What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

9 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Who are “they”?
The minority premiership promoters or the majority of the Championship? 
So long as it’s the former nothing for the new guys to be worried about is there?
However, if as you say a Championship promotion has offered help, is that for Cradley to become a Championship or premiership club? 

They are the current premier,they are so desperate they have been ringing round trying to find a 6th team ,the help from a championship promoter is getting the track itself up and running, nothing to do with what league they would race in, that situation is so far down the line, they still need planning permission 

Edited 19 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[old bob at herne bay]

Even with a cobbled together  "Premier" league, with no TV sponsorship, budgets for team building will be very different from 2025. 

 

[TB1]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

They are the current premier,they are so desperate they have been ringing round trying to find a 6th team ,the help from a championship promoter is getting the track itself up and running, nothing to do with what league they would race in, that situation is so far down the line, they still need planning permission 

Looking at the bigger picture Dean, if the hand is forced and we go one league could retired British riders be persuaded to race again if wages were competitive and costs kept down? Or is that wishful thinking?

[1 valve]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

They are the current premier,they are so desperate they have been ringing round trying to find a 6th team ,the help from a championship promoter is getting the track itself up and running, nothing to do with what league they would race in, that situation is so far down the line, they still need planning permission 

Great shame that “they” are not the collective British speedway promoters working together for the  future of the sport.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

9 hours ago, TB1 said:

Looking at the bigger picture Dean, if the hand is forced and we go one league could retired British riders be persuaded to race again if wages were competitive and costs kept down? Or is that wishful thinking?

Ultimately you have got to have the want to race, there are a few out there who didnt retire because they didn’t want to race anymore but maybe struggled financially and a couple of years later finances have changed for them and they could be tempted again but British speedway needs someone to take charge of the bike side of the sport because we are spending money needlessly on engines to achieve the same results, you give the riders and tuners almost free reign and you get what we have,,engines revving a lot more faster than they actually need to with no gain for the sport 

[SPEEDY69]

14 hours ago, 1 valve said:

A great shame (although not surprising given the prominent me/I first attitude of promoters) that the entrepreneurs behind getting Crafley back into speedway have had to do so without credible support from the governing body. 
However why have you have picked out the Premier League to be shoved out of sight when the majority of the BSPL are championship promoters?

Great point!

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

9 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Great shame that “they” are not the collective British speedway promoters working together for the  future of the sport.

I won’t name the ex promoter but he told me in the main they don’t really like each other which is actually healthy for the sport when they are just following the rules but not when they are the ones who are expected to make the rules 

[mikebv]

17 hours ago, Phannan said:

5 team league. 6 , 4 or 3. It’s all the same really. A shambles that can’t be taken seriously. 

A few years ago, somewhere in the UK, when they had ten teams down from eleven the previous year...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then, the next year when they had nine, down from ten..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"...

Then, the next year when they had eight, down from nine..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..  

Then the next year when they had seven, down from eight...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then the next year when they had five, down two, from seven..

"This is absolutely ridiculous, we cannot run the sport like this, something should be done about all these tracks closing, there isn't enough teams for my team to race against now. Some of the second tier teams need to come up to my  league. Some promoters are so selfish, and just look after themselves, they should all be like me, a proper team player"...

 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by mikebv

[gjcone44]

34 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Ultimately you have got to have the want to race, there are a few out there who didn't retire because they didn’t want to race anymore but maybe struggled financially

this is the sports biggest problem, 

[JoeW436]

Even if they manage to scrabble something together regarding a league for 2026 how are you even supposed to build a team when riders are securing alternative employment overseas now because of the ongoing limbo?

[arnieg]

33 minutes ago, mikebv said:

A few years ago, somewhere in the UK, when they had ten teams down from eleven the previous year...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then, the next year when they had nine, down from ten..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"...

Then, the next year when they had eight, down from nine..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..  

Then the next year when they had seven, down from eight...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then the next year when they had five, down two, from seven..

"This is absolutely ridiculous, we cannot run the sport like this, something should be done about all these tracks closing, there isn't enough teams for my team to race against now. Some of the second tier teams need to come up to my  league. Some promoters are so selfish, and just look after themselves, they should all be like me, a proper team player"...

 

 

 

Also 1/10th of TV money is better than 1/11th of TV money etc

[mikebv]

9 minutes ago, arnieg said:

Also 1/10th of TV money is better than 1/11th of TV money etc

Indeed...

And less teams to beat to reach the play offs...

A win/win....

Until, of course, it isn't...

[TigerIain]

Leicester have just put out a statement on their website where Stewart Dickson says Leicester are fully committed to the Premiership, and talks are ongoing. Gold star to Stewart for telling fans something! (Although I fear a black mark from fellow promoters!!)

[Neila]

1 hour ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I won’t name the ex promoter but he told me in the main they don’t really like each other which is actually healthy for the sport when they are just following the rules but not when they are the ones who are expected to make the rules 

A few years ago apparently everything was agreed, off they trot to Tenerife, only for on the 1st day, a team said they did not agree with what was agreed , throwing the meeting into turmoil, after several hours of new discussion, common sense prevailed and original plan was voted on and passed, but since then several people / teams were not trusted 

[Neila]

5 minutes ago, TigerIain said:

Leicester have just put out a statement on their website where Stewart Dickson says Leicester are fully committed to the Premiership, and talks are ongoing. Gold star to Stewart for telling fans something! (Although I fear a black mark from fellow promoters!!)

Been various zoom meetings planned this week, was told at the weekend, if things moved forward as expected, a AGM may happen before Xmas, several promoters are not happy with the delays, as potential Xmas season ticket sales won't be available, and are a month or more late approaching potential sponsors, as at the moment they don't know what or how many meetings they are telling sponsors about, (championship)

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

9 minutes ago, TigerIain said:

Leicester have just put out a statement on their website where Stewart Dickson says Leicester are fully committed to the Premiership, and talks are ongoing. Gold star to Stewart for telling fans something! (Although I fear a black mark from fellow promoters!!)

Yes good old Stewart Dickson reassuring the fans that his 2 jobs are safe for 2026, another situation that damages the credibility of the sport 

[Phannan]

1 hour ago, mikebv said:

A few years ago, somewhere in the UK, when they had ten teams down from eleven the previous year...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then, the next year when they had nine, down from ten..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"...

Then, the next year when they had eight, down from nine..

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..  

Then the next year when they had seven, down from eight...

"Great, one less team this year, I could maybe get some of their riders and make my team better"..

Then the next year when they had five, down two, from seven..

"This is absolutely ridiculous, we cannot run the sport like this, something should be done about all these tracks closing, there isn't enough teams for my team to race against now. Some of the second tier teams need to come up to my  league. Some promoters are so selfish, and just look after themselves, they should all be like me, a proper team player"...

 

 

 

Great point very well made sir 

[1 valve]

10 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Yes good old Stewart Dickson reassuring the fans that his 2 jobs are safe for 2026, another situation that damages the credibility of the sport 

Where is the damage to credibility? 
Two leagues, two entirely separate competitions with no conflict of interest.  
If you are genuinely concerned about identifying and removing matters which do damage to the sports credibility - start with the farce of allowing “guest riders” drawn from riders in the same league & competition. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

3 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Where is the damage to credibility? 
Two leagues, two entirely separate competitions with no conflict of interest.  
If you are genuinely concerned about identifying and removing matters which do damage to the sports credibility - start with the farce of allowing “guest riders” drawn from riders in the same league & competition. 

I’ve already started on those years ago and doubling up, if you don’t see the damage then sorry to say but you are part of the problem, it starts with a small crack and through people saying oh it’s only a little crack no harm done

[ouch]

14 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Where is the damage to credibility? 
Two leagues, two entirely separate competitions with no conflict of interest.  
If you are genuinely concerned about identifying and removing matters which do damage to the sports credibility - start with the farce of allowing “guest riders” drawn from riders in the same league & competition. 

Whilst I’m not condoning the system, guests have always been with us. On Saturday 18th of May 1974 there were six top flight meetings and four of them had guests. Thousands attended those meetings as the sport was riding high in people’s consciousness and nobody seemed to bother about it. I had it in my head that we hardly used guests back then but by using the excellent Speedway Researcher website I was able to check that wasn’t true. It’s ironic that MikeBV bangs the drum the loudest about this subject when for the last 4/5 seasons his team have hardly used any guests, in fact way less than during the sports halcyon days.