Is It Finally Time For One League?

[cowboy cookie returns?]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

I think the goal is to improve isn't it, but you need to do this from a strong foundation, 1 step back to take 2 steps forward... or you just keep jumping forward into the abyss with a model that has continued to prove time and again just doesn't work.

One big league has been tried before, watering down the product to cut costs has been in action since the late 80s neither have worked.

Unfortunately money should have been spent in raising the profile & making it a better show & rider development when the Sky money was flowing in.

If it goes one big league what will happen, the championship clubs will raise their admission prices because as sure as eggs are eggs the premiership teams won’t reduce theirs.

You’ll end up the the championship supporters paying out more for a lesser product while the premiership supports pay out the same for less.

That doesn’t sound like a great marketing strategy.

Real change needs to start with the equipment to make it not only more reliable & cheaper to run but also to provide a better spectacle. The sport is on its ass everywhere expect Poland. The FIM need to lead from the front to make equipment changes mandatory to reduce rider costs.

The bottom line is that in its current guise Speedway isn’t something that appeals to the masses & one big league severing up a lesser product UK wide isn’t going to address that.

The really annoying thing & it was proven at Ipswich on Thursday with a group of first timers in the sponsor lounge is that if you can get new comers in they do find it a great spectacle & want to attend again. 
 

The issue comes later when the operating model of doubling up rampant guest fest & the many other things that eat credibility start to become apparent.

 

[Fromafar]

8 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

One big league has been tried before, watering down the product to cut costs has been in action since the late 80s neither have worked.

Unfortunately money should have been spent in raising the profile & making it a better show & rider development when the Sky money was flowing in.

If it goes one big league what will happen, the championship clubs will raise their admission prices because as sure as eggs are eggs the premiership teams won’t reduce theirs.

You’ll end up the the championship supporters paying out more for a lesser product while the premiership supports pay out the same for less.

That doesn’t sound like a great marketing strategy.

Real change needs to start with the equipment to make it not only more reliable & cheaper to run but also to provide a better spectacle. The sport is on its ass everywhere expect Poland. The FIM need to lead from the front to make equipment changes mandatory to reduce rider costs.

The bottom line is that in its current guise Speedway isn’t something that appeals to the masses & one big league severing up a lesser product UK wide isn’t going to address that.

The really annoying thing & it was proven at Ipswich on Thursday with a group of first timers in the sponsor lounge is that if you can get new comers in they do find it a great spectacle & want to attend again. 
 

The issue comes later when the operating model of doubling up rampant guest fest & the many other things that eat credibility start to become apparent.

 

If the Premiership can survive as it’s being run at Present then just let them get on with it. championship needs too change their model too suit rider availability and Guest Fest and fixtures and it will survive in its present number of Teams

[KevtheRev]

19 hours ago, RS50 said:

I believe something similar was proposed a few years ago, more like a cup competition than a league. Also included Poland. Never happened though.

Shame I thought that would work, but keep Poland out, just three countries, 5/6 teams each.

[SpeedwaySlider72]

3 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Speedway must be one of the few things in life where the goal is to become weaker & not improve.

How do you define improve?

The sport is restructured into one league at a sustainable level and the clubs make money that can be reinvested into the sport - is that an improvement?

Or

The Premiership reaches further and strengthens the league but the crowds don't improve and the clubs lose even more money - is that an improvement?

[IainB]

1 hour ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

One big league has been tried before, watering down the product to cut costs has been in action since the late 80s neither have worked.

Unfortunately money should have been spent in raising the profile & making it a better show & rider development when the Sky money was flowing in.

If it goes one big league what will happen, the championship clubs will raise their admission prices because as sure as eggs are eggs the premiership teams won’t reduce theirs.

You’ll end up the the championship supporters paying out more for a lesser product while the premiership supports pay out the same for less.

That doesn’t sound like a great marketing strategy.

Real change needs to start with the equipment to make it not only more reliable & cheaper to run but also to provide a better spectacle. The sport is on its ass everywhere expect Poland. The FIM need to lead from the front to make equipment changes mandatory to reduce rider costs.

The bottom line is that in its current guise Speedway isn’t something that appeals to the masses & one big league severing up a lesser product UK wide isn’t going to address that.

The really annoying thing & it was proven at Ipswich on Thursday with a group of first timers in the sponsor lounge is that if you can get new comers in they do find it a great spectacle & want to attend again. 
 

The issue comes later when the operating model of doubling up rampant guest fest & the many other things that eat credibility start to become apparent.

 

So we've tried one big league and it didn't work, we tried the "Elite" league and it worked to some extent with a nice juicy tv contract, what we have now is an Elite League Lite with a meagre tv contract and who knows if that's going to be renewed.  So we either limp on as we are with ever dwindling crowds or do something radical. Whether that be 1 big (small) league of 14 or an Elite+ with all the riders Poland use... the latter ain't going to happen without a massive tv contact or at least a 50% increase in admission prices. A 6 or 7 team league where the play off places are nailed on before a wheel is turned like we've had the last couple of seasons is not a great watch. 

The FIM ain't interested, they're currently too busy running their own SGP series into the ground, the only way would be to break away from the FIM, to what I don't know, I'm not sure we currently have the talent in place to run a ruling body. 

Edited 6 hours ago by IainB

[YeOldPitGate]

1 hour ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

One big league has been tried before, watering down the product to cut costs has been in action since the late 80s neither have worked.

Unfortunately money should have been spent in raising the profile & making it a better show & rider development when the Sky money was flowing in.

If it goes one big league what will happen, the championship clubs will raise their admission prices because as sure as eggs are eggs the premiership teams won’t reduce theirs.

You’ll end up the the championship supporters paying out more for a lesser product while the premiership supports pay out the same for less.

That doesn’t sound like a great marketing strategy.

Real change needs to start with the equipment to make it not only more reliable & cheaper to run but also to provide a better spectacle. The sport is on its ass everywhere expect Poland. The FIM need to lead from the front to make equipment changes mandatory to reduce rider costs.

The bottom line is that in its current guise Speedway isn’t something that appeals to the masses & one big league severing up a lesser product UK wide isn’t going to address that.

The really annoying thing & it was proven at Ipswich on Thursday with a group of first timers in the sponsor lounge is that if you can get new comers in they do find it a great spectacle & want to attend again. 
 

The issue comes later when the operating model of doubling up rampant guest fest & the many other things that eat credibility start to become apparent.

 

Agreed no good/easy choices moving forward but if the premier is reduced to say 4 or 5 teams next season and given no one is daft enough to move up what are the alternatives to say a 10-12 team championship standard top league ?

[Hawk127]

Whatever the good folk on this forum think and you can read many a worthy suggestions that could make a difference to the sport, the problem is it is a niche product run by a closed shop of promoters looking primarily after their own interests but trying to market a sport with no level playing field as far as machinery used is concerned with riders basically dictating what days they will race because that have commitments elsewhere around Europe.
 

On machinery, back in the day when the bikes were roughly the same a rider could jump on the track spare and still win races and was partly down to rider skill and not the power of the bike. Up and coming riders using the same type of machinery could often run heat leaders close and sometimes get that surprise win. Today you have throttle jockeys on highly tuned machines that cost an absolute fortune to maintain trying to negotiate a range of tracks that were just not designed for today’s machinery.

Wholesale changes are needed from the way the promoters run the sport to presentation, machinery, rider attitude and lot of thinking outside the box to take the sport to another generation. The trouble is no one on the top table is either interested or has the balls to rock the boat because of the ramifications from the closed shop controllers.

One can only fear for the sport and the sad decline due to so many factors some of which could have been avoided/stopped in their tracks but no one could step up and say no. It probably says more about the lack of respect on the top table for the fellow owners of clubs that no one listens to each other.

[mikebv]

For a TEAM SPORT to be successful, it requires some very basic fundamentals that need to be box ticked...

They are, in no particular order of priority...

To have a level of prize size that grabs the attention of the public and media...

To have jeopardy and consequence in every match that takes place..

To engender a tribal following with a decent number of away fans at every match to create atmosphere...

To ensure any followers of a team have a close emotional attachment to their representatives, with, ideally, affinity built up through years of loyalty from their "heroes"...

To have credibility, whereby each team stands alone on their own two feet, for good, bad or indifference...

To deliver matches to their fans when the fans can, or want, to attend, not when their employees tell them they can hold the events..

To organise events regularly, so the fans have continuity, and don't get out of the habit of attending..

To charge an admission fee that reflects the level of entertainment on offer, organic size and standing of the sport and current cost of living challenges, and not one that just reflects how much their employees want to be paid...

To work collaboratively with each other, knowing that the league itself is only as strong as its weakest team...

To have a joined up, fit for purpose in 2025, marketing plan that sells "the league(s)" as a collective,  rather than each team just going it alone with varying degrees of capability, reach and cut through..

Sadly, UK Speedway currently ticks none of those basic fundamentals, and, until it does, it has zero chance of growth, and, in its current guise, quite probably even threatens its long term survival, in the UK, (as a team sport)....

Something akin to moving the deckchairs on the Titanic simply won't work anymore...

 

Edited 3 hours ago by mikebv