Premiership 2027 - Are You Interested??

[Daniel Smith]

There has been numerous mentions of significant dropoff of attendances within the Premiership clubs. This would be of have concern to many clubs but why?

• Will you / won't you continue as a fan in 2027 under the current structure?
• Why are attendances down?
• Why are Promoters so blind to public opinion?

 

[Baldyman]

Up until a few years ago I never missed a meeting home or away,, now I hardly ever go,, once this year so far. I'm sure I will be the same next year.  Same old teams every few weeks, racing more or less non existent, no real characters you look forward to seeing, presentation still the same as 50 years ago, just bored of it now. 25 quid to stand around getting bored doesn't do it for me 

[IainB]

I'll still attend, probably until the bitter end, but I'll no longer be attending matches where a rider has decided that he'd rather be elsewhere. Dan Thompson did that when Lions visited Sheffield earlier in the year and I made my protest then by not attending. Injuries are part and parcel of the sport, but riders not showing for their clubs due to riding or being sat in the pits elsewhere is the final straw for me.

The reasons why attendances are down are numerous and have all been discussed ad infinitum across this forum, so I'm not going to rehash them

[Youhave2minutes]

1 hour ago, Daniel Smith said:

There has been numerous mentions of significant dropoff of attendances within the Premiership clubs. This would be of have concern to many clubs but why?

• Will you / won't you continue as a fan in 2027 under the current structure?
• Why are attendances down?
• Why are Promoters so blind to public opinion?

 

I  abandoned at least 10 years ago.

[YeOldPitGate]

3 minutes ago, Baldyman said:

Up until a few years ago I never missed a meeting home or away,, now I hardly ever go,, once this year so far. I'm sure I will be the same next year.  Same old teams every few weeks, racing more or less non existent, no real characters you look forward to seeing, presentation still the same as 50 years ago, just bored of it now. 25 quid to stand around getting bored doesn't do it for me 

And by sounds of it you were a die hard which shows the difficulty in getting new people in. I was the same when I went me and my best mate were 18/19 at the time, we used to travel everywhere Coventry for British final, Bradford world final, Sweden world final , Ippo and Lynn every Saturday absolutely loved it. I moved away from Lynn so its now a three hour round trip and there's nothing tempting me back for the reasons we have covered on here a hundred plus times.

[4thbender]

Following the Bates announcement on Monday, it's clear that the Premiership can't continue to exist in its current form in 2027. 

In the past 18 months we've lost Oxford and Birmingham and it seems certain that Sheffield won't be back for another year. 

Decades of the sport's mismanagement has finally come to a head. Bending over backwards to comply with an agenda dictated by Poland has had its day. British speedway needs to set its own agenda and not kowtow to foreign stipulations. If it means saying a permanent goodbye to riders preferring to seek their fortunes elsewhere, so be it. For survival we need a single nationwide league of 12/14 teams of riders committed 100% to British racing between March and October.

A 24/26 match league programme plus a further 8/10 matches in a split north-south KO cup competition will guarantee teams a weekly match programme (just as it used to be!) The loss of a few "fancy-Dan" racers to Poland will mean much more money available to the rest who wish to compete in the UK, and a sensible rider payment policy will provide ample earnings potential for riders over a guaranteed 36-match season.

It now really is a battle for survival of the sport; was it Einstein who said that to go on doing the same things expecting different results is the definition of madness?

[TTT]

21 minutes ago, 4thbender said:

Following the Bates announcement on Monday, it's clear that the Premiership can't continue to exist in its current form in 2027. 

In the past 18 months we've lost Oxford and Birmingham and it seems certain that Sheffield won't be back for another year. 

Decades of the sport's mismanagement has finally come to a head. Bending over backwards to comply with an agenda dictated by Poland has had its day. British speedway needs to set its own agenda and not kowtow to foreign stipulations. If it means saying a permanent goodbye to riders preferring to seek their fortunes elsewhere, so be it. For survival we need a single nationwide league of 12/14 teams of riders committed 100% to British racing between March and October.

A 24/26 match league programme plus a further 8/10 matches in a split north-south KO cup competition will guarantee teams a weekly match programme (just as it used to be!) The loss of a few "fancy-Dan" racers to Poland will mean much more money available to the rest who wish to compete in the UK, and a sensible rider payment policy will provide ample earnings potential for riders over a guaranteed 36-match season.

It now really is a battle for survival of the sport; was it Einstein who said that to go on doing the same things expecting different results is the definition of madness?

Problem is, We won't just be waving goodbye to your GP riders, It's now riders like Dan Thompson and co as well.

Think we're in a lot of trouble now tbh.

[IainB]

15 minutes ago, TTT said:

Problem is, We won't just be waving goodbye to your GP riders, It's now riders like Dan Thompson and co as well.

👋

Surely the likes of Dan Thompson can't make a living from watching Speedway sat in the pits in Poland? And he needs to remember that when signing his contracts. 

Edited 6 hours ago by IainB

[noaksey]

I now have no local track

This season I've been to 2 Northampton meetings (3 hour round trip) with a further one planned plus 1 visit to Ipswich (2 and a half hour round trip)

That's my lot and will probably remain so each season under this format

[paulnolan]

I'm still happy to have a track again after so long so I'll pop along to the odd meeting - I've done 3 so far this year and might do another couple with the team being what it is. If things stay the same, probably the same again. If things change, I may go a bit more. And if Northampton ran on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays? Probably a few more than that.

Edited 5 hours ago by paulnolan

[Teromaafan]

I'm sure Bomber will be interested next year, whatever the BSPA serve up. Its just that there may not be anybody bothered about watching him and all the teams he will represent at some point. 

[Aries]

This is such an uplifting forum. When I’m feeling a bit down I love coming on here to read everyone’s cheery positive thoughts on the ol Speedway 

😁

[4thbender]

3 hours ago, TTT said:

Problem is, We won't just be waving goodbye to your GP riders, It's now riders like Dan Thompson and co as well.

Think we're in a lot of trouble now tbh.

I think you're right. Speedway has bred a generation of riders who want to have their cake and eat it: they want to earn their bread and butter in the UK leagues and chase the Polish Zloty to put the jam on top. This forces the British promoters to dance to the Polish tune when trying to plan the home fixture list. This can't go on.

We've blamed the promoters for years for the mess we're in, but nobody points the finger at the greedy riders whose jet-setting international ambitions leave the promoters tearing their hair out week after week to put on a do-able programme of racing. If British speedway is to survive, 2027 has to be  the year when we revert to a single nationwide league (see my previous posting) and riders are forced to decide: either sign a contract to race exclusively for one of the 15 teams in a revived British speedway league, or clear off and ply their trade elsewhere.

I reckon the promise of 36+ guaranteed matches per season without the need for expensive international travel - albeit in a slightly less competitive league - will be more than attractive to the vast majority of riders. For the rest we're probably better off without them. And for those people who always argue that there aren't sufficient riders around to run a 15-team league without doubling up, it may come as a surprise to learn that the list of registered riders on the BSL website runs to 249 names. 

It's time for speedway to bite the bullet or face the inevitable.

 

[Youhave2minutes]

13 minutes ago, 4thbender said:

I think you're right. Speedway has bred a generation of riders who want to have their cake and eat it: they want to earn their bread and butter in the UK leagues and chase the Polish Zloty to put the jam on top. This forces the British promoters to dance to the Polish tune when trying to plan the home fixture list. This can't go on.

We've blamed the promoters for years for the mess we're in, but nobody points the finger at the greedy riders whose jet-setting international ambitions leave the promoters tearing their hair out week after week to put on a do-able programme of racing. If British speedway is to survive, 2027 has to be  the year when we revert to a single nationwide league (see my previous posting) and riders are forced to decide: either sign a contract to race exclusively for one of the 15 teams in a revived British speedway league, or clear off and ply their trade elsewhere.

I reckon the promise of 36+ guaranteed matches per season without the need for expensive international travel - albeit in a slightly less competitive league - will be more than attractive to the vast majority of riders. For the rest we're probably better off without them. And for those people who always argue that there aren't sufficient riders around to run a 15-team league without doubling up, it may come as a surprise to learn that the list of registered riders on the BSL website runs to 249 names. 

It's time for speedway to bite the bullet or face the inevitable.

 

Well here is the gun for the bullet

[CTRSports]

6 hours ago, IainB said:

I'll still attend, probably until the bitter end, but I'll no longer be attending matches where a rider has decided that he'd rather be elsewhere. Dan Thompson did that when Lions visited Sheffield earlier in the year and I made my protest then by not attending. Injuries are part and parcel of the sport, but riders not showing for their clubs due to riding or being sat in the pits elsewhere is the final straw for me.

The reasons why attendances are down are numerous and have all been discussed ad infinitum across this forum, so I'm not going to rehash them

When you say I you mean we will still attend.

The Premier league will unfortunately have to be watered down to encourage 2 clubs to come up

The championship then needs to be watered down and some how incorporate some of the development league 

Not sure Mayfield like it, unless they are able to help the sport source a big TV deal

I personally still feel an extended British Championship is most likely to attract new fans to a one-off big meeting than a local club has of attracting a new fan to be a regular 

[mikebv]

5 hours ago, 4thbender said:

Following the Bates announcement on Monday, it's clear that the Premiership can't continue to exist in its current form in 2027. 

In the past 18 months we've lost Oxford and Birmingham and it seems certain that Sheffield won't be back for another year. 

Decades of the sport's mismanagement has finally come to a head. Bending over backwards to comply with an agenda dictated by Poland has had its day. British speedway needs to set its own agenda and not kowtow to foreign stipulations. If it means saying a permanent goodbye to riders preferring to seek their fortunes elsewhere, so be it. For survival we need a single nationwide league of 12/14 teams of riders committed 100% to British racing between March and October.

A 24/26 match league programme plus a further 8/10 matches in a split north-south KO cup competition will guarantee teams a weekly match programme (just as it used to be!) The loss of a few "fancy-Dan" racers to Poland will mean much more money available to the rest who wish to compete in the UK, and a sensible rider payment policy will provide ample earnings potential for riders over a guaranteed 36-match season.

It now really is a battle for survival of the sport; was it Einstein who said that to go on doing the same things expecting different results is the definition of madness?

And that's the most baffling thing of all...

They have been doing the same thing for a long, long while, whilst Rome has been constantly, slowly, and gradually, burning around them...

Many of us on here have "forever" pointed out the only inevitable conclusion to the situation, given all the evidence in front of our eyes... 

You certainly didn't need a crystal ball to be now saying "we told you so", nor any hindsight...

You have to hope that, finally, those who have buried their heads firmly into the sand, are now, at last, going to make those radical changes so desperately needed...

The ones they should have made after COVID...

A huge undertaking to be honest given there is so much self inflicted nonsense to unpick, and the fact no one has already done it given its obvious need doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the leadership skill set exists, (as surely someone would have already stepped forwards to try and sort things)..

However. Good luck to whoever is leading the plan...

Getting the leagues to mean something, be relevant, have tangible rewards that create interest, and a joined up national marketing plan, has to be the main objective, as everything else will fall into place when delivering that..

 

[Teromaafan]

2 hours ago, Aries said:

This is such an uplifting forum. When I’m feeling a bit down I love coming on here to read everyone’s cheery positive thoughts on the ol Speedway 

😁

...More depressing than a Smiths album cover!

[Hawk127]

Those in charge ought to take a look at the comments on here and get some understanding of why they have failed the punter.

[YeOldPitGate]

I would at a guess 70-80% on here are ex fans desperate to see it succeed but equally as things currently stand wouldn't be tempted back.

[mikebv]

45 minutes ago, Hawk127 said:

Those in charge ought to take a look at the comments on here and get some understanding of why they have failed the punter.

They have had literally thousands of pieces of unsolicited feedback down the years, via the written Speedway media, in person at the tracks, and obviously via Social Media..

With so much of it focused on the same repeating issues that were gradually turning even die hards away..

The only thing they chose to do with it was ignore it...

Edited 41 minutes ago by mikebv