Attendance Queries

Attendance figures for the 2008 and 2009 Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) series have finally been released from where they’d been held in a file marked ‘Top Secret’ inside the BSI/IMG bunker located on the outskirts of London. A quick first glance indicates that the SGP World Championship outlook remains cloudy and its popularity with fans is (for the first time) in decline. Indeed, even according to these BSI/IMG figures, fans prepared to pay at the turnstiles to see one or more of the events has decreased in aggregate. Worse still, upon closer inspection, these figures don’t easily allow comparative analysis, let alone that they also raise doubts about both their accuracy and the methodology used to compile them.

Firstly, these attendance figures remain - as they have done traditionally - suspiciously rounded. Is it really that likely that only two out of the 2009 SGP events don’t have smoothed attendances that end in 000,00 or 0? Experientially and statistically, this smells like stinking fish.

Secondly, questions remain about whether these headline figures released by BSI/IMG refer solely to customers who actually paid for their entry to the various events that make up the SGP series! Indeed, suspicions remain that the inclusion of complementary giveaways along with press & other gratis attendees have possibly inflated the attendance figures. Though, to be fair, lack of fan enthusiasm combined with the need to portray the stadiums as crowded on TV are possibly a factor behind the need for such giveaways. Nonetheless, standard practice in pretty well every other ‘professional’ sport – many of whom IMG either manage or promote - is to list the PAYING customers rather than artificially boost the total attendance figure with these ‘false’, non revenue earning additions. For example, when Sunderland AFC publish the attendance figure for any individual match, it includes all paying customers (season ticket holders & via the turnstiles). They don’t include SAFC administrative or playing staff, friends, directors, press, refreshment kiosk staff, ice cream vendors, programme stallholders, Police, medical & security staff, prize winners or, even, gratis/comp tickets etc. Not only would it be disingenuous to do so but, more significantly, it would mislead both sponsors and advertisers who’re prepared to support the club based on the level of guaranteed television exposure (in addition to the value they attach to audited/verifiable numbers of fans actually at the game).

Lets go back a few steps to interrogate these recently released SGP attendance figures. The Speedway Star (July 5th 2008) reported critically upon the decision-making capabilities of the Cardiff SGP referee, noted the frustration of involved riders and also stated, “42,187 other people in the stadium concurred with them”. Compared to the (suspiciously rounded) figures reported for previous GPs at Cardiff, this was at that moment a NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD. However, amazingly, BSI/IMG now subsequently report that, in fact, the 2008 figure was 42,600. Where on earth did these 413 extra people suddenly come from? Possibly they exist and have justifiably been added to the spreadsheet. Who can say? There’s certainly a variance. Whatever the explanation, at this late stage how fantastic that the wondrous brilliance of the event allied to the magnificently innovative BSI/IMG adverts to promote the Cardiff ‘experience’ ensured that greater success than stated in the trade press was achieved! Nonetheless it’s strange that the specialist press would get such specific detail wrong?

If 2008 became increasingly super wonderful, then Cardiff 2009 was even more amazing with a reported attendance of 43,000 (nothing randomly ‘real world’ like, say, 42,937 or 43,236, but exactly dead on 43,000 people attended). Sadly for the World Championship, even after all these post-hoc revisions, reported overall attendance for the whole SGP series showed a decline of 7.3% from a reported 186,972 in 2008 to 173,309 in 2009.

Worse still - somewhere along the line - the attendance spreadsheet compilers appear to have lost track of some important but understandably disgruntled fans….
Few can forget that after the mismanagement that resulted in the fiasco of the Gelsenkirchen postponement, all tickets (but no travel costs) were refunded to badly let down fans. It was reported at the time (Speedway Star October 18th 2008), “Bellamy revealed they’d sold 11,500 for Saturday’s event, a disappointing figure following the near 20,000*[* doh! it says 25,000 in the BSI/IMG figures] last season” and “as a gesture of goodwill [these fans] will be offered a free ticket to a BSI-promoted event [namely, Gothenburg, Copenhagen or Cardiff] in 2009”. Questioned in light touch fashion by SGP series Press Officer Philip Rising (Speedway Star January 17th 2009), Paul Bellamy lashed out against misinformation, inaccuracy and rumour on the Internet about SGP generally and the Veltins Arena debacle in particular. He also categorically stated, “ticket sales were not that bad, we would have been alright. We would never cancel an event because of poor ticket sales. They only make up a portion of the revenue, there is TV money**, sponsorship and, of course, the reputation of the series”. [my italics]. By midsummer (Speedway Star June 6th 2009), with a hint of self-satisfaction, it was noted that the offer of compensatory replacement tickets “pledge” for one of three BSI-promoted events had been “honoured”. A delighted Bellamy burbled, “we have distributed over 6,000 tickets for the Swedish, Danish and British GPS to fans who were at the Veltins Arena”. Interesting the same issue also noted about the 2009 Gothenburg GP, “BSI were happy with the 15,000*** [***doh! 15, 236 in the figures] attendance on Saturday”.

Sooo, though assumptions are often the mother of all mess ups, it appears though 11,500 tickets were “sold” for Gelsenkirchen, in addition to their refund only 6,000 or so fans could be bothered to get a FREE ticket for the 2009 SGP series (despite a choice of three ‘attractive’ SGP event locations). One explanation could be that the postponement and its financial aftermath left fans short because it wasn’t properly compensated; thereby, prompting these fans to never ever want to watch the SGP live (in person) again, even for free! Possible draft headline we won’t see: Mismanagement of German SGP drives 5000 fans from the sport. Or, possibly, the publicly quoted figure of 11,500 was another approximation that could be subsequently revised to suit. Either way, the total figure for 2009 might need to be adjusted by circa 6,000 to read 167, 309 or, maybe, has been under reported and should be revised to 179, 309! Given, that suspicions that these figures might (or might not) include comps/gratis/giveaway tickets already, then any existing or potential sponsors would be advised to give such attendance figures a random percentage reduction (of their own choice) before they make any decision to invest. Clearly no business invests solely on the basis of the criteria of attendances but it could be a factor in their decision making process.

Also, when 41 of the BSI/IMG contractual demands given to the prospective Gorzow organisers as conditions to stage part of the SWC were revealed in the Polish press**** - something potentially relevant to these unanswered questions about the veracity of attendance figures – they included the requirement, “BSI will also be given, free of charge, 250 tickets for the best seats on the Main Stand”. Given the small size of this venue, BSI contractual demands elsewhere in the larger, modern stadia they advocate for stagings of the SGP series could be higher. For fairness, even if we just stick to this benchmark of 250 an event for every location in the 2009 SGP series, then 2,500 attendees could possibly also already be included in the 2009 aggregate figure of 173,309. Obviously, BSI demands for such perks could have remained constant for 2008 & 2009, so the net comparative effect might actually negligible. Nonetheless, such ongoing philosophical questions about the accuracy of the figures quoted remains unanswered. In the light of the uncertainty about this information, advertisers and sponsors might still possibly need to apply a further haircut to the attendance figures.

Even more wonderful than the uncertainty that surrounds them or the ongoing playfulness with said SGP attendance figures is the news that in 2009 - at both Parken and Bydgoszcz - more fans were reported in attendance than the SGP website advertises as the maximum capacity of the stadium holds for either speedway event!***** At the time of writing, the BSI/IMG website claims the capacity of Bydgoszcz is 17,000 (2009 reported attendance 18,000) and that Parken is 28,000 (2009 reported attendance 28,600). Obviously both these stadiums can adapt (increase/decrease) the capacity of their facilities according to the demands of the event to be staged there. However, though only a “portion of the revenue” BSI/IMG earns from the SGP is “ticket sales” you have to assume that the capacity the SGP website reports actually bears some vaguely ‘accurate’ relationship to the ticket numbers they intend to sell? Particularly at Parken which is, after all, a “BSI-promoted” event!

Given that BSI/IMG have secured the future rights to the SGP under licence from the FIM for the long haul, isn’t it time the FIM properly investigated what on earth is going on to produce such possibly discrepant reported attendance figures? Some investigation of this particular aspect wouldn’t go amiss before perceptions that the “reputation of the series” has been damaged gains any unnecessary credence?




** to be discussed in another blog shortly

**** thank you to Roman Chyla for his translation into English of the article that appeared in the Gazeta Lubuska that he posted on the informative Yahoo speedway email forum (speedway@yahoogroups.com)

***** taken from an article on the SGP that appears in the Spring 2010 issue of The Voice. (published quarterly - annual subscription £10) For more information contact on 0208 397 6599 or email stuart.towner@blueyonder.co.uk

Shale Snapshots 2009 (pt.2)

Shale Snapshots 2009 (pt.1)

A single random image has been chosen from every speedway event I attended in 2009 (every British speedway track was visited).

Observer Sports Books of the Year 2009 - "honorary mention" for Quantum of Shale

"Finally, an honorary mention for Jeff Scott's Quantum of Shale: More Tales from the Shale (Methanol, £20). Scott writes extensively (one might even say obssessively...) on Speedway and Quantum is of his usual high standard. Needless to say if mud and noisy bikes don't interest you then neither will this, but if they do, Jeff's the man."


Quantum of Mud, Showered in Mud, Mud Britannia, Shifting Mud and Mud for Breakfast are all still available

Speedway Grand Prix 2009 - Rider earnings

The fastidious Charles McKay has now collated the cumulative Speedway Grand Prix prize money totals earned by each rider during the recently completed 2009 season. They make pitiful reading for many riders concerned and also their accountants (but do accord with the derisory levels set by the FIM rules and regulations). Based on these figures alone, it can’t be even vaguely economic for most of the riders to compete in the series if, for example, you only factor in their increased travel and equipment expenses.

British Speedway also continues to pay a high cost each season in terms of intermittent and/or selective rider absenteeism during the course of each ‘long’ season. But the ongoing damage could also potentially be even more catastrophic long term - particularly if the self-interested cries of anguish from the ‘top riders’ that the British Elite League season is too long, that there are too many meetings ridden on different nights etc gains enough credence to eventually lead to structural change and, effectively, the abolition of ‘top tier’ weekend racing in Britain. Effectively such a change would merely be to accommodate the narrow commercial interests of the SGP circus and its field of notionally ‘world class’ competitors. We often hear about the packed schedule of riders who compete in the British, Polish and Swedish leagues (to name but three). Obviously, these demanding itineraries are compounded for all riders who chose to compete, qualify to compete or - in real grace and favour, true tug your forelock feudal fashion - get picked by the speedway experts found within the SGP/IMG management team as wild cards. (Blindfold pin the tail on the donkey sometimes looks a preferable wild card selection method in comparison to the informed deliberations of the small coterie of experts drawn from this particular inner circle).

Of course, the decision (once picked or qualified) to compete in any SGP series is the riders' right as self-employed workers but , ultimately, not really sufficient reason or justification to throw away eighty years of racing tradition in this country. We hear so often nowadays about the need to adapt – aka a convenient shorthand for the idea of ‘fixed’ Elite League racing nights - that you could half suspect it’s become the speedway equivalent of a Buddhist chant. Often without apparent irony, there’s wild talk of meaningless Elite League fixtures from riders (or their tame press representative advocates) who, nonetheless, conveniently forget that they also compete in the many turgid rounds of the borefest that the SGP has become. Clearly some promoters who operate midweek tracks will be in favour of such change to shore up their strategic, competitive and (possibly) financial positions. Bizarrely, some promoters even advocate, tacitly or implicitly, a measured form of entente cordiale and compromise with the SGP. This, despite the fact, it’s only ever been a parasitic one-way street, never mind the long held perception that the SGP couldn’t give a monkey’s about British Speedway and remain sanguine if they or the riders take the proverbial. However, it’s an unavoidable and incontrovertible fact that most well attended sports in this neck of the woods (and practically all countries elsewhere) pretty well all take place over the weekend or, at least, the extended Friday to Monday weekend that television sports coverage has gradually foisted upon us all.

A reasonable question could be posed, namely ‘why does British Speedway have to suffer (any more than the BSPA directs) by further compromising its traditions?’ Particularly when this appears to be for an independent commercial party with no connection or investment in British Speedway. If this were a detective novel or murder mystery, any half decent investigator would automatically ask ‘who really benefits from this?’ Based on the figures below, it’s clearly neither the majority of the riders nor British Speedway that emerges financially triumphant. If the siren voices for radical change (and supposedly moving with the times) are heeded, would the reduced EL fixture list so many are apparently in favour of demonstrate a pragmatic way to work round the SGP elephant in the room? More likely, it would be a bodged solution too far and signal itself as the precursor to the further inexorable decline of an already diminished top tier racing product?

Rider
1 Jason Crump $101,600 £67,811
2 Emil Sayfutdinov $84,300 £53,388
3 Tomasz Gollob $72,650 £47,225
4 Greg Hancock $60,200 £39,130
5 Andreas Jonsson $58,550 £39,263
6 Nicki Pedersen $54,650 £35,775
7 Rune Holta $53,750 £34,852
8 Kenneth Bjerre $53,050 £35,080
9 Fredrik Lindgren $52,150 £33,894
10 Hans Andersen $51,650 £33,581
11 Leigh Adams $49,500 £32,445
12 Sebastian Ulamek $46,350 £30,207
13 Chris Harris $42,350 £27,595
14 Grezegorz Walasek$41,950 £27,355
15 Scott Nicholls $38,500 £25,761
16 Neils K Iversen $13,900 £8,938
17 Antonio Lindback $12,000 £7,736

Promotion/Relegation Meetings 2009

Congratulations to the Edinburgh Monarchs for triumphing through the Premier League Play Offs for the second successive season to again take part in the promotion/relegation meetings that could potentially see them join the upper tier of British Speedway. They certainly look to have put together at team that, on its present top-notch form, could stand a chance of doing so. Obviously, on their day they all go well at the Scotwaste Arena and a trip to Kirkmanshulme Lane will hold no fears for the majority of the team. Clearly, on a regular day-to-day basis, there is still a difference (in equipment investment and to the first corner?) between the perceived standards of Elite League and the Premier League. This was evidenced by the comprehensive drubbing the Monarchs received from Wolverhampton who, last season, were apparently completely demoralised and but a pale shadow of the team that’s subsequently torn up trees this season. Nonetheless, they still swept their erstwhile challengers aside and only an optimist person would bet otherwise for the forthcoming Monarchs versus Aces meeting.

No one can deny that the visit of an Elite League team to any Premier League will, weather permitting, draw a big crowd especially if there is something more than pride to (notionally) race for! With a couple of in form riders - people like Kevin Wolbert (who through accident or foresight will start the 2010 on an assessed average of 7.00 rather his higher ‘real’ average) and Ryan Fisher - plus a roster of talent that includes Andrew Tully, Matty Wethers and their latest secret weapon of the rider who sounds like a new but obscure martial art, Kalle Katajisto, Belle Vue will face more of a battle than Wolves did last season.

Even if we ignore on the ongoing encroachment of residential properties moving inexorably towards the Scotswaste Arena or rumours of site visits from supermarket surveyors keen to plan a possible future for this land, there are number of significant factors that indicate the promotion/relegation opportunity is much more a theoretical than a practical possibility. Though there’s the incentive of the nowadays increased Sky payments due to each Elite League team, all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold never mind that it’s widely accepted that increased rider costs will automatically swallow a big proportion if not all of this apparent satellite television bounty. Should the unthinkable happen, there would then be the complication of the Monarchs regular race night. This is currently a Friday and they’d quickly find themselves in the same boat as other Elite League clubs like Lakeside and Eastbourne. Whose fixture lists and gate receipts allegedly suffer from the ongoing deleterious impact of the increasingly boring but unreasonably demanding Speedway Grand Prix series events and its mandatory pre-meeting practices. Should any Friday night EL club stubbornly continue to run their League meetings on SGP weekends then the ‘stars’ of said same series would, most likely, not ride so fans would understandably think twice about the increased admission costs just to see something equivalent to what they have now (and nothing like what it says on the tin).


All these issues exist even before we take a brief look at the present geographical distribution of the Elite and Premier Leagues. Belle Vue are the most northerly of the Elite clubs and effectively have no local derbies while, if the Premier League split into regional North & South groups, the preponderance of ‘northern’ based clubs would probably find Stoke (38 miles from Belle Vue’s track) in the Southern group! In Quantum of Shale (a lovely present for the speedway fan in your life) as long ago as June 2008, Monarchs fan Ronnie Trotter expressed concern during a visit to Smallmead about the likely financial impact of lost revenues. “So, even though this year is a good year to go up for the big payment, our nearest club would then be Belle Vue and we’d lose the derbies against Glasgow plus the meetings against Workington, Newcastle and Berwick! So it wouldn’t be economically viable to even think about.” Even if you don’t include Redcar speedway in this list (which, given their location and support you should), based on their 2009 fixtures the Monarchs would lose the finances generated from four home meetings against Glasgow, three home meetings against Newcastle plus two home meetings against both Berwick and Workington. Who knows what the realities are of the actual income these local/regional meetings generate for the promotion? They’d certainly be missed! One thing is for sure: a couple of visits from, say, Lakeside, Eastbourne and Ipswich that the current Elite League structure (assuming no revamp over the winter months) dictates definitely isn’t going to produce such robust crowds for the Monarchs promotion at the Scotswaste Arena. Especially once the initial enthusiasm for visits from such top tier rival clubs fades.

For Belle Vue, the situation might possibly be the reverse of that faced by the Monarchs since ‘demotion’ to the Premier League would immediately eliminate the Sky payment but also significantly reduce their rider costs, provide much greater variety of visiting teams and many more regionally relevant meetings. Recently Belle Vue suddenly showed shockingly awful form over the first three heats against Ipswich in their last vital Elite League meeting on September 28th to, thereby, effectively guarantee their participation in the lucrative promotion/relegation meetings. If history suddenly repeats itself, Edinburgh riders could find themselves needing to lose races rather than win them in order to ensure that a possibly fatal financial ill wind doesn’t wreck their club.

All things considered, the smart money (if there is such a thing in speedway outside the SGP) remains on the Aces. While the concept of promotion/relegation meetings just about remains plausible, beyond its revenue raising and entertainment potential, at best the reality of its practice and execution looks ill conceived. For many speedway fans, whether neutral or partisan, the C word (for charade) will remain the abiding description, irrespective of any enjoyment derived from the clash of these two speedway clubs.

"Speedway is broken" claims Matt Ford

Far more relevant to the future of the Elite League level of the sport and its overall reputation than the Internet debate over the post Heat 15 goings on at Arlington last night*, Matt Ford’s interval comments appear to have attracted little consideration or attention.

In a wide-ranging chat with Kevin Coombes, Poole Promoter Matt Ford appeared to call for the resignations or removal from future involvement of key but unnamed figures within the upper echelons of the sport. His comments upon governance were along these lines: “[British] speedway is broken…..we need some drastic changes….we can’t carry on the way we are. We need to do something! The same people who’ve been in charge need to step aside and changes have to be made…I sincerely hope that there will be changes!”

Quite who exactly Matt refers to is open to conjecture but such public comments clearly highlight that dramatic changes to the governance, structure and organisation of (at least) the upper tier of speedway in Britain are both needed and likely during the coming months.

Calling for unspecified changes is all well and good but after he’d identified that the future governance of British Speedway is a task “beyond any one man” alone, Matt Ford then proceeded to praise both Jon Cook (“has some fantastic ideas about how to take the sport forward”) and Jonathan Chapman (“not everyone’s cup of tea but someone who really cares about speedway”).

Prior to his outburst, Matt Ford also confessed he’s been “speaking to Bob [Dugard]” about the future of the Elite level of the sport before the meeting. During the latter part of his interview, Ford went onto attack the surprise mid-season decision to reduce the number of available Elite League play off places from six to four. “Things have to change – they can’t go on the way they are! People in glasshouses can’t just change the rules half way through the season. Ipswich and Eastbourne should both have been competing for play off places not having the rules change half way through the season because some people want them to!”




* After a tough financial outcome to the 2009 season for the club had again been raised, Bob Dugard identified a possible last gasp solution, “I’m just gonna fine every rider who was fighting here tonight £10,000!”

Lovely Review by Peter Oakes of 'Quantum of Shale' in the Speedway Star

If Jeff Scott wrote regularly about football, cricket, horseracing
or rugby union, he would almost certainly be a household name.

He might even grab a spot on Strictly Come Dancing and would certainly be a regular guest on the sofa of the proliferation of chat shows that litter the TV schedules.

But Jeff’s chosen sport is speedway (although he has
published a mainly pictorial reflection of his personal support
for Sunderland FC) and that makes him little more than a peripheral
literary figure, although one of his previous offerings was so well
received outside the shale inner circle that it was nominated for
Sports Book of the Year.

Anyone who has read any of Jeff’s previous offerings – Showered in
Shale, When Eagles Dared, Shifting Shale and Concrete for Breakfast,
among them – will know exactly what they are getting for their £20.
A lengthy, prosaic tour of the country as he drops into most tracks and spends his time chatting mainly to those unsung figures from behind the scenes.

The first few sentences of Quantum of Shale set the pace and accurately précis what you will find in the remaining 318 pages.
Let me quote: “With the new speedway season only four weeks
away, the chance to get back into the swing of things arrives in the
Midlands. Well, to be exact, at the Coventry Sports Connexion Centre
in Ryton-on-Dunsmore. Usually the sports centre on the outskirts of
Coventry is the regular weekend home for dog shows, car boot sales
and is also famous as the Coventry City FC ‘Sky Blues’ training ground,
conceived and implemented by Jimmy Hill. However, this particular
Saturday – after the long dark winter nights of the close season – it
leaves speedway fans spoilt for choice with two different events taking place simultaneously at the same location.

“Inside a spacious sports hall is the 2008 Speedway and Grass Track Show that, the pre-show advertising in the Speedway Star boasts, will enable you to casually mingle with riders – albeit only ones from Coventry – as well as have your photo taken with the Eazy Oils Racer girls. The advert in the Star foregrounds the lure of these girls dressed in tightly fitted clothes and claims that fans should ‘come along and start your 2008 season!’.”

This, then, is where Jeff’s 2008 season began – and it ends at what could yet turn out to be Reading’s last ever meeting, their End of an Era event on October 19.

In between the two calendar extremes, Jeff’s ports of call include
46 other events, as diverse as High Beech, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Sheffield (four times), Sittingbourne (on three occasions, probably for no better reason that it is relatively close to Jeff’s South Coast base) and Kidlington.

Kidlington? Perhaps you had better buy and read the book to discover this unlikely location which is hardly pinpointed on the majority of speedway fans’ itinerary! Almost every page – and there are a total of 336 of them taking into account the colourful cover, end pages, content, acknowledgements and afterword – takes you on a different journey, a powerful mix of whimsy, the lyrical, and chocolate coated barbs.

Scott has a happy knack of getting people to open up in their conversations, possibly because they know their words will simply be part of a lengthy narrative rather than plucked from obscurity and hardened into headline grabbing intros.

His is definitely from the prosaic Sunday Times school of journalism than the hard knock style favoured by The Sun and Daily Star. He does unearth some gems, however, with discreet revelations from several promoters and once you have ploughed through every word you will know far more about what happens behind the scenes than you did.

If you want to know what Sheffield’s Neil Machin really thinks about some of the BSPA decisions; how much Lakeside charge for advertising and sponsorship; which rider leaves tomatoes on the side of his plate; and who does, or perhaps doesn’t, wear red knickers, this is the book for you.

A brilliant, compulsive read.


[presently the book is £19 and postage free for UK customers on Amazon]