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Is It Finally Time For One League?


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Should have happened years ago

Danish system 5 man teams

no d/u obs but 2ce as many fixtures and coming up against the big boys less often should help earnings

the next 3 points will never happen in a month of Sundays but here goes:

wage cap, cheaper bikes, £15 max admission

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57 minutes ago, mikebv said:

 

PROMOTE THE BLOODY THING PROFESSIONALLY!!!!

I fully agree my 14 year old loves the racing but if we lived equal distance from two tracks the only thing that would sway her loyalty is visibility. I buy the star most weeks not once has she even picked one up. She isn’t fussed about supporting a team but she really enjoys following her favourite riders. And guess who they are, the ones with the biggest social media presence. And the ones who bother to come and interact with the crowd after the meeting. If you want to target a new younger audience that’s how you get them. 

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4 minutes ago, SaddlebowRoad said:

we know why

poole are scared of running on thursdays and glasgow dont want to lose their derbies

 

More teams in the Championship than Poole and Glasgow! Also Poole aren't scared just not prepared to run at a loss. 

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5 minutes ago, SaddlebowRoad said:

we know why

poole are scared of running on thursdays and glasgow dont want to lose their derbies

 

All the others can't bend over for them, if it happens. They can either be in or out. With 3,000 reported fans to a recent match, i'm sure Ford will be fine.

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3 hours ago, SpeedwaySlider72 said:

That's the point. To be a fit for purpose entertainment package isn't going to come at £15 a pop.

You could price speedway at £15 and still have a queue of current fans telling you it's a £10 sport. That's crazy talk.

Every other sport has grown and admission prices have inflated massively yet speedway is left behind. A sport with many of the top 100 riders in the world on display but speedway fans say it's not worth the money.

Speedway's greatest problem is being stuck in a bubble where people won't pay good money. The sport has to improve the product and get out into the wider market.

You finally sentence really hit the nail on the head:

”The sport has to improve the product and get out into the wider market”.

We need to look at the product and address this first before we can hope to get larger crowds.

I have been into speedway for only 18 years.  I was trying to name the tracks which have shut down in that time.  Needless to say, I lost count which is a real sad indictment.

I have said it before on this topic, but if we want professional speedway to continue, we need someone independent to come in and look at the sport.  We may not like it, but speedway needs some out-of-the-box (and possibly radical) thinking in order for it to survive.  What does speedway have to loose?  Take the risk or see it being consigned to history like the Dodo.
 

 

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14 hours ago, therefused said:

Ipswich

Belle Vue

Kings Lynn

Oxford

Glasgow

Edinburgh

Sheffield

Scunthorpe

Poole

Leicester

Berwick

Redcar

For a starter then question marks over Workington and Plymouth may fancy the national league (whatever format it might be)

5 Man teams would need 60 riders

Not enough riders for that number of teams. 

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13 hours ago, LisaColette said:

More teams in the Championship than Poole and Glasgow! Also Poole aren't scared just not prepared to run at a loss. 

no other teams can realistically afford top flight 

i dont know what the answer is but something needs to change. two big clubs like glasgow and poole should be at the highest level whatever form thats takes. one league seems the obvious answer but it doesnt seem like that is happening 

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13 hours ago, Aries said:

One league ain’t happening. Don’t get excited. 

6 team top league again???? dont like the sound of that, might aswell just have an ipswich v belle vue final again

Edited by PhilTheAce
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2 hours ago, PhilTheAce said:

6 team top league again???? dont like the sound of that, might aswell just have an ipswich v belle vue final again

If we have to have a 6 team top league then surely the play offs need to be scrapped.

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14 minutes ago, 40-38 said:

If we have to have a 6 team top league then surely the play offs need to be scrapped.

While on TV or stream coverage it will stay 

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19 hours ago, SpeedwaySlider72 said:

That's the point. To be a fit for purpose entertainment package isn't going to come at £15 a pop.

You could price speedway at £15 and still have a queue of current fans telling you it's a £10 sport. That's crazy talk.

Every other sport has grown and admission prices have inflated massively yet speedway is left behind. A sport with many of the top 100 riders in the world on display but speedway fans say it's not worth the money.

Speedway's greatest problem is being stuck in a bubble where people won't pay good money. The sport has to improve the product and get out into the wider market.

The issue sits massively with what is defined as fit for purpose?

Personally i want to be entertained so two teams with riders of close abilities on a track that offers passing opportunities and im happy. That used to exist at NL level and was sub £15. 

Watching the worlds best can be mesmerising but unless they have someone to race it can be dull as dishwater and the gulf between the top and bottom riders in teams is getting too vast. 

Top 100 in the world is a bit of a stretch when there is probably only a few thousand active riders of all ages worldwide anyways. 

For £30 you would need top level facilities (how many females don't attend simply because the state of the toilets) and an afternoon/evening of entertainment with passing, track craft, even a bit of controversy. The home hero, the pantomime villain, the stuff that gets people talking on the way home and wanting to see what happens in the next fixture. I certainly can't remember the last time i felt like that hence why i am one of the many who used to attend a lot of fixtures at various tracks and now barely go at all. 

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11 hours ago, BluPanther said:

Yes there are...

Not enough riders even for 5 man teams if you remove “doubling up” and those riders who race in Poland who would not be able to commit to fixtures held on any other day than Monday & the occasional Thursday - Poland permitting. 
Example, from the existing Leicester team four riders would be lost to the UK leaving 3 riders, a rising star, a number six and one second string. 
Granted if you draft in NDL second strings & similar you could get close to the required number but such dumbing down of rider talent & 10 man/boys meeting lineups is not the answer. 

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8 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Not enough riders even for 5 man teams if you remove “doubling up” and those riders who race in Poland who would not be able to commit to fixtures held on any other day than Monday & the occasional Thursday - Poland permitting. 
Example, from the existing Leicester team four riders would be lost to the UK leaving 3 riders, a rising star, a number six and one second string. 
Granted if you draft in NDL second strings & similar you could get close to the required number but such dumbing down of rider talent & 10 man/boys meeting lineups is not the answer. 

I didn't say it was the answer, but there are enough riders for 5 man teams...

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36 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Granted if you draft in NDL second strings & similar you could get close to the required number but such dumbing down of rider talent & 10 man/boys meeting lineups is not the answer. 

Personally I think that is the answer, obviously it's not the whole answer but it's the foundation that you start from to rebuild British Speedway. Add this to a complete overhaul of the race format, race night experience and running on the night that best suits your business is at least a start.

Edited by IainB
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22 minutes ago, IainB said:

Personally I think that is the answer, obviously it's not the whole answer but it's the foundation that you start from to rebuild British Speedway. Add this to a complete overhaul of the race format and race night experience and it's a start.

Probably unpopular but as a rebuild things need to be looked at from bottom up not top down.

Restore the NL to a competitive league with better standard riders so the riders who move through it are a better quality when they move up.

The other league is Champ Plus. A strengthened version of whats in place now with reserves having to have achieved a certain level at NL. Assessed riders to stay at higher averages 4/5 and Brits to get bigger end of season reductions to encourage use of home grown riders. 

Promotors genuinely need to sit together and build teams that are far more equal, there will always be teams that click or don't etc but it cannot be the case that year on year teams are getting bashed at home repeatedly. Its just bad for business on both sides and win at all costs when what's worth winning is questionable anyway is unnecessary. 

Build / re-build some rivalries, generate a bit of needle between teams. It can all be theatrics but it adds to the entertainment and gets buy in from fans. When riders, managers and owners are all one big happy family its boring, i want to see some rider passion, a manager stomping to the pit phone to rant at the ref thats all part of a show. 

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If they went down this route with weakened sides I would be looking into the possibility of also having a small franchise league to still be able to have top riders over here. This would be controlled and run by the BSPL. No 'home' tracks, 6-8 neutral teams of 5 riders decided by a draft system. Meetings could be either 10 or 11 heats (4 rides each + possible nominated heat) which would enable two meetings to be held on the same night. Only held at tracks that have some combination of good stadium/crowds/racing. Top 3 sides at the end of the league head to 'finals night' where 2nd vs 3rd race to meet 1st. All/most meetings to be held across the summer holidays to allow more kids to attend.

Edited by The Cheese
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