What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[PersonalResponsibility]

29 minutes ago, IainB said:

It does seem more of a humane alternative

Nothing humane about being a British speedway fan. I curse the day my old man first took me along to watch 😆

Then again, I'm the idiot who's still following it 25 years later.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

26 minutes ago, PersonalResponsibility said:

Nothing humane about being a British speedway fan. I curse the day my old man first took me along to watch 😆

Then again, I'm the idiot who's still following it 25 years later.

I do sometimes feel like if I walked away then the sport would collapse alltogether, it wouldn’t obviously but I feel like I’m somehow being emotionally blackmailed by it, I love it that much. Sad really 

[Trevor]

We currently have a ridiculous situation. There should have been one league, with the clubs with top flight desires bringing in their stars to supplement and additional one home and away match, and semis and final. It may have been only a handful of top meetings but the regular one league meetings to make a season viable.

[Hamish McRaker]

39 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I do sometimes feel like if I walked away then the sport would collapse alltogether, it wouldn’t obviously but I feel like I’m somehow being emotionally blackmailed by it, I love it that much. Sad really 

Its like having an old mate who you can see is into irreversible decline, but you still keep hopes that he'll recover and get back to being what he used to be.

So you keep on visiting and saying "we'll have that pint one day" (or whatever) - you know its unlikely, but you cant let go of keeping some hope

[1 valve]

2 hours ago, IainB said:

What would a "gambling deal" consist of though? There's no wide spread media exposure, that we know of, and there's only 14 venues for the sport and a many of them are in population back waters. It makes no commercial sense, in the current Speedway climate, that I can see, for a major betting company to be involved.

Cant say I know a great deal about gambling, but speaking with somebody who does and also understands speedway she tells me.
- Forget about betting at the track - its all about the online world. 
- Speedway would require one camera at each track (but two would be preferable) to globally broadcast racing live through the online streaming and TV gambling channels (I don't know what/who they are).
- A quick count gave a total of seventeen individual type of bets that could be placed on/during a single speedway team meeting excluding the simple "moneyline" bets of selecting which rider will win any particular race. 
- A number of the seventeen type of bets could be placed multiple times to take into account changes to form/scores during the meeting - Hence the appeal to the online gambling community.
- Her understanding is that speedway has not historically found traction with the gambling organisations due to the lack of willingness from the sport to embrace the concept. 
- Apparently there are upwards of sixty online gambling companies registered in Malta and Gibraltar serving the UK which include all of the big well known brands. 
- If speedway did hook up with the gambling community via sponsorship etc, there would not be exclusivity for that sponsor at speedway meetings as all markets are regarded as open.

My take away is that for those in the know speedway does offer significant opportunities, however, to date it has not been exploited sufficiently well enough to create interest and growth beyond the fans of sport itself.

  

[mikebv]

3 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I just can’t get my head around why the bspl are doing this and are so insistent on it,going against public opinion and presenting a bit of a joke of a concept that surely is going to do nothing but damage the popularity of the sport further, my gut tells me there is a gambling deal around w corner but if there isn’t I don’t know killing the sport 

It must be simply down to riders needing to DU...

There are no other reasons why the "top league" promoters would countenance a five team, (or even a six team), league surely?..

The optics of which alone paint the sport in a very sorry state...

Decades of failing to develop UK talent and, instead, using foreign journeymen via a revolving door, has led us to such a tiny pool of riders able/willing to ride in the UK...

I suggest they can now call the shots given the promoters have painted themselves into such a corner..

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

2 hours ago, YeOldPitGate said:

I'm having visions of a hare being installed on the inside of speedway tracks.

What you are going to evict moley!! 

[Hamish McRaker]

2 hours ago, YeOldPitGate said:

I'm having visions of a hare being installed on the inside of speedway tracks.

That'd give Drew Kemp more incentive to complete 4 laps!

[1 valve]

28 minutes ago, mikebv said:

It must be simply down to riders needing to DU...

There are no other reasons why the "top league" promoters would countenance a five team, (or even a six team), league surely?..

The optics of which alone paint the sport in a very sorry state...

Decades of failing to develop UK talent and, instead, using foreign journeymen via a revolving door, has led us to such a tiny pool of riders able/willing to ride in the UK...

I suggest they can now call the shots given the promoters have painted themselves into such a corner..

I'm not that certain to what extent some folk on this forum actually want to, or are willing to understand BSPL  decisions if they fly in the face of their own opinion. Sure we are entitled to voice our many and varied views but ultimately we are not the ones making the one decision that counts so it maybe worthwhile trying to understand why that or those decisions do get made.  

So for what its worth here is my two pennyworth on why we are having a Prem league next year.

1. Rather than simply so riders can double up - It is actually so more team can field a higher quality of riders across both leagues.
2. If there wasn't a Premier league a good number of riders (more than those who have left already) would not ride in the UK and so,
3. For the existing number of clubs to continue offering team racing, many NDL riders would need to be drafted in which would result in a drop off of competitive racing.
4. By keeping a premier league, the UK keeps its protected race nights of Monday & Thursday 
5. By maintaining a top flight entity, The concept can continue to be promoted to prospective sponsors and similar backers as something which is a base to expand. That commercially is a lot stronger scenario to utilise being mindful that significant sponsors want an elite type of differentiation in the sport they partner.

 

[Hamish McRaker]

9 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

I'm not that certain to what extent some folk on this forum actually want to, or are willing to understand BSPL  decisions if they fly in the face of their own opinion. Sure we are entitled to voice our many and varied views but ultimately we are not the ones making the one decision that counts so it maybe worthwhile trying to understand why that or those decisions do get made.  

So for what its worth here is my two pennyworth on why we are having a Prem league next year.

1. Rather than simply so riders can double up - It is actually so more team can field a higher quality of riders across both leagues.
2. If there wasn't a Premier league a good number of riders (more than those who have left already) would not ride in the UK and so,
3. For the existing number of clubs to continue offering team racing, many NDL riders would need to be drafted in which would result in a drop off of competitive racing.
4. By keeping a premier league, the UK keeps its protected race nights of Monday & Thursday 
5. By maintaining a top flight entity, The concept can continue to be promoted to prospective sponsors and similar backers as something which is a base to expand. That commercially is a lot stronger scenario to utilise being mindful that significant sponsors want an elite type of differentiation in the sport they partner.

 

Is there a risk, unless its already the case, of the Premiership therefore becoming a "loss leader" whereby a product will be financially "sacrificed" as to its profitability in order to act primarily as a marketing tool ?

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

4 hours ago, gjcone44 said:

some people think bingo is a great night out. 😁

It is when you win big 

[1 valve]

9 minutes ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Is there a risk, unless its already the case, of the Premiership therefore becoming a "loss leader" whereby a product will be financially "sacrificed" as to its profitability in order to act primarily as a marketing tool ?

Interesting concept, but hard to imagine the promoters of the premier clubs would willingly have their business financially sacrificed as a marketing tool whilst others (championship clubs) benefit.
The objective behind an elite type of league is that it actually does make a profit whilst creating awareness for the sports other clubs to thrive from.
But as I think we all recognise, the sports at a pretty low level at present and much work in the right direction is required - harmonising the promoters would be a good if not almost impossible task to start with.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

54 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

I'm not that certain to what extent some folk on this forum actually want to, or are willing to understand BSPL  decisions if they fly in the face of their own opinion. Sure we are entitled to voice our many and varied views but ultimately we are not the ones making the one decision that counts so it maybe worthwhile trying to understand why that or those decisions do get made.  

So for what its worth here is my two pennyworth on why we are having a Prem league next year.

1. Rather than simply so riders can double up - It is actually so more team can field a higher quality of riders across both leagues.
2. If there wasn't a Premier league a good number of riders (more than those who have left already) would not ride in the UK and so,
3. For the existing number of clubs to continue offering team racing, many NDL riders would need to be drafted in which would result in a drop off of competitive racing.
4. By keeping a premier league, the UK keeps its protected race nights of Monday & Thursday 
5. By maintaining a top flight entity, The concept can continue to be promoted to prospective sponsors and similar backers as something which is a base to expand. That commercially is a lot stronger scenario to utilise being mindful that significant sponsors want an elite type of differentiation in the sport they partner.

 

We are the ones who ultimately are making the decisions, we are the ones that pay for it, without us nothing happens and we collectively are not happy about the decisions that are being made, your first 3 are not true, 1 with the exception of a couple of riders the riders are the same, 2 if common sense prevailed on both sides of the divide most of those top riders could ride in one league anyway  3 there is more than enough foreign riders willing to ride here without the need for NDL riders and even if they weren’t most of the NDL riders ride in the championship anyway 4  protected race nights have done major damage to British speedway and need to be scrapped , 5 the championship would become the elite 

Edited 6 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[gjcone44]

33 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Sure we are entitled to voice our many and varied views but ultimately we are not the ones making the one decision that counts so it maybe worthwhile trying to understand why that or those decisions do get made.  

but people are making there own decisions, by not going anymore. those that have left dont want to understand there decisions. just lost interest.

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

1 hour ago, mikebv said:

It must be simply down to riders needing to DU...

There are no other reasons why the "top league" promoters would countenance a five team, (or even a six team), league surely?..

The optics of which alone paint the sport in a very sorry state...

Decades of failing to develop UK talent and, instead, using foreign journeymen via a revolving door, has led us to such a tiny pool of riders able/willing to ride in the UK...

I suggest they can now call the shots given the promoters have painted themselves into such a corner..

The riders definitely run the sport for themselves and have done for a few years and are the first to moan when someone tries to do something putting the sport first, Dickson (TM of the year)😂 certainly has a few quid to lose by it only being one league, I am determined to find out what is behind this insistence of a premier league from the collective though 

[singy13]

3 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I am determined to find out what is behind this insistence of a premier league from the collective though 

Good luck with that then............... hope you've got the handshake in order.

[1 valve]

5 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

We are the ones who ultimately are making the decisions, we are the ones that pay for it, without us nothing happens and we collectively are not happy about the decisions are being made, your first 3 are not true, 1 with the exception of a couple of riders the riders are the same, 2 of common sense prevailed on both sides of the divide most of those top riders could ride in one league anyway  3 there is more than enough foreign riders willing to ride here without the need for NDL riders and even if they weren’t most of the NDL riders ride in the championship anyway 4  protected race nights have done major damage to British speedway and need to be scrapped , 5 the championship would become the elite 

As I said, We are all entitled voice our views on this forum including if you choose to believe or not believe the reasons I gave behind the promoters thinking are applicable or not. 
However, maybe you should accept that views/opinions are one thing, whilst decisions are altogether another matter. At the end of the day decisions made are what ultimately counts and where UK speedway is concerned those decisions are made by the promoters not the rank & file folk on this forum.
The only decision the majority of fans/supporters can make is to decide whether or not to pay or not to pay hard earned money to watch the meetings. And whilst you appear somewhat deluded to think that folk on this forum actually have sufficient collective power to hold the promoters to account, wait until March and just see the supporters (the vast majority of whom are not even on this forum) pay their money to do what they want to do- which is to support their team.  
 

[1 valve]

38 minutes ago, gjcone44 said:

but people are making there own decisions, by not going anymore. those that have left dont want to understand there decisions. just lost interest.

I agree it would be good to know.....and understandable that if what's on offer no longer appeals, folk will indeed choose to stay away.
Its fair to say promoters actually do understand the dynamics, just not clear that they know what to do about it.

Edited 6 hours ago by 1 valve

[Hamish McRaker]

48 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Interesting concept, but hard to imagine the promoters of the premier clubs would willingly have their business financially sacrificed as a marketing tool whilst others (championship clubs) benefit.
The objective behind an elite type of league is that it actually does make a profit whilst creating awareness for the sports other clubs to thrive from.
But as I think we all recognise, the sports at a pretty low level at present and much work in the right direction is required - harmonising the promoters would be a good if not almost impossible task to start with.

Whilst not willingly and deliberately by the promoters, could the Premier league effectively turn into a loss leader unless they get their collective act together?

[1 valve]

1 minute ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Whilst not willingly and deliberately by the promoters, could the Premier league effectively turn into a loss leader unless they get their collective act together?

By all accounts they're pretty much that already. So yes, you're absolutely spot on!