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I had the opportunity to have a good catch up with some former colleagues yesterday after a trade event at the Oval in London they gave me the latest as far they are aware from the BT side. Deal has been offered to BSPA which is that BT will cover all production costs and each staging club will get a £3000 meeting fee. In return BT want minimum of 7 GP riders in the league, a minimum of 10 meetings to televise, All TV meetings apart from finals to be £10 or complimentary and full co operation of all clubs with regards to fixtures so the best meetings can be broadcast. Now some promotors are refusing to sign the deal as they feel they are being undervalued and that they are looking for more money per meeting and want some payment towards rights. It has to be all clubs or none that's the deal I just hope the No brigade can be convinced soon to save the deal.

If there is no British Speedway on tv in 2018 the blame will firmly be due to certain promotors thinking they know best. A deal has been offered and and even better offer has been made yet some BSPA members still want more which they are unlikely to get so take it or leave it. As a Speedway supporter I hope they hurry up and sign the contract before BT move onto another sport.

Was this all new to UK GP riders on 9pt average voted for in Tenerife or afterwards ? It seems strange that Leicester would vote for the 8pt rule knowing it was going to ruin their team plans as were planning to go with MV and AN Other now they have to choose between the two

From what I have been told by a few sources is that BT had offered a tv deal to British Speedway subject to a few conditions being met etc £10 entry,a min amount of GP riders. However some promotions over value what they think British Speedway tv rights are worth and think that they should be getting Thousands just for the rights to allow BT to broadcast the racing. Then of course you have Terry & Ron Russell in the middle if BT offer just a meeting fee to the clubs or nothing but do cover the production costs how do old Tel & Ron make their money

New Pole will be a 5 I think as never rode in GP and MV will be 8.5 The next two signings are crucial as we have possible No1 and potentially good 2nd string. Need good heat leader back up and reserves will be Josh Bates. The Bates family have obviously sorted the middle order out as have told Lasse and another 2017 Lion that they don't fit into current plans

Decision time for the Lions promotion now they know the rules from the conference and have MV starting average confirmed . Do they push forward with top 2 they originally wanted or do they go for a more balanced side with strong reserves ?

Let's just wait and see if it all comes off, if it does I think quite a few people are going to be pleasantly surprised. One that has to be remembered is that Leicester can offer riders unlimited track practice time pretty much whenever they wish. Most can of course go to Poland to practice but many riders have said that's ok but not so much use when you are trying to setup an engine for the indoor and temporary GP circuits and this type of practice is better more speed

Fan male- You may well be correct with Wozniak as the next signing it was just not the name of the rider that I heard that Leicester had offered a deal to and was looking possible that it would happen.

Wozniak was an option that was available to the club that would have seen MV,Wozniak and Kim Nillson & Bjerre But this not the rider whom I was on about as I said they are a GP rider and in all honesty didn't think they would want UK

It is not Zagar as others have said Leicester is not one of his favourite tracks and the rider I heard was more towards the top of the GP finishing order. The more I think of it the more surprised I will be if it comes off as I thought he would be wanted by his parent club.

The rider that was mentioned to me would be an excellent signing for Leicester but is far from confirmed so would be unfair to steal the clubs thunder and it may yet not happen. This would not be the first GP rider to discuss terms in the winter to ride in the UK and then change their mind when they consider the logistics more. Rest assured if I hear it's a confirmed deal then I will let you all know and further shows how the club is moving forward

Leicester may have more than one rider that rides in the GP in 2018. When I heard that they were taking terms with this rider it surprised me but if it comes off would give the Lions a real strong top end and can still fit in a couple of fans favourites too.

It was all a very dodgy deal from the start as the money wasn't actually paid by the Torun club to Peterborough Speedway. It was a business transaction between the Torun main team sponsor and Ged Rathbone which is a private case so this makes it more difficult in law to prove any wrong doing. I have it on good authority that Matt Ford and Poole were fully aware of the situation as his work permit sponsor they had to put their details forward as well for it to be approved by PZM

The facts I shared Mr Chapman were that in 2017 the racing was better,Crowd numbers were significantly higher for TV matches, Promotors were in general more supportive of TV. There has also been more large National companies getting involved with Sponsorship like at Leicester with JCB & Arriva bus and Premier Inn at Wolves For 2018 I have been told on good authority that there will be at least 7 GP riders appearing in the top league in the UK. This is to add to the regular race nights that's been agreed so wont have so many guests due to doubling up as won't be clashes.

Well I have had a meeting today with some of the rights acquisition team today on another matter and have had a positive chat about Speedway on Sky. I am not saying that it will be back but have made them aware fully of facts on the basis that BT covered it and on the costings & budgets they would have worked to. They were very interested to know that BT saw improvements in viewing figures in 2017 and that they want it back but are at present not offering any money. It may well be that nothing happens from the Sky side but just wanted them to have the full facts and the product has improved and will be even better in 2018.

It does appear that the original poster may be a bit premature with his news. My understanding is that BSPA have been told that BT are very unlikely to offer anything for the rights to broadcast the league and want confirmed information about league structure and rules before making any commitment. They are also keen to see a confirmation that the pricing will be reduced again for TV matches

Col- As others have said Lakeside will be looking to join the Championship and even if they had returned to the top league it would be highly unlikely that Kim would return to Purfleet unless they finished the business they had from 2016

This deal has been bubbling for a number of weeks but Martin wanted to wait until after the end of the GP season and whether he would have had the GP qualification rounds to do. To me it's a very good start to signings for 2018 with a Leicester fans favourite from 2017 likely to be the next signing after the averages and format of league is confirmed at the conference. There could also be another positive surprise signing for Lions fans in 2018 if everything fits into place with league structure

The deal should be that BT will cover the production costs and then if the BSPA can deliver more GP riders to the league then there will be money paid for each meeting

Gemini- There isn't that many children at Leicester compared to other tracks and Saturday just don't work for the riders and will only be worse next season even if club went down to Championship as more and more riders are getting Polish contracts even the likes of Erik Riss and Lasse have indicated that would not been keen to be at Leicester on a Saturday and away clubs have problems getting their top riders

Steve55- Like most things in Speedway nothing is definite until it actually happens but that is what has been agreed upon at pre AGM meeting and riders are being told this when asking about riding in the UK in 2018 with hopefully more top level riders being interested. I personally think Sheffield may take a gamble and go up in 2018 to keep their race night rather than running on say Wednesday crowds may have other things on. It remains to be seen what Ipswich do and suspect Redcar will move to Fridays where I have been told have been better this year.

It looks like Sheffield have a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks about what they decide to do about 2018 Do they stay in the Championship and change their race night as to prevent doubling up clashes no Championship clubs will be allowed to run matches on Monday & Thursdays other than Bank Holidays. Option two is to go up to Premiership to keep Thursday nights but will the Sheffield fans support the team in sufficient numbers to make it financially viable.

The continued and increased sponsorship by JCB is excellent and will help move the club forward both on and off track. It is going to be an exciting and interesting winter for Leicester fans with track work set to take place to bends 3 & 4 to create more lines and to take out some of the bumps that have appeared over the season. From what I got told last night Leicester have 3 riders names that they are keen to have and opened initial discussions with. Obviously not a lot can be confirmed until after the conference but the club have set a top priority of getting the No1 sorted as they realise this is where Leicester have struggled for the last couple of seasons. The have two good no2 and then good support riders in mind.

GlennyLion The announcement will be a very positive thing for the club and there is likely to be another positive one in a few days time as well. By the sounds of it plans for 2018 are well advanced which is good to see.

Of the named reserves not sure who would be better Davey Watt or Justin Sedgeman not a lot in it both out of their depth. To me the most sensible option would be to put Nick Morris or Jack Holder in I am sure they both have kit out in Australia and just take a fresh motor out with them as baggage.