What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[Pitch]

1 hour ago, YeOldPitGate said:

As we all know no easy/good answers, I've said before personally I would try to go for a top league of 8 teams once home and away at a standard slightly above championship level and the 2nd division would be 10-12 teams slightly above national development league level.

A top league of five teams just won't work unless its once home and away if its 3x3 it will be so stale, people mention adding a pairs competition but they did that a couple of years back and you had the better riders ducking out of it and again its the same old faces so pretty much a guaranteed loss.

If its true no tv deal its going to be even harder to get anything over the line, cmon Flagrag use your dulcite tones to get Sky back.

I doubt there are 3 championship clubs willing to go up, glasgow and Poole etc know they are onto a more profitable product in the championship. Also if 3 teams did go up that would leave the championship in a similar mess with only 6 teams. 

[Tinker]

42 minutes ago, Pitch said:

I doubt there are 3 championship clubs willing to go up, glasgow and Poole etc know they are onto a more profitable product in the championship. Also if 3 teams did go up that would leave the championship in a similar mess with only 6 teams. 

I realise there would be many pitfalls with one league but for me personally, I think it would be a breath of fresh air for the sport. Glasgow versus Belle Vue, Kings Lynn versus Edinburgh, Plymouth versus Sheffield etc.

I know it probably isn't going to happen but as a BSN subscriber, I have looked forward to watching the Championship meetings much more this year than the top tier. The Championship seems to be more gritty with more committed riders. The recent matches between Poole and Glasgow and Poole and Redcar were great adverts for the sport and for excitement and entertainment value easily eclipsed any of this year's GP's. 

Finally an appeal to the guys in charge (and remember of the radical changes being mentioned), if there are to be two separate leagues then please do not run the Premiership with five teams only. It would surely sound the death knell, same teams/riders every other week and the playoffs would be a mockery.

Let's hope they are going to spring one or two surprises and pull some major news and/or changes out of the proverbial hat!

[YeOldPitGate]

1 hour ago, Pitch said:

I doubt there are 3 championship clubs willing to go up, glasgow and Poole etc know they are onto a more profitable product in the championship. Also if 3 teams did go up that would leave the championship in a similar mess with only 6 teams. 

100% agree with you as I said no good/easy answers, personally I think the top league is done either now or within the next 3 years the championship is a much more sustainable business model particuarly when they can run on the best night for their business Plymouth being a rare success this year.

[Ben91]

19 hours ago, ouch said:

The trouble is when you remove the big hitters all the others move up and subsequently start asking for an increase due to riding at number one and this happens throughout the new team. They don’t get Emil money but they get more than they were worth as their value has increased overnight due to supply and demand. IMO it’s not 7 or 8 top stars that are bankrupting speedway (they bring crowds in), it’s the lower order riders asking for big bucks due to trying to emulate the GP lads with increased machinery costs, vans, mechanics and tuners. Pointing the finger at 15% of your product and blaming it is a misreading of the entire league set up and its associated costs. 

The big stars can bring crowds in, but I’d suggest the repetition somewhat knocks that on the head. If Emil Sayfutdinov (for example) was coming to my track once a season and I absolutely had to be there on that night to see him I’d get it. But last season he went to some away tracks three, maybe four times. It’s not so much of a novelty when the big name is back in town again in a few weeks. 

This is one of the benefits of a larger league, you don’t race the same teams two to three times at home a season. 

The damage is done and probably too hard to rectify in the short term but seeing the same old faces week in, week out in both divisions is a contributing (one of many) factor to the decline of the sport on the whole. 

[YeOldPitGate]

2 hours ago, Ben91 said:

The big stars can bring crowds in, but I’d suggest the repetition somewhat knocks that on the head. If Emil Sayfutdinov (for example) was coming to my track once a season and I absolutely had to be there on that night to see him I’d get it. But last season he went to some away tracks three, maybe four times. It’s not so much of a novelty when the big name is back in town again in a few weeks. 

This is one of the benefits of a larger league, you don’t race the same teams two to three times at home a season. 

The damage is done and probably too hard to rectify in the short term but seeing the same old faces week in, week out in both divisions is a contributing (one of many) factor to the decline of the sport on the whole. 

Again spot on Ben when I went in the mid 80's to early 90's every team brought a superstar some like Cradley a team packed with stars and as you said you got to see the Gundersons & Nielson's once or twice a year unlike now where its 3-4 sometimes 5 times with play off's.

As a lot of people have also commentated play off's are money spinners but equally mean some will pick and choose meetings more, that plus way more to do leisure wise these days than mid 80's and cost of living hasn't helped, I work in finance and estimate prices since 2020 and a minimum 25% higher over five years.

[gjcone44]

 everyone's got to cut their cloth accordingly, to survive today, but speedway isn't.

[Aries]

16 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Again spot on Ben when I went in the mid 80's to early 90's every team brought a superstar some like Cradley a team packed with stars and as you said you got to see the Gundersons & Nielson's once or twice a year unlike now where its 3-4 sometimes 5 times with play off's.

I don’t get this narrative at all I’m sorry. I would absolutely have LOVED to see Hans Nielsen and Erik Gundersen visit Foxhall on a regular basis. 
 

All about opinions isn’t it? Me personally, would much MUCH  prefer to see Kurtz and Bewley visit with Belle Vue several times a year, than watch the splendid “variety” of top tier talent like Tobias Thomsen, Jake Allen and Palovaara sparingly. 
 

The anticipation of seeing that array of talent that you don’t often see must be absolutely mouth watering. 
 

So jealous of the championship 😞

[gjcone44]

its not about opinions its about costs. 

[Aries]

40 minutes ago, gjcone44 said:

its not about opinions its about costs. 

Of course it’s about opinions! I’m responding to people’s “opinions” on what kind of racing they prefer and what division, not what they think their club can afford. 
 

People have given their OPINION that they prefer to see less of certain teams and riders throughout the season and prefer more variety. I’ve simply given mine. 

[gjcone44]

costs will dictate what happens to speedways future, and its not looking good. we can all have our own opinions, i would love to see all top gp riders every week at belle vue. just like your opinion its not going to happen.

[Aries]

Mind you, a five team league isn’t appealing to anyone either I wouldn’t have thought. Don’t think any of us are happy with that idea. 
 

Fingers crossed at least one club can be persuaded/helped to make the move up. 

[Steve Irving]

Don’t understand the call for one league and losing all the top riders as collateral damage either. That’s a sure fire way of killing Speedway in this country as a serious sport even quicker. 
 

Let’s not pretend here that the Championship is a better league, that it’s better attended, and there’s more interest in it. Because that is utter cr@p. The only thing it has going for it is more clubs. 
 

You only have to look at the viewing figures on the updates site when Premiership and Championship meetings are in progress to see where the real interest lies. 

[LisaColette]

37 minutes ago, Aries said:

Mind you, a five team league isn’t appealing to anyone either I wouldn’t have thought. Don’t think any of us are happy with that idea. 
 

Fingers crossed at least one club can be persuaded/helped to make the move up. 

How are they going to be persuaded? With no tv money atm can't see it.

'Oh please move up and lose a ton of money and just be there to make up the numbers so we can have six teams..' 

As Simon Lambert has said on a podcast, why should the championship lose a team.  

Edited 3 hours ago by LisaColette

[Teromaafan]

As with life in general, everything comes down to money. The money that people running the sport should be chasing is that from people currently having no interest in the sport. This will come from sponsorship and the paying public. Whilst this is an obvious market, tapping into it continues to be the problem, as those of us following the sport all know. Like everyone else on this forum, I don't have the answers, but seeking revenue from these sources has to be ultimate priority for the sustainability of the sport. Decisions relating to one league or two, hanging on to GP level riders or not etc, should not really British Speedway's priority. The reality is if new people and their money can be drawn to the sport, they will not have a clue (or care) who the current top riders are and will judge speedway racing by what they see on the track. The closer and more competitive the racing therefore the better. The future and structure (what ever form it needs to take) of the sport therefore needs to take this into consideration.