What will 2026 UK speedway bring?

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

10 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

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.  
 

Clearly like the bspl you can’t read the room either, nobody wants it not even the fans of the 5 clubs 

[arnieg]

1 hour 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.

 

6. A single league has too many issues to resolve in the short time available to be anything other than an unmitigated disaster. [Hence if that is an option for 2027 planning should start now]

[1 valve]

Just now, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Clearly like the bspl you can’t read the room either, nobody wants it not even the fans of the 5 clubs 

Wanting something and accepting something are two entirely different concepts. For now the majority of fans of clubs are accepting the latter in the hope that something will be (is being) done to make things more desirable in the near future.  

[1 valve]

2 minutes ago, arnieg said:

6. A single league has too many issues to resolve in the short time available to be anything other than an unmitigated disaster. [Hence if that is an option for 2027 planning should start now]

Very good overview and the point re planning for 2027 beginning now totally relevant. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

14 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Wanting something and accepting something are two entirely different concepts. For now the majority of fans of clubs are accepting the latter in the hope that something will be (is being) done to make things more desirable in the near future.  

Pay all your money folks in 2026, you won’t enjoy yourself or get the product you want  but it doesn’t matter it’s all about 2027, sport could be finished in uk by then, never thought the death would come from within, well they have halved my family’s money, my Mrs who is a belle vue fan has already said 5 team league doesn’t interest her so won’t be going to see the same teams over and over, may as well just have a play off tournament in late august 

Edited 13 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

I’m now hoping for a bigger better national league, because the premier league doesn’t doesn’t excite me with 5 or even 6 teams and the championship is too far to attend regularly so unless I attend national league my attendance is going to be limited to around 5 meetings all season 

[Phannan]

1 minute ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I’m now hoping for a bigger better national league, because the premier league doesn’t doesn’t excite me with 5 or even 6 teams and the championship is too far to attend regularly so unless I attend national league my attendance is going to be limited to around 5 meetings all season 

Would it excite you if Ipswich or Sheffield or both didn’t come to the tapes in 26 through lack of a sale in time ? . A 3 or 4 team league. Whilst I’d never want to see people out of work and fans lose their clubs ( I lost Halifax and then Bradford) , the chaos and fall out from this would certainly be eye opening. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

15 minutes ago, Phannan said:

Would it excite you if Ipswich or Sheffield or both didn’t come to the tapes in 26 through lack of a sale in time ? . A 3 or 4 team league. Whilst I’d never want to see people out of work and fans lose their clubs ( I lost Halifax and then Bradford) , the chaos and fall out from this would certainly be eye opening. 

No it wouldn’t excite me to lose any team but it’s not a small premier league or nothing,the alternative is/was the championship,which if nothing else is more sustainable and offers the fans more variety which is what everyone wants, hope I’m wrong but unless it’s backed up with some sort of financial deal I can see the premier folding during the year because they are not getting enough fans to watch it, without the deep pockets of a couple of people it may have folded this year and that was with tv money 

Edited 13 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE

[mikebv]

39 minutes ago, 1 valve said:

Wanting something and accepting something are two entirely different concepts. For now the majority of fans of clubs are accepting the latter in the hope that something will be (is being) done to make things more desirable in the near future.  

But that is one of the major issues..

The majority of fans don't have any faith that the future will be better..

Simply based on what those in control have delivered over the last two decades...

Even the die hards on the many Speedway related FB accounts (generic and club specific), take the pee at how poorly the sport is ran..

Why, suddenly now therefore, will those in charge improve things? 

The clearly, obvious, fundamental issues facing the sport have been there for a long, long time, with the answer, year in year out, being "Let's do exactly the same thing again"...

Which, once again, they have chosen to do this year..

Well a "mini version"...

The bottom line is...

The Premiership simply doesn't work in its current guise, and is only there to give a few "quality riders" a fair few quid, (thus increasing costs much higher than crowd numbers) and the rest the chance to Double Up..

At least a 14 team league (at whatever level), looks, from the outside, like something with relevance, and makes the sport look at least "sizeable" and covers pretty much the whole country, which should improve sponsorship and marketing opportunities...

 

Edited 13 hours ago by mikebv

[Phannan]

36 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

No it wouldn’t excite me to lose any team but it’s not a small premier league or nothing,the alternative is/was the championship,which if nothing else is more sustainable and offers the fans more variety which is what everyone wants, hope I’m wrong but unless it’s backed up with some sort of financial deal I can see the premier folding during the year because they are not getting enough fans to watch it, without the deep pockets of a couple of people it may have folded this year and that was with tv money 

Nobody wants to see teams fold . More than enough have gone by the wayside over the years. But if Ipswich and Sheffield don’t complete their sales in time for next season, is a 3 team league a possibility in their eyes ? The alternative being the 3 remaining clubs join the championship. Hey presto .. one big league . 

[TB1]

2 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

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 

Turkey's don't vote for Christmas and no one votes to abolish themselves.

[TB1]

33 minutes ago, Phannan said:

Nobody wants to see teams fold . More than enough have gone by the wayside over the years. But if Ipswich and Sheffield don’t complete their sales in time for next season, is a 3 team league a possibility in their eyes ? The alternative being the 3 remaining clubs join the championship. Hey presto .. one big league . 

Yes that may be the case. However, as we know from previous years they usually fudge some cock up together to try and make 2 leagues work!

[proud panther]

6 hours 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 

Gutted like a lot of other Panthers fans when we closed, but honestly speaking, I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would.

[enotian]

2 hours ago, 1 valve said:

Wanting something and accepting something are two entirely different concepts. For now the majority of fans of clubs are accepting the latter in the hope that something will be (is being) done to make things more desirable in the near future.  

The majority of fans buggered off years ago.  Myself included when Newcastle closed. Well just before as it was rubbish,

Whilst I'm not a fan of doubling up I don't think it has the detrimental impact in terms of credibility it once did. Look at franchise cricket. Everyone plays for multiple franchises. But it's now accepted because these competitions are differentiated. i.e. the Hundred is distinct from the Big Blast, the County Championship, the IPL the Big Bash etc.

The trouble with the Premiership/Championship is that there's hardly any delineation between the two. Premiership is basically the Championship with maybe 6 elite riders added. i.e the Premiership isn't premium, the product isn't premium, apart from maybe at Belle Vue.

It's clear that the majority of punters don't fall for it. A genuinely premium product might have worked but the Premiership has fallen between two stools for too long.

Either do a premium product or don't. 

[THE DEAN MACHINE]

1 hour ago, proud panther said:

Gutted like a lot of other Panthers fans when we closed, but honestly speaking, I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would.

I was gutted and angry that wolves closed but I am around speedway so much it has softened the blow a little bit but being so close to it I also get to know a lot of the downsides which do sometimes pee me off a bit 

[ouch]

13 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

Pay all your money folks in 2026, you won’t enjoy yourself or get the product you want  but it doesn’t matter it’s all about 2027, sport could be finished in uk by then, never thought the death would come from within, well they have halved my family’s money, my Mrs who is a belle vue fan has already said 5 team league doesn’t interest her so won’t be going to see the same teams over and over, may as well just have a play off tournament in late august 

The tenth Glasgow v Edinburgh meeting went down a storm and was one of the most enjoyable meetings of the season for those fans. 

Ipswich visited the NSS four times last season and all were decent affairs. I’m guessing your wife missed two of those which is a shame given the quality of entertainment on track. For the coming season just take in two visits per team as has been the case over many years and leave the other visit. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. 

This coming season is almost identical to 2021.

Could those advocating one big league post a likely Belle Vue v Sheffield line up and the cost of attending so I can judge how appetising it would be?