4thbender Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 As a loyal Tigers supporter since 1966, following the Bates announcement I'm fully expecting that 2026 will be the death knell for the sport in Sheffield. The only hope in my opinion is a single nation-wide league of 12/14 teams, and if that means saying a permanent goodbye to riders who prefer to ride for big bucks in Poland, so be it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 23 minutes ago, 4thbender said: As a loyal Tigers supporter since 1966, following the Bates announcement I'm fully expecting that 2026 will be the death knell for the sport in Sheffield. The only hope in my opinion is a single nation-wide league of 12/14 teams, and if that means saying a permanent goodbye to riders who prefer to ride for big bucks in Poland, so be it. Have the crowds been so much worse than 2025 as they are claiming ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTT Posted July 15 Author Report Share Posted July 15 (edited) What does everyone think about the streaming of meetings across the League in general? Personally I don't see the logic in it because it encourages fans to stay at Home and watch the meeting for a cheaper price which surely has an impact on Clubs attendances and finances. Fan staying at Home watching a live streaming means a Club is potentially losing out on the following. £10 per an Adult for a ticket, £4 for a Programme and potentially another couple of quid for a Hot drink and parking. x that by 100 for example and a Club is losing out on £1,600+ per a race day. Edited July 15 by TTT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youhave2minutes Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, Steve Irving said: That’s all we can do really isn’t it? They’ve tried all the “five year plan” nonsense before only to rip it all up 12 months later and change things. There’s so much uncertainty in British Speedway unfortunately with developers/Tracks closing, that we can only really view things short term and take each year as it comes and see what clubs come to the table for the following year. Nothing much is really going to change while the current incumbents are still ruling the roost in terms of taking the sport forward with fresh plans and ideas also. Could be the Bates final season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youhave2minutes Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 18 minutes ago, TTT said: What does everyone think about the streaming of meetings? Personally I don't see the logic in it because it encourages fans to stay at Home and watch the meeting for a cheaper price which surely has an impact on Clubs attendances and finances. Good for the elderly who have helped to keep the clubs running in the past. So therefore a nice gesture for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Smith Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 16 minutes ago, TTT said: What does everyone think about the streaming of meetings? Personally I don't see the logic in it because it encourages fans to stay at Home and watch the meeting for a cheaper price which surely has an impact on Clubs attendances and finances. Does anyone know the cut the host club takes from the meetings?? Has to be 40/50% at least no?? What's the viewing numbers during live and replays?? It's possible more profit could be had with totally empty stadiums & streamed meetings only. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTT Posted July 15 Author Report Share Posted July 15 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Daniel Smith said: Does anyone know the cut the host club takes from the meetings?? Has to be 40/50% at least no?? What's the viewing numbers during live and replays?? It's possible more profit could be had with totally empty stadiums & streamed meetings only. I'd like to know for sure as it's an interesting topic imo. 2 fans staying at Home purchasing a stream at £15 each = 1 Adult Fan paying to attend on the night after the extra's are added on to the entrance fee. Live streaming is a good alternative for fans with Disabilites, I just ask the question as to whether it's too much of a saver to a point where it's being taken advantage of by the Younger fans to a point where Clubs could up the prices by an extra £5 per live stream in order to up their race day revenue whilst still offering a small saver to those staying at Home? Edited July 15 by TTT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralMelchett Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 (edited) I will give the Tigers there due I have seen them putting a lot of content out on social media of late - I hope they can get a few more through the turnstyles. I think the issue with streaming is whilst its great for people who have no chance to attend a meeting, for example I am never going to drive to to say Workington, it also means the locals can stay in watch it and save money so the stay aways are perhaps having a disproportionate effect on the crowd levels. I've been to Ipswich twice this season so far and to my mind crowd levels are down on 2025. Part of that maybe the loss of top line riders like Emil, Jason etc, part of this might be due to lack of competitive sides visiting, or Steaming etc - who knows a- without open and transparency in attendances we have no chance to judge for ourselves. One of the things I would like to see is Mayfield saying right last week we had 2000 in or whatever it might be! When Neil Machin stepped down as promoter in April 14 the Tigers had a very modest deficit on their books - in 11 years this has ballooned to 500k+ which co-incides with operating at the top level! Machin was always insistent (if i recall things correctly) whilst he was promoter they would never operate the top level! Edited July 15 by GeneralMelchett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldPitGate Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 As someone else mentioned on the forum if you factor in the loss of the tv deal and main sponsor pulling out they were possibly 100k down on 2025 from the get go, plus it seems some promoters helped get Northampton started if Sheffield chipped in that could be another 10-25K ? (guessing). Throw in all the problems over the winter making it nigh on impossible to plan things also, I do also remember someone saying the Bates main business was also struggling so wouldn't be as much money available to bail out the Tigers. Really hope they can pull through but looking at the above there's a lot of headwinds now really hitting speedway and the possible saviors are thinner on the ground than twenty years plus ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 26 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said: Part of that maybe the loss of top line riders like Emil, Jason etc, part of this might be due to lack of competitive sides visiting, or Steaming etc - who knows Crowds will probably return for the pay offs (the effort matches)... and who can blame them? Where's the jeopardy in the rest of the league meetings when the top 4 in a league of 6 qualify🤷♂️ It's truly laughable! Although, perversely, the injury to Jack Holder has probably made Sheffield's season a bit more interesting with King's Lynn on their heels for the final pay off slot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 31 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said: I will give the Tigers there due I have seen them putting a lot of content out on social media of late - I hope they can get a few more through the turnstyles. I think the issue with streaming is whilst its great for people who have no chance to attend a meeting, for example I am never going to drive to to say Workington, it also means the locals can stay in watch it and save money so the stay aways are perhaps having a disproportionate effect on the crowd levels. I've been to Ipswich twice this season so far and to my mind crowd levels are down on 2025. Part of that maybe the loss of top line riders like Emil, Jason etc, part of this might be due to lack of competitive sides visiting, or Steaming etc - who knows a- without open and transparency in attendances we have no chance to judge for ourselves. One of the things I would like to see is Mayfield saying right last week we had 2000 in or whatever it might be! When Neil Machin stepped down as promoter in April 14 the Tigers had a very modest deficit on their books - in 11 years this has ballooned to 500k+ which co-incides with operating at the top level! Machin was always insistent (if i recall things correctly) whilst he was promoter they would never operate the top level! It’s a combination of all of those where Ipswich is concerned. Doyle and Sayfutdinov were incredibly popular at Foxhall. To lose not just one but BOTH in one hit, and promoting your third heatleader to number 1, is a really hard sell I’m afraid. The new stream has compounded the issue. £15 to watch with your feet up at home, or £25 to travel to the outskirts of Ipswich after a day at work? 🥴 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therefused Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 2 minutes ago, IainB said: Crowds will probably return for the pay offs (the effort matches)... and who can blame them? Where's the jeopardy in the rest of the league meetings when the top 4 in a league of 6 qualify🤷♂️ It's truly laughable! Although, perversely, the injury to Jack Holder has probably made Sheffield's season a bit more interesting with King's Lynn on their heels for the final pay off slot. exactly this, last year the top four were decided by May what was the point in waiting months for the play offs, it turned 75% of the season into dead rubber meetings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 3 hours ago, therefused said: then in 2027 we can hope everyone limps through to 2028 and repeat Tell me who has shown you the 2027 plan??? This was marked "Top Secret"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biffa Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 All these reasons that are being said are truly valid and obviously costing speedway a lot. I go to Redcar regularly, but it is becoming a luxury. The working man’s wage just hasn’t risen with inflation over the past X number of years. In 2024 I went to Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Worky, Scunny, Oxford, Cardiff and more. Never been to an away match since May 25 so far. Moneys tight, fuels expensive, admission high but not excessive. All reasons the fan has to contend with. Missed 4 home matches early this year so I could go on holiday, extra £200 to spend in the sun. All coming down to priorities now I’m afraid🤷♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noaksey Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 3 things can happen Sheffield can either get sponsorship.and investment externally, they can accept that Speedway in 2026 has to be owner funded or they can pack up No doubt they've done their best to arrange the first one and are still trying, the second one is ongoing which leaves..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 5 minutes ago, Aries said: It’s a combination of all of those where Ipswich is concerned. Doyle and Sayfutdinov were incredibly popular at Foxhall. To lose not just one but BOTH in one hit, and promoting your third heatleader to number 1, is a really hard sell I’m afraid. The new stream has compounded the issue. £15 to watch with your feet up at home, or £25 to travel to the outskirts of Ipswich after a day at work? 🥴 Ultimately though, it all goes back to the lack of any major prestige, publicity and financial rewards for winning any of the competitions... If the "size of the prize" was massive, so would the crowds be... If winning really meant something, people would attend... The crowd numbers reflect the apathy that UK Speedway engenders by being so (almost), irrelevant within a sporting context... How do they get that major financial backing?.. With such poor "optics" across a breadth of issues, when looking into the sport from the outside, I am sure it must be truly difficult, if not maybe impossible, to deliver that game changing, fundamental to success, major backing... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 18 minutes ago, mikebv said: Tell me who has shown you the 2027 plan??? This was marked "Top Secret"... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noaksey Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 8 minutes ago, mikebv said: Ultimately though, it all goes back to the lack of any major prestige, publicity and financial rewards for winning any of the competitions... If the "size of the prize" was massive, so would the crowds be... If winning really meant something, people would attend... The crowd numbers reflect the apathy that UK Speedway engenders by being so (almost), irrelevant within a sporting context... How do they get that major financial backing?.. With such poor "optics" across a breadth of issues, when looking into the sport from the outside, I am sure it must be truly difficult, if not maybe impossible, to deliver that game changing, fundamental to success, major backing... It'll be interesting to see how the Wroclaw "partnership" with Ipswich goes, maybe other Polish teams will be interested in something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk127 Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 Is it a reality that the sport in this country can no longer afford to run at the top level because the lack of major broadcaster airing the sport to a wider audience, the falling level of income from punters, owners and sponsors meaning financially it is simply not enough to cover the outgoings. A new business model needs to be adopted that allows clubs, after financial scrutiny, to run at a level which is affordable. I am sure most people would rather see tracks remaining open and providing a level of team racing given that the alternative could be that the venue closes with little chance that the relevant club will ever make a comeback. At this stage we have journeymen using the top league to top up incomes whilst plying a far more lucrative trade in the likes of Poland. Good luck to those riders who can afford to do that as no doubt the investment required in terms of machinery etc is far higher giving the demands imposed by the Polish clubs. The UK scene does not currently have the right finances in place to compete or even offer like for like terms and the sport needs a measured adjustment in order that it has a future and one day can offer/attract the calibre of riders that compete solely in mainland Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racin Jason 72 Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 18 minutes ago, mikebv said: Ultimately though, it all goes back to the lack of any major prestige, publicity and financial rewards for winning any of the competitions... If the "size of the prize" was massive, so would the crowds be... If winning really meant something, people would attend... The crowd numbers reflect the apathy that UK Speedway engenders by being so (almost), irrelevant within a sporting context... How do they get that major financial backing?.. With such poor "optics" across a breadth of issues, when looking into the sport from the outside, I am sure it must be truly difficult, if not maybe impossible, to deliver that game changing, fundamental to success, major backing... Until speedway has a credible product it will be difficult to get the tv coverage it needs. You won’t attract a decent sponsor until the tv deal is in place. we need two equal sized leagues with promotion and relegation so all meetings are relevant. Champions of the league decided by who tops the league and play offs for promotion and relegation. for this to truly work it must be run by a independent board with financial backing for the teams getting promoted to not only survive but to actually compete with the others 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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