Roddy McDougall: Is there life left in British speedway?
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Roddy McDougall: Is there life left in British speedway?
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