Happy Hunter Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago 38 minutes ago, the hobbit said: ???? Its April Fools day next Wednesday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Hunter Posted 3 hours ago Report Share Posted 3 hours ago (edited) The longer this goes on the more likely it is that Northampton's nickname will be The Phantoms! Edited 3 hours ago by Happy Hunter Spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bee Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago I’m not about to read every post on this thread, and I apologise if this has been covered and discussed by you on previous posts, but I’ve seen enough to know that the silence coming out of Northampton is staggering. Unless someone who uses this forum that lives or works in Northampton can say any different, there appears to be absolutely zero noise in the local area. We are now in late March—barely five weeks away from the season starting for Northampton — and what have we actually heard? No confirmed team name, no full rider line-up, and next to no presence. How on earth do they propose to build a fan base from a standing start without drumming up any local support? Are they telling the Northampton public that they have a new Speedway team to follow? They will no doubt get a decent crowd level from existing speedway fans around the country at the beginning of the season for the novelty factor, but that won't last if they haven't done the groundwork locally. It feels like the management is just relying on disenfranchised Coventry and Peterborough fans to fill the void because we’re missing our own tracks, and the few Leicester fans that exist to pop along. I’ve personally started three different offices for companies from cold starts, and I can tell you now: this is not how you do it. You don't just open the doors and hope for the best. When you're launching in a new territory, you must be aggressive. You must get out into the local community, pound the pavement, and actually sell what you’re providing. If the person walking down Northampton High Street doesn't even know there's a world class sport (I use the term World Class loosely in the UK) appearing on their doorstep in five weeks' time, the marketing has failed before the first heat. And when those involved directly in the running of the sport and the decisions read things like this, they'll no doubt accuse me of being disruptive and moaning. They’ll claim we don’t understand the "complexities" behind the scenes. But in reality, there are plenty of Speedway fans who actually know how to run successful businesses, how to start a business from nothing, and how to keep it successful. In any other industry, if you launched a product this quietly, you’d be out of business in six months. You must create a "local anchor" — give the people of Northampton a reason to claim the team as theirs. If you don't build that local identity from day one, you aren't a club; you’re just a nomad team at a neutral venue. If they don't start shouting about this soon, they’re going to be racing in front of an empty stadium once that initial novelty wears off. I’d like to be proved wrong and see it be a massive success, and I might be wrong and all of the above is actually happening behind the scenes. But if the actual Speedway world doesn't know anything about it, I highly doubt it is. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrickn Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 6 hours ago, mikebv said: Does it really matter if NKI has or hasn't been "declared".. Just give them a guest facility.... They don't race till April 20th anyway, and the first two matches are away, and not till the 30th at home, so plenty of time to sort guests out.. That's just what someone new to speedway needs.Try telling them we have this bloke who rides for someone else,but he's riding for us tonight.And by the way,we're a bit short of riders,so some of ours are taking extra rides to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 1 minute ago, Derrickn said: That's just what someone new to speedway needs.Try telling them we have this bloke who rides for someone else,but he's riding for us tonight.And by the way,we're a bit short of riders,so some of ours are taking extra rides to cover. The will be close on 200 guests used this season if previous recent years get similarly replicated, therefore, any "new people" will be more than well versed in the more "Mickey Mouse" aspects of the sport (in the UK), should they, (hopefully), become regulars... Someone guesting for NKI (should it happen), will be just "another guest" situation... Nothing more and nothing less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Smith Posted 4 minutes ago Report Share Posted 4 minutes ago 1 hour ago, Derrickn said: That's just what someone new to speedway needs.Try telling them we have this bloke who rides for someone else,but he's riding for us tonight.And by the way,we're a bit short of riders,so some of ours are taking extra rides to cover. Newbies don't give a feck about rules. They only care about getting value for money in being entertained, hence, 9/10 don't return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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