What is there when Clubs are for sale?

[IainB]

Was it Ken Bates that bought Chelsea for £1? That's probably the ball park for most Speedway clubs. 

[FAST GATER]

On 11/22/2025 at 9:55 PM, Hawk127 said:

The value of any club is questionable and depends who owns the track and stadia. To categorise what may be for sale, firstly you may have the assignment of the lease where a club rents the track but the landlord is unlikely to agree where the terms of which do not match the current lessee’s obligations. if you overcome the assignment issue then a sale in terms of assetS will be determined by a fair valuation of what is on the balance 

This will include the security deposit paid to the BSP, and a few other fixed assets and I suspect that rider contracts are not binding on transfer of the business ownership and the renewal thereof will be based on a number of factors.

After the foregoing it is reality what is left in terms of fixed assets such as graders, air fence, track prep machinery and anything which one could consider as a fixed asset.

Who really knows the value of a club/team/track but is a lot less that most sane people are willing to pay and notwithstanding the good will based partly on the supporters etc, no one would pay more than a £1.00. It is not a sound business proposition as it stands as the return on equity is nearly non existent. Maybe ideal for profitable corporations as an offsetting tax opportunity exercise but basically you would need to be as mad as Mar h hare to put money into a sport the way speedway is currently run

Excellent analysis this was exactly the position when we looked at purchasing a club in the 70's "you are buying smoke " you   haven't touched on the the most costly  non asset element the RIDERS !

 

[FAST GATER]

14 hours ago, proud panther said:

I wish you was right, as my business is going up for sale next year. I can assure you after speaking to a lot of  professional people, that nobody has valued my business anywhere near those figures.

Between 8 and 10 times( to value a business) is what I normally work on as rule of thumb freehold /long lease have a significant effect neither of these factors  apply to many speedway teams . 

[FAST GATER]

12 hours ago, IainB said:

Was it Ken Bates that bought Chelsea for £1? That's probably the ball park for most Speedway clubs. 

Still seems expensive for a Mill Stone !

[YeOldPitGate]

16 hours ago, IainB said:

Was it Ken Bates that bought Chelsea for £1? That's probably the ball park for most Speedway clubs. 

To be fair Ian I think for 90% of clubs you would want paying for taking them on given most are loss making.

[Dave_minall]

It's been said but every club is different. If it's Sheffield you're basically buying a ticket to put guys on a track, the fence and some equipment. 

If it's say Ipswich you'd most likely be buying the entire venue with everything that comes within. 

Privately owned clubs will fetch much more money (Ipswich, Leicester, Kings Lynn, the list goes on) but you'd have complete control. Tracks that operate under a leasing arrangement would obviously be much cheaper but don't come with the freedom to do as you see fit with the place.

[SteveLyric2]

13 minutes ago, Dave_minall said:

It's been said but every club is different. If it's Sheffield you're basically buying a ticket to put guys on a track, the fence and some equipment. 

If it's say Ipswich you'd most likely be buying the entire venue with everything that comes within. 

Privately owned clubs will fetch much more money (Ipswich, Leicester, Kings Lynn, the list goes on) but you'd have complete control. Tracks that operate under a leasing arrangement would obviously be much cheaper but don't come with the freedom to do as you see fit with the place.

I thought Spedeworth owned Foxhall stadium?

[Dave_minall]

1 minute ago, SteveLyric2 said:

I thought Spedeworth owned Foxhall stadium?

I could be mistaken on this - you could be right! I was of the impression that Chris owned the stadium and everything within. 

[dontforgetthefueltapsbruv]

32 minutes ago, SteveLyric2 said:

I thought Spedeworth owned Foxhall stadium?

 

30 minutes ago, Dave_minall said:

I could be mistaken on this - you could be right! I was of the impression that Chris owned the stadium and everything within. 

The land is owned by the original Ipswich Speedway from the 1950s - local family whose name I cannot recall at present

All Speedway companies since (Berry/Shears/Louis/Louis) are completely unrelated to the original

The stadium lease Is currently with Spedeworth - not long ago renewed and for a longish term (again cannot recall exact length)

The current Speedway is a sub let from Soedeworth

[Bear_Bottom]

😉

[1 valve]

On 11/25/2025 at 6:31 PM, IainB said:

Was it Ken Bates that bought Chelsea for £1? That's probably the ball park for most Speedway clubs. 

Yes, for £1.00 he purchased the clubs name and £1.5 million of trade debt & banking liabilities. 
The purchase did not include the freehold of Stamford bridge itself which the then majority owners (a development company) wanted to develop. To his credit, Bates took on the developers, obtained the full leasehold and saw the developers go bankrupt. 
When he sold the club for £170million he made £17million profit. 
Today Chelsea FC have debts of circa £1.2 billion having had the benefit of former owner Roman Abramovich writing off £1.5 billion personal loans to the club. 

 

[1 valve]

On 11/26/2025 at 11:10 AM, Dave_minall said:

It's been said but every club is different. If it's Sheffield you're basically buying a ticket to put guys on a track, the fence and some equipment. 

If it's say Ipswich you'd most likely be buying the entire venue with everything that comes within. 

Privately owned clubs will fetch much more money (Ipswich, Leicester, Kings Lynn, the list goes on) but you'd have complete control. Tracks that operate under a leasing arrangement would obviously be much cheaper but don't come with the freedom to do as you see fit with the place.

The Leicester promotion does not own the stadium. It is owned by a company with one director, David Helmsley who was the original promoter when speedway returned to the City. 
I believe the current promoting company has a long term lease agreement for use of the facility.