The London Stadium

[Phannan]

Possible GP venue ? Any reason why not ?

[Phannan]

As far as I’m aware , they have already held motorsport events at the stadium. And West Ham could certainly use the extra revenue now that they’re down with the stiffs 😁

[IainB]

It's almost the perfect venue, it's the right shape for starters, it's in London, placed in a better location than Wembley, really easy to get to, with a lower capacity than Wembley & Cardiff.

The reasons why not, there's only 14 operational tracks in the UK these days, when BSI took the "gamble" of taking the British GP to Cardiff in 2001 there were at least 24 operational tracks in the UK. Brandon was selling out at about 12,000 (with a lot of Poles attending) and the move to Cardiff really did spark a boom in the whole GP series with more rounds being introduced and also rounds being held in "destination" cities, there'd be no Copenhagen, Ullevi, Stockholm, Warsaw etc without Cardiff but they're all gone now. Maybe they need to go backwards in order to move forwards and reduce the number of rounds back to 6 or 7 at more prestige city destinations... oh and there's no roof 😁

[norbold]

3 minutes ago, IainB said:

oh and there's no roof 😁

Wimbledon Centre Court it is then.

[40-38]

10 minutes ago, IainB said:

It's almost the perfect venue, it's the right shape for starters, it's in London, placed in a better location than Wembley, really easy to get to, with a lower capacity than Wembley & Cardiff.

The reasons why not, there's only 14 operational tracks in the UK these days, when BSI took the "gamble" of taking the British GP to Cardiff in 2001 there were at least 24 operational tracks in the UK. Brandon was selling out at about 12,000 (with a lot of Poles attending) and the move to Cardiff really did spark a boom in the whole GP series with more rounds being introduced and also rounds being held in "destination" cities, there'd be no Copenhagen, Ullevi, Stockholm, Warsaw etc without Cardiff but they're all gone now. Maybe they need to go backwards in order to move forwards and reduce the number of rounds back to 6 or 7 at more prestige city destinations... oh and there's no roof 😁

I do think going back to 6/7 rounds makes more sense. I'm also still not sure why we have two consecutive GP's in Manchester either, so the idea of having one in London if we need to have two would be more interesting. 

[Sir Sidney]

18 minutes ago, IainB said:

It's almost the perfect venue, it's the right shape for starters, it's in London, placed in a better location than Wembley, really easy to get to, with a lower capacity than Wembley & Cardiff.

The reasons why not, there's only 14 operational tracks in the UK these days, when BSI took the "gamble" of taking the British GP to Cardiff in 2001 there were at least 24 operational tracks in the UK. Brandon was selling out at about 12,000 (with a lot of Poles attending) and the move to Cardiff really did spark a boom in the whole GP series with more rounds being introduced and also rounds being held in "destination" cities, there'd be no Copenhagen, Ullevi, Stockholm, Warsaw etc without Cardiff but they're all gone now. Maybe they need to go backwards in order to move forwards and reduce the number of rounds back to 6 or 7 at more prestige city destinations... oh and there's no roof 😁

It costs millions to convert the stadium back from the football configuration to an oval, so could only be feasible if timed to coincide with other events 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+it+cost+to+convert+the+london+stadium+back+to+an+athletics+track&oq=what+does+it+cost+to+convert+the+london+stadium+back+to+an+athletics+track&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTM4MzY3ajBqN6gCFLACAfEF_SOs6C3bhD7xBf0jrOgt24Q-&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&sei=DHwmav3VMKu4hbIPpMD_6Ao#lfId=ChxjMe

[IainB]

8 minutes ago, 40-38 said:

I do think going back to 6/7 rounds makes more sense. I'm also still not sure why we have two consecutive GP's in Manchester either, so the idea of having one in London if we need to have two would be more interesting. 

Surely, it's simple economics with the East Stand, with back of the fag packet workings if the East Stand holds 2,000 and costs £500,000 that adds £25 per ticket to a crowd of 6,500 per night, if it's run over 1 night, £50, that means my South Stand ticket this year would have been more like £100 instead of the £64.50 it actually was. When my last Cardiff ticket cost me £23 and I can go to any meeting at the NSS and watch Speedway of the highest standard for £25 do I want to pay £100 to watch a GP round, possibly in the rain, in the slums of Manchester (😉) with riders who can't even be @rsed to acknowledge the crowd 🤔

[IainB]

31 minutes ago, Sir Sidney said:

It costs millions to convert the stadium back from the football configuration to an oval, so could only be feasible if timed to coincide with other events 

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+it+cost+to+convert+the+london+stadium+back+to+an+athletics+track&oq=what+does+it+cost+to+convert+the+london+stadium+back+to+an+athletics+track&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTM4MzY3ajBqN6gCFLACAfEF_SOs6C3bhD7xBf0jrOgt24Q-&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&sei=DHwmav3VMKu4hbIPpMD_6Ao#lfId=ChxjMe

Reading that article it seems that they convert the stadium for a "summer season" including rock concerts and other event's so that "conversion cost" could be spread with other events during the summer and wouldn't be borne by Speedway alone maybe? It does sound like a non-starter though

Edited 25 minutes ago by IainB

[mikebv]

They'd have to make sure David Sullivan stayed away....

[Phannan]

9 minutes ago, mikebv said:

They'd have to make sure David Sullivan stayed away....

The entertainment after every four heats could be interesting 😬

[mikebv]

41 minutes ago, 40-38 said:

I do think going back to 6/7 rounds makes more sense. I'm also still not sure why we have two consecutive GP's in Manchester either, so the idea of having one in London if we need to have two would be more interesting. 

We have two so it is viable...

The cost of purchasing the event to run would be too prohibitive for one nights takings..

The East Stand means the capacity increases sufficiently to ensure ticket prices are affordable to "enough people"..

Even with its huge cost to set up...

On a one night GP you would have no East Stand, a 4,500 or so capacity, and, therefore, no ticket less than £100....

I presume the GP promoters are happy too, as they will get paid for two GP's rather than just the one payment they usually get..

[Phannan]

The weather darn sarf in London is decent usually. The catchment area is definitely there. The authorities could publicise it to death, showing old Wembley finals as well as referring to the ‘ local team of yesteryear’ the West Ham Hammers , to appeal to the locals. Grandads might take their grandkids . Get that east end boy Barry Hearn involved. It’s all a dream but the sport needs a big positive to lean towards and that could definitely be it. 

[WRDukes]

Weren’t West Ham 'gifted' this stadium on the understating it would/could be used for other events?