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My worry with Eurosport getting UK league racing is that we could be taking a step backwards in coverage. This year the coverage has been very good UHD pictures,strong presentation and well produced. BT have also been very accommodating with showing play offs on alternative dates than planned. Eurosport actually are host broadcaster for very little sport they buy in coverage like the GPs from IMG With the Olympics in 2020 I can see Speedway getting bumped often and as their core sports of Cycling,Snooker and athletics will always come first. I understand that Eurosport have dangled the carrot of pan Europe coverage but I am not convinced there will be that much interest from other countries and I cannot foresee there being large increases in overseas sponsorship. If I was asked to give my professional advice to BSPA I would accept at lesser bid from BT as feel they can showcase the sport better and I feel the sport does owe them some loyalty as it was BT that gave it a platform when they made a mess of the Sky deal

I had any interesting catch up with an ex colleague at the weekend who is now at BT and we was discussing Speedway and he advised of a couple of interesting things that BT were very happy with what they got and especially the viewing figures this year. Also he asked if I knew whether the deal has been signed with Eurosport as BT have just appointed a new head of media rights whom was non too happy that BT were losing Speedway so could be interesting times

Meeting rained off as track unfit and now showers in afternoon

From what I understand Eurosport will have worldwide rights to British Speedway so will broadcast it on their channels across Europe. Hence why some Polish sponsors are interested in Sponsorship as can guarantee to get your company name on a Poole or Kings Lynn racesuit or an advertising banner on the track would be a lot cheaper than you would pay at Leszno or Wroclaw for the same thing. 2020 does seem a strange year for Eurosport to take on Speedway as they have a busy summer of sports rights with it being an Olympic Year and I know they are still bidding on other rights including some European football

Method From what I have been told by colleagues at BT they were very interested in keeping British Speedway but Eurosport put in a higher bid and could offer pan Europe coverage which the BSPA liked as they hope to attract some Polish sponsors as well. I just hope that everyone realises where Speedway sits in Eurosport priorities well down the list behind Cycling,Tennis,Athletics,Football,Swimming ,Snooker and Olympics also they only have two channels to show it on so will be interesting to see their scheduling

To answer some of the questions about streaming Speedway from tracks when Bet 365 did the meetings each one was costing them over £500 per meeting and cost over £2,500 per track to setup. The I Follow system that is in place for football league cost over £30,000 per club to setup Some of the old Speedway infrastructure is still in place but has been taken out of some stadiums and is not really up to standard now. The rollout of 5G mobile networks over the next few years will really bring down the cost of remote production and enable smaller sports more options with streaming.

THJ I would count Josh Pickering out of guesting against Leicester.

FromAFar- Not sure there is much in it Berwick to Leicester for Doolan or East Sussex to Leicester for Ed K. Although I did hear that the beer was rather good at the Longtrack in Germany last night

As it stands at the moment Leicester are planning on staying in the Championship and riders at that level have already been spoken to. Sheffield will depend on the new owners and how they feel about top level racing, But the lure of a 5year tv deal may swing them as it has at Somerset. Like most clubs Glasgow have been encouraged but the owners don’t think crowds would support it in the week and logistical not perfect with Belle Vue being nearest rivals .

Eddie Kennett is riding in world Long Track on Saturday so Eastbourne have Rory guesting and they can have a guest if they wish on Sunday. Leicester’s guest will be announced very soon and is a bit of a track specialist at Eastbourne.

Philiprising- Eurosport will be showing the Olympics in the UK in 2020 it’s only because of the protected rights legislation here that they have to allow a free to air broadcaster share the coverage. They also have a number of high profile snooker tournaments during the summer and as I previously indicated like with the SGP and British Speedway they are chasing after other rights some a lot bigger than Speedway including some football not UK but major European league as well as other high profile sports. So with just two channels my worry is that Speedway will get bumped on a regular occasion and viewers will end up with recorded replay. We shall have to see how it all works out the main thing is keeping the sport on British TV for fans and sponsors

It is very interesting to get the various thoughts on this matter from the I don’t want any tv meetings group ,Then you have the Let’s stick with BT e.g I am happy with what I am getting now group , Then the Let’s see what Eurosport are prepared to offer & get rid of Pearson and Tatum squad and then finally the bring it back on Sky sports with Tony Millard and Jonathan Green & Suzi Perry this of course cant happen sadly. It appears that this is not fully decided yet and the good thing for British Speedway is that there is a couple of offers available to the sport. I just hope that they are being advised by the correct people who know broadcasting. My worry with Eurosport although pan Europe is that they are bidding on other rights as well so Speedway’s a filler in case can’t get anything better and in 2020 they will not want to know Speedway during July and August due to the Olympics which they already have to broadcast .

I really do hope that the BSPA see sense and do not allow Eurosport to get the British Speedway broadcast rights as it will be a budget production gone will be your UHD coverage with multiple camera angles they will look at doing a more remote production with around 4 cameras and commentary done from London to save costs. As much as it pains me to say it but BT sport have done a good job in broadcasting Speedway since taking over with new innovation and fresh sense of broadcasting

Leicester have got to make sure that they position the team to have the best chance in the play offs and the Shield final. Sometimes decisions have to be made which may not be popular with all fans. But be assured Stewart and the Bates family know how important this end of season is to the club and it’s fans.

When THJ came over here for Kings Lynn he couldn’t be bothered and was riding a MDL riders bikes and just brought random engine over with him he didn’t even bring back protector and gloves. This year i understand he his bringing complete bikes,toolkit and mechanic with him so should be better

Leicester need to make a double swap anyway as it’s pretty much definite that Richie will not be returning this year and this may be a chance to strengthen the middle & bottom end of the team up. Would Sheffield fans have been happy to have Kemp then see Nicol at Leicester ?

You know very well what I mean Neil the big gap in home fixtures is causing Peterborough riders issues and as is usual false promises being made to them.

I wonder if the lack of home meetings for Peterborough has anything to do with the riders missing tonight ? I know one Panthers rider who is unhappy with the lack of home meetings meaning he is unable to invest in his equipment as he would wish to.

IainB-To answer a couple of your questions the NL riders are not allowed to warm up in the car park due to council regulations about noise and environmental controls. There was two distinct similarities between last night and the Redcar meeting both involved medical incidents where riders were unconscious for a long period of time which automatically required a hospital trip for X ray and CT scans due to the length they were unconscious for and also had other symptoms. Last night the the county ambulance turned up very quickly but still took a long amount of time to get the rider off to hospital. Even if there had been two ambulances and paramedics there would still have been a lengthy delay until Spencer was stable, so yes racing could have started again but would not have been completed. There is also the extra cost of having 2 paramedics on duty does any Lions fans know any registered Paramedics or DRs that they would want to help out ? In these situations the question was asked before but no response

Well there would need to be a massive shale delivery to be able to make Leicester knee deep in dirt last week it was down to the base and very little out wide

Not sure whether Cook would consider appealing the ban as that’s risky business as if SCB/ACU rule the ban is fair and he delays starting it now then he will be prohibited from riding in the GP Challenge in a couple of weeks and the Championship riders final. Also like with any appeal the ban could be increased

Thanks to the co operation of BT sports Scott Nicholls will be at Leicester to captain the Lions. This was a complicated one as Scott agreed and signed a deal with BT before joining the Lions hence why Lions meetings are planned around the GPS and SON. However they are happy as a one off as they understand what a big fixture this is for the club so they are going to bring in another analyst who will please the viewers.

IainB- The track was watered on Sunday morning and again early afternoon before the main tractor broke down. It was lucky that Danny King’s mechanic Richard was there who along is a tractor expert so along with Mick Shepherd they managed to get it repaired so that the meeting could go ahead otherwise it would have had to be abandoned as it was drying so fast. I do agree as they could not get the water into the track it went slicker than normal and also the track will be having some more shale put on it to create more of a dirt line and drive round the outside.

That is why changes are happening at Leicester to make sure the club is in the best position for the play offs and the Shield final against Eastbourne or Glasgow. The club do have some tough fixtures coming up starting on Sunday so the management are making changes where required