Roddy McDougall: Is there life left in British speedway?

Rich Clarke
podcast

The decline of UK speedway in the past 40 years is worthy of close examination. In the 1970s and early 1980s, it was billed as Britain's second most popular spectator sport. Now, bar a dwindling yet devoted hardcore, it seems to have entirely lost its mainstream appeal. Some believe it is as close to death as any professional sport could ever come in the UK.

The sports business world often discusses the possibility of a sport 'dying' if it fails to change and modernise. But why did this happen to speedway in particular? What lessons are there for modern sports? Was a media deal pivotal? What structural problems did the sport have? And, most importantly, does speedway's European success give hope for the future?

I spoke to Roddy McDougall, journalist and author of a book on UK speedway's recent travails to examine the issues behind them.

TOPICS

The two golden eras of British speedway - immediately post-war and 60/70s

How Wembley drew more than 1m speedway spectators in 1956

The downward spiral since the 1980s - from over 90,000 watching Bruce Penhall at Wembley in 1982 to just over 1,000 at top-flight meets

The origin story of speedway. High Beech in 1928

The World of Sport days and the significance of its loss. Being late to "live sports"

The comparison to snooker and darts in the UK

The importance of an entrepreneurial influence

The dislocation of speedway teams because promoters do not own their tracks

The working-class nature of speedway. The crossover with greyhound racing

"It's a £10 sport" and does that work anymore? Is it possible to monetise it in the way of modern sports business

The new speedway venue in Manchester

Why successful speedway teams like Workington went under as well as less successful clubs

Attracting sponsors, especially when you are outside big cities

The ageing demographics of modern speedway

The movement of club and riders 'doubling up' affecting the identity in the fanbase

The famous stat that speedway was the second most popular spectator sport in the UK

The demise in the number of teams

The TV deals in the UK - Sky, BT, Eurosport

Newspaper coverage. Only the Daily Star is still flying the flag

The European Grand Prix How the Cardiff event manages to cut-through with an attendance of 40,000

The growth of the sport in Europe, especially Poland

Should UK speedway become a polish feeder league?

What would Roddy do to carve a future for UK speedway?

LINKS

Roddy McDougall - Twitter

Book - No Brakes: A Lost Season in British Speedway

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