedway has definitely NOT changed in the last thirty years, which is why attending a speedway meeting is like stepping into a time warp. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing inherently wrong with presenting your product as if it's the 1970/80s, IF your target market is people in their 40s, 50s and upwards. The problem with speedway is that it doesn't know who its target market is, so tries to be all things to all people and ultimately fails to be anything to anyone. Speedway needs to pick a target audience, like BWitcher said, your can make something "cool" just my marketing it properly. But it is very, very hard to be all things to all people, which is why every year speedway loses more fans that it gains.

Is the racing really any worse now than it has ever been? I've got DVDs of meetings from Oxford in the 70s and 80s where just as many heats are won from the gate and/or are strung out as you are likely to see in a meeting today. I don't think speedway is any better or worse than any other motorsport when it comes to follow-my-leader and first out the start wins. Look at F1, 50 laps and the only time cars change positions is during pit stops. The most exciting part of any motorsport event is the start and speedway is blessed in that it has 15 starts and relatively short "races". That's just my 2p worth.

You don't seem like the kind of bloke to hold a 40-year grudge.

Who said today was going to be "the day"? Some 12-year-old on Twitter?

What announcement tomorrow?