What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[Teromaafan]

On 9/30/2025 at 4:38 PM, 1 valve said:

Slowly but surely folk on this forum are beginning to understand (although not necessarily accept) that there are insufficient riders available to make one big league and that the amount of current riders doubling up to enable teams to exist is actually bad for the credibility of the sport. 
Your post makes some good points and the suggestion to run less meetings could fit into a final solution. 
However, as I and others elsewhere have said, one barrier to progress is the promoters themselves, who first and foremost take the view of “how does this effect me” rather than “will this help the sport” Take Poole for example a very well run and profitable club why, because they choose to be the big fish in a small pond with less outgoings on riders.  Unfortunately there is not the volume of riders with the same skill levels who make up the Poole team to replicate across the board especially considering the restrictions on race nights & doubling up etc.  

I guess we have no choice but to wait and see what exciting news & changes the close season & Speedway Ventures brings forth. 

Good post. Your first sentence nails the sports biggest problem in my opinion. Doubling up has got out of control. One league is not the answer as there would be a number of riders who would consider quitting the sport if their earnings were impacted, unless they sought other jobs to supplement their income. On top of this there is the likely situation of GP level riders giving the UK a miss if fixed race nights are to be relaxed. Admittedly I’ve said nothing new and don’t have the answers, but then again I’m not Harry Redknapp!

[PhilTheAce]

1 hour ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Has anyone heard anything around the future of Leicester I'm hoping Cairns snr isn't going to chuck the towel in after one season ?

He’s done 2 seasons now 

[old bob at herne bay]

Lots of interesting and some irrelevant comments on here again at the end of another season of British Speedway. 

Hung up my programme board a few seasons ago I admit, and the demise of the few remaining clubs in the southeast of England didn't help ..... but isnt the problem that there is a lack of supporters who have an interest in the sport in the UK ?  Too many other competing calls on people's leisure time . 

Blame who you like for the slow demise of the sport  in the UK, but the bottom line is not enought people will pay to watch it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YeOldPitGate]

8 hours ago, old bob at herne bay said:

Lots of interesting and some irrelevant comments on here again at the end of another season of British Speedway. 

Hung up my programme board a few seasons ago I admit, and the demise of the few remaining clubs in the southeast of England didn't help ..... but isnt the problem that there is a lack of supporters who have an interest in the sport in the UK ?  Too many other competing calls on people's leisure time . 

Blame who you like for the slow demise of the sport  in the UK, but the bottom line is not enought people will pay to watch it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another valid point Bob when I used to go mid 80's to early 90's Sky was just starting out, multiplex cinema's , shopping malls were all in their infancy, you then got the internet , Amazon and things like Youtube competing for dollar that's why I think having a once home and away top league would help make Speedway more of a novelty rather than seeing same teams 2-4 times at home each season. Better supported top tier teams could also run a b team in the second division also if they wished.

[1 valve]

22 hours ago, therefused said:

if it is one big league i would highly doubt it would be with seven mean teams. as i replied to that original post that is a MASSIVE assumption that all of those riders would drop GB. 

Far from a “massive” assumption.
It is worth considering that only one of the 23 riders listed likely to give the uk a miss should one league & reduction in fixed race nights materialise, only one, Dan Bewley is British whilst the majority of the remainder don’t actually reside in the UK. 

[marko]

I see no point in talking about which riders may leave if there is one big league, as they may leave anyway as many have, you can’t stop them.

You have to build the product with what is viable and what is available, I think I say it every season, the biggest issue the sport has is running costs, bikes cost to much to buy and run, promoters then have to pay a fortune to them and fans pay the promoters back but everyone except the riders and tuners are losing money.

One league or three won’t make any difference until costs are brought under control.

At some point the sport in this country is going to have to take more steps back before it can go forward, and I am talking semi pro at best, so National League late 80s but without nine and ten point calibre riders of that time, or the team version of grass track and lots of people go and watch that without big star names.

You would have to go smaller size teams until enough new riders can be trained and again that’s where runnings costs comes in plus you would need a proper training program.

They had the same issue after the War, different times but the problem is the same, not enough riders.

[YeOldPitGate]

15 hours ago, PhilTheAce said:

He’s done 2 seasons now 

Thanks for the steer Phil hopefully he will be continuing with season 3 fingers crossed.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

If it’s still 2 leagues and I think it will be  then who are the promoters pandering to?, if the majority of fans want 1 league and I am one of them then clearly they are pandering to themselves and the riders, I understand it’s not straight forward as just merging the 2 with riders, money and dates but quite frankly I was sick of seeing the same teams last season, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect things to improve, but I’m told there is radical change planned but nobody will say what it is and the riders don’t know either 

Edited 12 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[Fromafar]

6 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

If it’s still 2 leagues and I think it will be  then who are the promoters pandering to?, if the majority of fans want 1 league and I am one of them then clearly they are pandering to themselves and the riders, I understand it’s not straight forward as just merging the 2 with riders, money and dates but quite frankly I was sick of seeing the same teams last season, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect things to improve, but I’m told there is radical change planned but nobody will say what it is and the riders don’t know either 

I’m with you on that.If it 2 Leagues they have to have more fixtures 2/home away,drop the BSN Trophy.IMO

[Youhave2minutes]

What will 2026 UK speedway bring?
 

Final nail in the coffin

[mikebv]

10 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

If it’s still 2 leagues and I think it will be  then who are the promoters pandering to?, if the majority of fans want 1 league and I am one of them then clearly they are pandering to themselves and the riders, I understand it’s not straight forward as just merging the 2 with riders, money and dates but quite frankly I was sick of seeing the same teams last season, we can’t keep doing the same thing and expect things to improve, but I’m told there is radical change planned but nobody will say what it is and the riders don’t know either 

The whole sport is based on what individual promoters want to do...

They even pick their divisions to race in, even if clearly too strong, or nowhere near strong enough, for that particular league.. 

For a pro sport, there are simply too many people who see it as an expensive hobby, rather than a business, so therefore, because they spend so much for hardly any material financial reward, or even local public awareness of any "success" they may get,  they make up rules to circumnavigate what a "normal proper pro sport" would allow, thus driving a coach and horses through the sports credibility...

It is quite a ludicrous situation that people willing to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds then devalue the very competitions they want to win, however, you, can see why they want to win them, regardless of their stature, when they spend hundreds of thousands of pounds!!

I cannot think of another pro team sport in the UK with such a small following, small financial reward, a lack of sponsors from "outside" the sport, and such a small amount of public recognition, both locally and nationally..

(And definitely no other team sport has such an incredible operating model)...

It is truly ironic that the very people who "save the sport" by spending so much, (who all love speedway and are well meaning), are the very people that prevent growth, and higher finanical rewards for success, due to the way they run things...

When all are focused in what is good for UK Speedway, and not necessarily what is ideal for themselves, the sport may have a chance of moving forwards...

Seven figure costs are met by the promoters each season as a collective, on riders alone, so surely now is the time to get that huge, (and for such a small sport a truly incredible outlay), to work for the sports' growth?

Edited 2 hours ago by mikebv