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Time for a new chairperson?


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3 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

They can’t even afford a new chair let alone a new person to sit in it 

The issue is "The Professionals" don't want and need what "The Hobbyists" want and need from the sport, and vice versa...

One side of the equation pay their way in life through the money they make from their business, whilst the other side of it are quite happy funding their main leisure interest, and can be quite satisfied in not making any money at all, as long as losses are within budgeted figures..

One side see the sport as aspirational with "winning the league" being the target as this can deliver higher financial reward....

The other see it as a hobby where "winning the league" can actually cost them more, and, as we have seen, even get them closed down due to unsustainable costs which were not covered by extra punters coming through the turnstiles, with "winning at home regularly" being their main aspiration...

One side has punters used to watching sone of the world's best, paid for by the promoters at that level, and mid level riders earning their highest wage of the two they earn...

The other has punters used to not seeing the world's best, with promoters not having the resources to use them at that level, but are happy to pay exactly the same mid level riders a lesser fee than the top tier do for their services, (but can only do this due to the top tier paying these mid level riders the bulk of their money)..

To accommodate riders the top tier have to ride on nights not conducive to the entertainment industry, and the second tier can ride on the "better nights" but often do it with teams using many guests due to other rider commitments, (136 used last year in tier two, 62 in tier one)..

To be honest, given the complete opposite needs and wants of the promoters, who in their right mind would see the Chairperson role as something to aspire to and actually want?...

Putting together a plan that suits all, given their disparate "wish lists" does look an impossible task, and when you add in a lack of independent leadership, with a lack of vision, strategy and ambition for the growth of the sport, and you really do have major, major problems....

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2 hours ago, mikebv said:

The issue is "The Professionals" don't want and need what "The Hobbyists" want and need from the sport, and vice versa...

One side of the equation pay their way in life through the money they make from their business, whilst the other side of it are quite happy funding their main leisure interest, and can be quite satisfied in not making any money at all, as long as losses are within budgeted figures..

One side see the sport as aspirational with "winning the league" being the target as this can deliver higher financial reward....

The other see it as a hobby where "winning the league" can actually cost them more, and, as we have seen, even get them closed down due to unsustainable costs which were not covered by extra punters coming through the turnstiles, with "winning at home regularly" being their main aspiration...

One side has punters used to watching sone of the world's best, paid for by the promoters at that level, and mid level riders earning their highest wage of the two they earn...

The other has punters used to not seeing the world's best, with promoters not having the resources to use them at that level, but are happy to pay exactly the same mid level riders a lesser fee than the top tier do for their services, (but can only do this due to the top tier paying these mid level riders the bulk of their money)..

To accommodate riders the top tier have to ride on nights not conducive to the entertainment industry, and the second tier can ride on the "better nights" but often do it with teams using many guests due to other rider commitments, (136 used last year in tier two, 62 in tier one)..

To be honest, given the complete opposite needs and wants of the promoters, who in their right mind would see the Chairperson role as something to aspire to and actually want?...

Putting together a plan that suits all, given their disparate "wish lists" does look an impossible task, and when you add in a lack of independent leadership, with a lack of vision, strategy and ambition for the growth of the sport, and you really do have major, major problems....

Nights not conducive to the entertainment industry is very subjective. If we took Saturday as THE night and everyone else did the same then you are all competing against each other. You do what’s best for you. In 1976 less than half the teams in the league rode on a Saturday (6). 3 rode on a Friday with the other 10 riding mid week. This was at the height of the sports popularity yet most CHOOSE to open mid week.  Moving to alternate nights to gain the biggest crowd happens in all industries. Film distributors will not go up against the blockbusters, bands will serve dates when big hitters are in town and pubs will arrange theme nights on dates to attract the most punters. It’s not a case that Saturday is the holy grail and we need to avoid the negative connotations currently being associated with mid week. 

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2 hours ago, ouch said:

Nights not conducive to the entertainment industry is very subjective. If we took Saturday as THE night and everyone else did the same then you are all competing against each other. You do what’s best for you. In 1976 less than half the teams in the league rode on a Saturday (6). 3 rode on a Friday with the other 10 riding mid week. This was at the height of the sports popularity yet most CHOOSE to open mid week.  Moving to alternate nights to gain the biggest crowd happens in all industries. Film distributors will not go up against the blockbusters, bands will serve dates when big hitters are in town and pubs will arrange theme nights on dates to attract the most punters. It’s not a case that Saturday is the holy grail and we need to avoid the negative connotations currently being associated with mid week. 

The Colts don't run on many (any?) blank Mondays or Thursdays .,

That alone for me suggests that , for the Aces specifically, Monday isn't the best night for them, as they would mirror the Colts with the Aces wouldn't they?

Plymouth being a good example of simply changing from Tuesday to Saturday improved crowds greatly...

Each club will have their sweet spot night, however, pubs, restaurants, cinemas etc focus on weekends to make their most money..

And putting on "specials" mid week means more costs so not always more profit, even if punters numbers go up, and the fact "specials" are needed tells a lot about those nights of the week...

Maybe Speedway could do with some "specials" on Monday and Thursdays?...

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28 minutes ago, mikebv said:

The Colts don't run on many (any?) blank Mondays or Thursdays .,

That alone for me suggests that , for the Aces specifically, Monday isn't the best night for them, as they would mirror the Colts with the Aces wouldn't they?

Plymouth being a good example of simply changing from Tuesday to Saturday improved crowds greatly...

Each club will have their sweet spot night, however, pubs, restaurants, cinemas etc focus on weekends to make their most money..

And putting on "specials" mid week means more costs so not always more profit, even if punters numbers go up, and the fact "specials" are needed tells a lot about those nights of the week...

Maybe Speedway could do with some "specials" on Monday and Thursdays?...

The Colts run on Sunday afternoons (or use to on Friday) because most if not all of the competitors have jobs or rely on working parents to help them at meetings. Sundays are ideal with that in mind and even a Friday makes it a far easier fit when considering post meeting travel and maintenance. 

We can agree that pubs, restaurants, cinemas etc focus on weekends, so why would a small sport like ours want to go up against them? Far better to run when there is less competition.

We do have “specials” on Monday and Thursday, it’s called the play offs when the masses come out irrespective of what day of the week it is. 

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