It occurred to me, whilst standing on the terraces at Griffin Park, Brentford on Tuesday night (enduring another dose of dreadful League 1 football fare!), that whilst the sporting offer on show is in fact, for the most part dire, blind loyalty keeps a reasonable number of lower league football fans coming back for more weekly punishment.
One thing that struck me about Speedway when I first started attending my local track, was that once one removed the incentivised special offers, once the re-calculated rider averages enforced more line-up tennis, and as the onset of unfavourable weather took hold, sometimes (relative) reasonable attendances were quickly reduced, the numeric residue, being, in the majority of cases, very low; and critically, most likely not enough to allow most clubs to generate any kind of profit, thus blocking growth and lasting improvement.
So, you ask, what point am I trying to demonstrate? Well, my simple mind likes to c
ategorise sports fans rather generically into two groups. Those that are unerringly loyal, and are prepared to follow their team home and away, whatever the weather, whatever the surroundings and whatever the quality of the action. Then, you have your fair-weather fan (from which I exclude the increasing number of those who simply cannot afford to attend!). The fair-weather/armchair fan is typified by intermittent attendance at only the most prestigious fixtures, usually providing the best facilities and most encapsulating action. The rest of the time they can usually be found on their favourite chair, Sky remote in hand and TV dinner on lap.
ategorise sports fans rather generically into two groups. Those that are unerringly loyal, and are prepared to follow their team home and away, whatever the weather, whatever the surroundings and whatever the quality of the action. Then, you have your fair-weather fan (from which I exclude the increasing number of those who simply cannot afford to attend!). The fair-weather/armchair fan is typified by intermittent attendance at only the most prestigious fixtures, usually providing the best facilities and most encapsulating action. The rest of the time they can usually be found on their favourite chair, Sky remote in hand and TV dinner on lap.Now, I am not condemning this approach, as I am not naive enough to believe that everybody should purposely put themselves through the former scenario to achieve the 'loyal' tag, but, in my humble opinion, it does demonstrate that loyalty, not just in Speedway, but every sport, is largely a diminishing phenomenon, and I would argue that the 'Sky' generation (where all manner of sports are televised and readily available in the comfort of the home), the next generation of sports fan is spoilt to such an extent that so-called loyalty (translating into live attendance) needs to be, to an extent, bought.
So, the question is, how does one buy loyalty in Speedway? Well, in my opinion, the live offering needs to be so appealing as to prove unmissable....to the extent where the televised equivalent just will not do. My thinking is that this requires a combination of three principle elements...atmosphere (the abil
ity to feel 'alive', part of the event, and excited regardless of the quality of the action), acceptable facilities (good quality concessions, ability to chose to sit or stand, protected from the elements and reasonable accessibility), and last but by no means least, fair pricing which is actually proportionate to the entertainment being offered.
ity to feel 'alive', part of the event, and excited regardless of the quality of the action), acceptable facilities (good quality concessions, ability to chose to sit or stand, protected from the elements and reasonable accessibility), and last but by no means least, fair pricing which is actually proportionate to the entertainment being offered.With my eyes all but IT'd out for tonight, I shall end on that rather abrupt point, but in the second part of this post, I intend to run through each of the elements listed above, and briefly propose how the authorities and Promoters alike, can improve their chances of buying loyalty, and actually attracting consistently acceptable crowds.
Until then, please flood me with your much valued comment and opinion, and keep the debate going.
Evening all!
Sherif
Posts
Interesting article.
ReplyDeletePeople are starting to vote with their feet at football as you can see from the thousands of empty seats at games now.
Must be tough for Speedway too being quite a niche sport...
It is tough for niche sports yes, particularly when the profile of speedway is so low, and in my humble opinion, it can be quite a complex sport for newcomers to understand...with some of the quality of tracks and of course the facilities in the UK, then the offering is made all the more unappealing. If you see my previous blogs, you will notice that I question the reasons behind why we can attract almost 50,000 paying fans to attend the Millenium Stadium for the British GP, but most Elite League teams struggle to break 1,000 on a regular basis. I am sorry, but to me, it all points back to offering the old and new fan alike a better quality arena and general event than what is put on by British League promoters.
ReplyDeleteHi Sherif,
ReplyDeleteThis post is as good any!
o I read "The Harding Report" from Speedway Star 2008. I read the Star in the 70's, 80's and 90's but haven't bought a copy for several years. Excellent article, and I pretty much agree with your proposals, which make sense. One thing, and I've mentioned this in a few blogs / forums over the last few years, try and avoid the expression "the powers that be". Lots of speedway fans seem to use it and it sounds ridiculous, it's meaningless, and simply creates a barrier with other staleholders.
o One of the main issues that I've always felt held speedway back was where the 'ownership' of the sport lay - with promoters. As long as this prevails, I think it'll be hard to move things forward.
o Fans tend to concentrate too much on formula / format tinkering, thinking that changing this will almost instantly signal a return to the halcyon days - check out Bill Elliot's recent speedwayplus post on the World Champsionship format. 99% all of this talk is just tinkering, and it will never, and I mean never, make any difference. Having said that, if you look at most other motor sports, they are nearly all GP / round based at the top level - it just took speedway 70 years to get there :-)
o Re this post specifically, speedway has always attacted fans who just go to the big meetings, and I think this might be the reason for the big Cardiff GP crowds. Plus, it also works the other way, there are plenty of regulars who are not that bothered about the big meetings. It's not like football, where most fans are generally interested in other competions (Champs League, World Cup etc).
o Personally, I don't see a big future for speedway in the UK, and mainly for the reasons you cited in the Report - Stadiums just don't cut it. Also, football has moved from a working class sport to attracting the middle classes. Speedway has _never_ done this, and until it does, it'll be stuck. This goes hand-in-hand with offering comfort etc.
My 2p worth.
David Cohend
dncohen@btinternet.com
David...thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts, not just on this particular post, but a number of other related issues.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your points....in order...
- 'The powers that be' seemed appropriate at the time, because they do appear to be a faceless organisation which doesn't seem to have changed or evolved since their inauguration decades ago. Nobody really appears to know what the BSPA have done, currently do or intend to do, and from what I have heard, their management model doesn't point in the direction of proactivity...unless big changes are made to the way the BSPA govern the sport, the sport will continue on the current downward spiral and fizzle out completely.
-Contrary to what seems to be the opinion of a large degree of long time domestic fans and promoters, I actually think the GP has saved speedway to an extent. What I do believe anyhow is that the GPs have certainly not been the main contributory factor to the rut our league system finds itself in at present. The sport's problems run far far deeper than tinkering with points systems and promotion/relegation.
- I agree with your sentiments that speedway, (but imho, many other sports also) probably has and will continue to attract those who are only interested in attending the big meetings, and those that only care for the domestic series, but to survive, the BSPA and Promoters need to find a way of capturing the interest of those who attend such prestige meetings and getting their admission fees through the local turnstiles.
- I also see little or no future for speedway unless the infrastructure is changed from top to bottom...this requires input and guidance from the 'top brass', and this currently isn't happening.
I look forward to reading more of your thoughts David!
Hi Sherif,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your comments:
-- I agree with you that the GP has to some extent brought speedway up to another level and into a more equal status with other similar sports. However, there are still far too many fans who think (and state in print), that if only we went back to the one-off World Final at Wembley (natch :-), this would be the "answer" (= tinkering, but in a much larger way).
-- I now pretty much only follow the GP series. I have lost interest in the domestic scene. This was partly as a result of not going much to league meetings, since I left Reading in the mid-90's.
-- You seem to be agreeing with me about that the sport's governance by the BSPA is the wrong model. I believe that this is one of the fundamental reasons why speedway has "stagnated" in the UK.
-- Perhaps we should look at Poland and see why it's so successful there.
David Cohen
dncohen@btinternet.com
Interesting point about Poland, but (and I know I obviously weight my comments with a stadium/facilities bias!) I honestly think the differnce is a cultural one. Poland are at least 20-30 years behind the UK in terms of cultural patterns in attendance at sport. This is reflected in the fact that football their holliganism problem currently rivals that of England's during the 1970's. Their stadium stock also reflects that of England's pre-Taylor Report era, and the social position of spectator sport is such that both speedway and football are still largely attended by the working class population only. In the UK, spectator sports appear to be following the example of football and tailoring their offering (that obviously including the facilities) toward the middle classes. This, imho, is having a detrimental effect on other sports, because they are striving to follow this position. Speedway has never been anything but a sport for the masses, the working classes...and it hasn't adapted. This is why new fans are not coming to speedway in their droves...because the expectations of the 'modern fan' have moved on, and speedway has not catered for this.
ReplyDeleteSherif,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting points about Poland, and you are obviously closer to this stuff then I am. And, very pertinent about which group of the population are attracted. It's was only from the mid-60's to the 1970's that speedway became popular with the masses again, and this was through World of Sport, plus people knowing who Mauger, Collins et al were. Yes, other sports have followed football, like rubgy union - going pro, upgrading stadiums, plsying in Europe, but this seems to have had a positive effect in some cases. I also admire cricket for trying to create other forumlas, to attract the public, like 20/20, but the pinnacle will always be The Ashes. Same for speedway, the GP will always bat the top of the tree. I'm meandering a bit here. Let's get back to the point.
"... it hasn't adapted" - a hugely key point, and one that may have had the biggest effect on the current domestic scene. Where does the problem lie for this - I say again, it's where the powebase is, the promoters. Imagine if football was actually run by the entities that 'owned' the grounds!!
I think it's very easy for us to talk to each other here, but we'll just be thinking how wonderful we are agreeing what the problems are. I've certainly been around other forums, but "adult debate" is sometimes a bit thin on the ground. Are there any countries where speedway has moved with the times? What about it's close cousins, long track, grass track and ice racing - these are smaller (mostly), but I suppose that these have mostly stayed in their niche markets.
David
dncohen@btinternet.com
The question in your last paragraph is an interesting one David....have other 'speedway countries' moved with the times. Well, I think one can discount Poland, because it almost seems like the second sport over there, closely preceeded by football. The press profile of the sport is huge, and they are fortunate that the winning of the Euro tournament bid has forced a cultural change in the way sport is watched. As such, there is a huge ongoing programme of stadiu building and improvement, and speedway is indirectly benefitting from this attitude. Funding appears to be more readily available, because clubs attract genuinely impressive attendances on a regular basis, and generate a sustainable profit, coupled with the fact that planning regulations are nowhere near as draconian as they are in he UK.
ReplyDeleteI beleve the sport is struggling in Sweden and Denmark, but, not completely unexpectedly, the sport is growing in popularity in Russia and neighbouring countries, probably due in no small part to the rise and rise of Emil Sayfudtinov.
All in all, we simply need to work much harder to promote the sport in the UK, and crucially,we need to think outside of the box.