Vince Posted 15 hours ago Report Share Posted 15 hours ago Just got back from the Arenacross at the NEC Birmingham and thought it worth mentioning a couple of things. Firstly Dan Bewley is a respectable motocross rider, it was only in the whoops which are Supercross specific really that he was losing time in a decent Pro-AM class. Secondly the presentation compared to even the Cardiff GP was so much better. 3 good presenters who ramped up the crowd and kept the interest going between races, probably all a bit shouty for an old bloke like me but the youngsters lapped it up and sport needs the likes of them more than the likes of me for the future. Lots of flashing lights, loud music and freestyle MX/ girls dancing with fire and a guy chucking free kids T shirts randomly into the crowd all accompanied with encouragement for the crowd to make a lot of noise and be involved between races and while the track was graded. (Graded incidentally by the son of Ace of Aces Promoter Ian Barclay) All in all despite decent rather than great racing we came away having had a great time and Speedway could take some lessons from the Promoters of this series. Might not be practical for every meeting but a lot of what they did could be applied to the bigger events and most certainly the GPs. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim G Posted 15 hours ago Report Share Posted 15 hours ago 30 minutes ago, Vince said: Just got back from the Arenacross at the NEC Birmingham and thought it worth mentioning a couple of things. Firstly Dan Bewley is a respectable motocross rider, it was only in the whoops which are Supercross specific really that he was losing time in a decent Pro-AM class. Secondly the presentation compared to even the Cardiff GP was so much better. 3 good presenters who ramped up the crowd and kept the interest going between races, probably all a bit shouty for an old bloke like me but the youngsters lapped it up and sport needs the likes of them more than the likes of me for the future. Lots of flashing lights, loud music and freestyle MX/ girls dancing with fire and a guy chucking free kids T shirts randomly into the crowd all accompanied with encouragement for the crowd to make a lot of noise and be involved between races and while the track was graded. (Graded incidentally by the son of Ace of Aces Promoter Ian Barclay) All in all despite decent rather than great racing we came away having had a great time and Speedway could take some lessons from the Promoters of this series. Might not be practical for every meeting but a lot of what they did could be applied to the bigger events and most certainly the GPs. I went aswell and it really is an entertaining and enjoyable show, it’s non stop and the 3 hours go so quickly. Thought Dan was playing quite it safe when he had other riders around him but put in a good performance in his second ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 10 hours ago Report Share Posted 10 hours ago I attended one in Manchester a few years ago.. I said at the time that every UK Speedway promoter should go and see how motorbike racing could be presented.. My lad caught a T shirt and I got roped in to entering the text raffle to win a mini MX bike, which was hanging from fhe ceiling, at a fiver a ticket... They must have paid for that bike several times over given how many phones were in use! Music. Lights. Noise. Colour. Excitement... And a hyped up prize too, where it was said they were racing for a £200k first prize... The reality was that this was the total paid out over the five rounds to the riders.. But nothing wrong with a bit of hype that increases your profile and standing... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagpuss Posted 4 hours ago Report Share Posted 4 hours ago How much to get in out of interest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 1 hour ago, Bagpuss said: How much to get in out of interest? When I went around seven years ago it was £70 for me and my then 15 year old lad... From the moment of entry where riders had their meet and greet merch stalls, and free event posters given away signed by many of them, to the "have your photo with the Monster girls" (He did, I didn't!),, to the pre racing build up, the actual racing itself (didn't have a clue who any of them were), and the entertainment between hests eg the T shirt guns getting fired, the text raffle for fhe bike, right through to the free giveaways as we left, more posters, stickers etc.. Worth every penny... And so much of it would have cost fhe organisers minimal outlay, yet the crowd left with great memories and something tangible to also remember it by... I got an email that night thanking me and my son for attending and asking for feedback, and 12 months later, an email with 10% off tickets but we were going away so couldn't go.. Proper Promotion by Proper Promoters... Edited 2 hours ago by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Comet Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago I imagine they have a bit more money to promote than the average speedway club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 27 minutes ago, Preston Comet said: I imagine they have a bit more money to promote than the average speedway club Who collectively spend seven figures, a year on riders? Edited 2 hours ago by mikebv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preston Comet Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago Yeah, good point Mike. Also, its indoors in a decent arena.. Send all them punters to watch the same thing, with the same razamataz, at say, Armadale, Edinburgh, and see how keen theyll be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 13 hours ago, Vince said: Just got back from the Arenacross at the NEC Birmingham and thought it worth mentioning a couple of things. Firstly Dan Bewley is a respectable motocross rider, it was only in the whoops which are Supercross specific really that he was losing time in a decent Pro-AM class. Secondly the presentation compared to even the Cardiff GP was so much better. 3 good presenters who ramped up the crowd and kept the interest going between races, probably all a bit shouty for an old bloke like me but the youngsters lapped it up and sport needs the likes of them more than the likes of me for the future. Lots of flashing lights, loud music and freestyle MX/ girls dancing with fire and a guy chucking free kids T shirts randomly into the crowd all accompanied with encouragement for the crowd to make a lot of noise and be involved between races and while the track was graded. (Graded incidentally by the son of Ace of Aces Promoter Ian Barclay) All in all despite decent rather than great racing we came away having had a great time and Speedway could take some lessons from the Promoters of this series. Might not be practical for every meeting but a lot of what they did could be applied to the bigger events and most certainly the GPs. When ever I go to a gig at an arena I always think could they put them in my speedway GP in here, I went to see Jim Jeffries a couple of months back at this venue and although it well situated I didn’t think it was big enough for a track and fans, hard to tell with the pictures from the arenacross, would you say it’s big enough ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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