What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[therefused]

12 hours ago, mikebv said:

Hope it goes well...

There must still be many people from that neck of the woods who still would return to support the team such was their local following...

Bigger crowds than Wolves at Monmore wasn't it? Which suggests a huge potential..

Loved my visits to Cradley, especially the pork sandwiches!!

Watched one of the best races in the thousands I have seen at Dudley Wood..

Jason Lyons led Billy Hamill for two and three quarter laps and Billy went under him on bend four, lap three..

Jason chased him and repassed him, bend two on the outside, on the last lap..

Not many races see a "repass" when a top rider is in front, without him making a mistake..

A cracking race track (even if the second turn had a bit of adverse camber), and always a very big crowd...

Best Wishes...

Big crowds at national league level too, maybe there is a lesson there somewhere…

[1 valve]

14 hours ago, Rich said:

I'm well aware of all of that. When Isle of Wight started running under NORA all SCB/ACU licensed riders were threatened with having licences revoked. None actually were, many riders continued to ride for their League clubs, and some rode in International Grasstracks on the Continent. I wonder why that was? Similar to what happened in the 1970s when the ACU tried to ban MotoX riders from taking part in AMCA events and holding an ACU Licence, they failed. 

As I said. It would very much be an option for the BSPL/ACU should the concept of a rival league arise alongside any claims for a "restraint of trade" being none applicable.  

[1 valve]

14 hours ago, Ben91 said:

Wanting the best isn’t wrong. Living beyond your means to achieve it is. And eventually you’ll just go bust. Sound familiar? 

 

No it doesn't.
Which top flight club has gone bust in recent times? 
Any company can trade at a loss so long as the Directors acknowledge the matter and continue to find funding for their enterprise, avoid trading whilst insolvent and continue to develop their business. 
Unfortunately, for now, it appears there are insufficient promoters who are willing or able to invest in bringing some of the best riders to the UK and so the resultant mediocre (especially if there is only one league) "top flight" of speedway in the UK will be even less appealing than current to national sponsors, media.  
 

[SteveLyric2]

43 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

No it doesn't.
Which top flight club has gone bust in recent times? 
Any company can trade at a loss so long as the Directors acknowledge the matter and continue to find funding for their enterprise, avoid trading whilst insolvent and continue to develop their business. 
Unfortunately, for now, it appears there are insufficient promoters who are willing or able to invest in bringing some of the best riders to the UK and so the resultant mediocre (especially if there is only one league) "top flight" of speedway in the UK will be even less appealing than current to national sponsors, media.  
 

Spires?  If not bust then certainly not sustainable!

[1 valve]

6 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

Spires?  If not bust then certainly not sustainable!

No didn't go bust,  just that the promotion having been somewhat ambitious have now decided to focus on their two other teams.
Although debatable, had the promotion gone with one senior club in the top flight and invested in the team building then the Spiers would have been a) more successful at home and b) more profitable. 
 

Edited 9 hours ago by 1 valve

[SteveLyric2]

27 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

No didn't go bust,  just that the promotion having been somewhat ambitious have now decided to focus on their two other teams.
Although debatable, had the promotion gone with one senior club in the top flight and invested in the team building then the Spiers would have been a) more successful at home and b) more profitable. 
 

'Don't stop believin'!!!😃

[frigbo]

1 hour ago, 1 valve said:

No it doesn't.
Which top flight club has gone bust in recent times? 
Any company can trade at a loss so long as the Directors acknowledge the matter and continue to find funding for their enterprise, avoid trading whilst insolvent and continue to develop their business. 
Unfortunately, for now, it appears there are insufficient promoters who are willing or able to invest in bringing some of the best riders to the UK and so the resultant mediocre (especially if there is only one league) "top flight" of speedway in the UK will be even less appealing than current to national sponsors, media.  
 

Spot on. So much is made of alleged lack of 'viability' when in truth, viability is a rare commodity in most sports - the vast majority of football teams are losing bucket-loads of money.

Most recent speedway track losses are because the sport / stadia are seen as an easy target for rapacious developers.

[Ben91]

1 hour ago, 1 valve said:

No it doesn't.
Which top flight club has gone bust in recent times? 
Any company can trade at a loss so long as the Directors acknowledge the matter and continue to find funding for their enterprise, avoid trading whilst insolvent and continue to develop their business. 
Unfortunately, for now, it appears there are insufficient promoters who are willing or able to invest in bringing some of the best riders to the UK and so the resultant mediocre (especially if there is only one league) "top flight" of speedway in the UK will be even less appealing than current to national sponsors, media.  
 

Gone out of business then. But really at this point we’re splitting hairs. Businesses can operate at a loss of course, but they’re badly run businesses. They can’t run at a loss forever. You know that of course. Losing money hand over fist is a stupid business model. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out.

Edited 8 hours ago by Ben91

[1 valve]

2 hours ago, Ben91 said:

Gone out of business then. But really at this point we’re splitting hairs. Businesses can operate at a loss of course, but they’re badly run businesses. They can’t run at a loss forever. You know that of course. Losing money hand over fist is a stupid business model. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out.

Not all companies are poorly run just because they fail to turn a profit.
Reddit (20yrs) Pelaton (13yrs) & Airbnb(16yrs) are three companies who have never made profit but continue to grow market share & their business with support from their investors.  
Unfortunately, I feel all three of those organisations will be profitable many years before UK speedway promoters can get their collective act together and build a positive future for the sport. 

[gjcone44]

they are all waiting for BlackRock to buy them out.

[Pitch]

14 hours ago, eric i said:

I don't know if Brian Connolly is on the BSPA payroll or just an enthusiast but he seems to be working on all the ongoing battles. Interesting listen

 

He isn't on the bspl payroll. But he very much deserves to be, looks like he is doing far more to save speedway than the bspl are. He could potentially save their bacon.

[OveFundinFan]

27 minutes ago, Pitch said:

He isn't on the bspl payroll. But he very much deserves to be, looks like he is doing far more to save speedway than the bspl are. He could potentially save their bacon.

Who is Brian Connolly and what is he doing?

[SteveLyric2]

1 hour ago, OveFundinFan said:

Who is Brian Connolly and what is he doing?

Just listen to the interview. He is doing a great job - with BSPL support, re Coventry, Swindon, Arena Essex, Rye House and Peterborough.

[RoundTheBoards]

7 hours ago, 1 valve said:

No it doesn't.
Which top flight club has gone bust in recent times? 
Any company can trade at a loss so long as the Directors acknowledge the matter and continue to find funding for their enterprise, avoid trading whilst insolvent and continue to develop their business. 
Unfortunately, for now, it appears there are insufficient promoters who are willing or able to invest in bringing some of the best riders to the UK and so the resultant mediocre (especially if there is only one league) "top flight" of speedway in the UK will be even less appealing than current to national sponsors, media.  
 

 

6 hours ago, frigbo said:

Spot on. So much is made of alleged lack of 'viability' when in truth, viability is a rare commodity in most sports - the vast majority of football teams are losing bucket-loads of money.

Most recent speedway track losses are because the sport / stadia are seen as an easy target for rapacious developers.

Quite right.  When you think about it, Speedway clubs are quite sensibly run.  Very few turn a profit, but most break even or run with comparatively small losses that a club owner or sponsor is happy to cover.  Those with the most affluent owner/sponsor may lose £70k-£80k.   It's chickenfeed in the grand scheme of things.

Let's look at the national sport of Football.

Now some (not all) of the big 6 make a profit, but clubs in the Premiership, on average, lose £30M per year.

In the Championship, average losses are £13M.  League 1 clubs lose an average of £5M each, and in League 2 it's £2.3M lost by each club, every year.

The problem is, Speedway doesn't have the profile that Football does.  It's far easier to find an owner who will pump £20 million quid into a football club than it is to find an owner who will put just £50k into a Speedway club.

 

[Teromaafan]

2 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

Who is Brian Connolly and what is he doing?

Vocalist with 70’s glam rock band The Sweet…..Oh hang on…he’s dead….must be a different Brian Connolly.

[mikebv]

28 minutes ago, RoundTheBoards said:

 

Quite right.  When you think about it, Speedway clubs are quite sensibly run.  Very few turn a profit, but most break even or run with comparatively small losses that a club owner or sponsor is happy to cover.  Those with the most affluent owner/sponsor may lose £70k-£80k.   It's chickenfeed in the grand scheme of things.

Let's look at the national sport of Football.

Now some (not all) of the big 6 make a profit, but clubs in the Premiership, on average, lose £30M per year.

In the Championship, average losses are £13M.  League 1 clubs lose an average of £5M each, and in League 2 it's £2.3M lost by each club, every year.

The problem is, Speedway doesn't have the profile that Football does.  It's far easier to find an owner who will pump £20 million quid into a football club than it is to find an owner who will put just £50k into a Speedway club.

 

Speedway, sadly, doesn't often own the land that ultimately can leverage any debt...

Debt is actually good if you can make more money using someone else's, and then pay them back...

Living off sponsors money, and only renting your track, with assets that only cover tractors, air fences, and starting gates etc etc, is pretty much, ultimately, built on sand...

Edited 2 hours ago by mikebv

[RoundTheBoards]

19 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Speedway, sadly, doesn't often own the land that ultimately can leverage any debt...

Debt is actually good if you can make more money using someone else's, and then pay them back...

Living off sponsors money, and only renting your track, with assets that only cover tractors, air fences, and starting gates etc etc, is pretty much, ultimately, built on sand...

I didn't mention assets and debt.   I'm comparing the huge losses that Football clubs make, measured against the comparatively tiny losses that Speedway clubs make.   A £100k loss is a problem in Speedway because clubs are generally backed only by small businessmen who don't have bottomless pits of money.  If a football club made just £100k loss it would be a mere trifle, because they have big benefactors willing to put in millions to go on the ego trip that Football's high profile gives them.

[PotteringAround]

3 hours ago, OveFundinFan said:

Who is Brian Connolly and what is he doing?