LagutaRacingFan Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 A few weeks into the season and it's obvious that Belle Vue, Sheffield and Ipswich are in their own league, while the rest are plucking along. Knowing which teams are going to finish top and bottom is not very fun. The NBA and NFL are the most successful leagues in the world and they operate on a salary cap basis. Should speedway do the same? I think this would increase competition and make the league more exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldyman Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 But how much is the cap, and how many players are on the top salary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bald Bloke Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Would be almost impossible to implement imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 A cap is already in place, a points cap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Irving Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Great idea, let’s have a salary cap that forces out your Emil’s and Holders to give the crap at the bottom more of a chance. That will really get the turnstiles clicking in huge numbers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berry9 Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 1 hour ago, Baldyman said: But how much is the cap, and how many players are on the top salary? The teams have a limit on how much they can pay their players so if they splash out on a superstar the pot for the rest of the team is reduced. It ensures that the top players are evenly distributed around the league Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 (edited) It would require: 1 a complete reshaping of the club/rider relationship, including riders becoming employees 2 strong independent regulation .... and neither of those are going to happen Edited April 8 by arnieg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigcatdiary Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Promoters pay what they think is right depending on the ability of the rider but of course sponsors come into it as well and can often top it up considerably. Some clubs with affluent sponsors are well known for enticing riders from other clubs which is why the points cap and new riders assessed averages comes into play. Its more difficult for riders to come in now on a low assessed average and make a complete mockery of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89buttons Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 3 hours ago, LagutaRacingFan said: A few weeks into the season and it's obvious that Belle Vue, Sheffield and Ipswich are in their own league, while the rest are plucking along. Knowing which teams are going to finish top and bottom is not very fun. The NBA and NFL are the most successful leagues in the world and they operate on a salary cap basis. Should speedway do the same? I think this would increase competition and make the league more exciting. British speedway is a comparable league to the nba and nfl too with similar revenues and fanbase so will definitely work 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spin king Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Like others have said salary cap would not work in speedway. It is simple reason, speedway riders are paid on performance, to go to a salary cap riders would need to paid a wage per meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 They have tried this several times before & it doesn’t work because there are too many ways around it. Fair play rules don’t work in football either. For speedway to survive it’s needs to become a serious sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Are salaries really the issue here anyway? Surely more to do with rider availability (or rider desire for this country). I bet the likes of Maciej Janowski and Michael Jepsen Jensen are getting paid less than some of the other top riders in the UK. There's only a certain number of riders that want to ride over here so they are never going to be evenly distributed with current club ties (Emil and Doyle at Ipswich, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 6 minutes ago, Bojangles said: Are salaries really the issue here anyway? Surely more to do with rider availability (or rider desire for this country). I bet the likes of Maciej Janowski and Michael Jepsen Jensen are getting paid less than some of the other top riders in the UK. There's only a certain number of riders that want to ride over here so they are never going to be evenly distributed with current club ties (Emil and Doyle at Ipswich, etc.). Doyle is on record saying he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. Emil was a free agent prior to the 2023 season anyone in the uk could have signed him. Louis put in the time & effort to make that happen & by all accounts had to win over Emil’s manager to make that happen. Did any other UK promoter think outside the box to try & sign him? I doubt it but if they did then he chose Ipswich over the others. It now appears that Ipswich is the only UK club he would ride for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 Just now, cowboy cookie returns? said: Doyle is on record saying he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. Emil was a free agent prior to the 2023 season anyone in the uk could have signed him. Louis put in the time & effort to make that happen & by all accounts had to win over Emil’s manager to make that happen. Did any other UK promoter think outside the box to try & sign him? I doubt it but if they did then he chose Ipswich over the others. It now appears that Ipswich is the only UK club he would ride for. And that's exactly my point. A salary cap wouldn't change that. If Ipswich couldn't afford him, he just wouldn't ride over here any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 2 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said: Doyle is on record saying he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. Emil was a free agent prior to the 2023 season anyone in the uk could have signed him. Louis put in the time & effort to make that happen & by all accounts had to win over Emil’s manager to make that happen. Did any other UK promoter think outside the box to try & sign him? I doubt it but if they did then he chose Ipswich over the others. It now appears that Ipswich is the only UK club he would ride for. Something happened around that time to make him available. Can’t think what but it might have made the local news or one of the free newspapers. Wish I could remember. Re Doyle, if I rode for Ipswich I wouldn’t want to rider anywhere else. £££££ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 18 hours ago, ouch said: Something happened around that time to make him available. Can’t think what but it might have made the local news or one of the free newspapers. Wish I could remember. Re Doyle, if I rode for Ipswich I wouldn’t want to rider anywhere else. £££££ I think the banning of Russian riders after the Ukrainian invasion byrussian forces may have had something to do with it. I may be wrong, I'm sure someone will let me know. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89buttons Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 53 minutes ago, The White Knight said: I think the banning of Russian riders after the Ukrainian invasion byrussian forces may have had something to do with it. I may be wrong, I'm sure someone will let me know. 🙂 An invasion no doubt orchestrated by the evil owners of the biggest benefactors…you’ve guessed it everyone’s favourites money club Ipswich Witches! The lengths this dark force will go to in a bid to be a success in British speedway eh 🤣 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy cookie returns? Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 (edited) 23 hours ago, ouch said: Something happened around that time to make him available. Can’t think what but it might have made the local news or one of the free newspapers. Wish I could remember. Re Doyle, if I rode for Ipswich I wouldn’t want to rider anywhere else. £££££ I feel very lucky to be able to watch Emil & Jason week in week out not to mention 3 of the best young British riders out there. We’re also fortunate to have the most forward thinking & professional owner who gets great backing from local business. The future of the premiership at its current level could be in doubt if the rumours about Birmingham & now Sheffield having their stadium sold are true. Emil might choose not to ride in the uk after this season. I plan on enjoying the ride while these top guys are here. What makes it all the sweeter is knowing that there is one very bitter & jealous Belle Vue fan who can’t handle it! Edited April 9 by cowboy cookie returns? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cue Ball Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 The last cap (other than points) that was introductory card to British speedway was the one GP rider per team… that worked well and arguable started the downward spiral of speedway in the country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted April 9 Report Share Posted April 9 It just needs one less team in the top division, unless more top level riders become interested... Eg An amalgam of Oxford and Birmingham would have a very decent team this year... It would also be mean plenty of mid level replacements to come in rather than guests being used... Birmingham are not a top tier team given their issues in maintaining crowds, and sourcing "top level" riders, therefore they should be allowed to ride in tier two on Mondays.. Or Oxford just run two teams and remain a tier two team and Birmingham stay top tier using the likes of Magic to ensure they remain competitive.. Six teams would also deliver 2 x 3 team leagues for the KO cup, meaning a minimum of two extra home meetings, with the winner of each group meeting in the cup final.. Do it at the start of the season in the first month.. Salary caps are easily circumnavigated, look at PRS in Football, and how "sponsoring themselves" (through complicit third parties), has enabled some teams to spend far more than their "real income" would allow... Another three top level riders, split one each, for each of the bottom three teams each season, and the league would be very competitive indeed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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