Why, Sky? (and other things)

ITEM: Did you enjoy last night's televised encounter from Wimborne Road? Unless you're the most diehard, blinkered Pirates fan, I very much doubt it. Even when the competition has been somewhat closer than last night's mauling of Lakeside, the action from Wimborne Road has been less than exciting this season, and we've had plenty of chances to witness it - last night's meeting was the FIFTH to come from Poole, and the seventh to feature a team who currently lie in fifth place in the table. Meanwhile, long-time table toppers Wolves and Swindon have only welcomed Sky once each this year, despite Monmore Green perennially being voted the best track in the Elite League. Coventry, Eastbourne, and Belle Vue have also hosted the television cameras just the once, which (regardless of whether Sky switch next week's action to Belle Vue from Swindon) leaves 40% of the Elite League one meeting short of Sky's promise of 2 televised meetings per season. Still, we should be grateful, eh?

Except that, valuable injection of cash aside, what benefit does Sky actually bring to the sport? Mainstream exposure is a good thing for any sport - look at the profile of cycling since Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France - but with televised Elite League meetings seemingly randomly scheduled, skipping weeks and switching days, who is tuning in that hasn't got access to a copy of the Speedway Star or a log-in on the British Speedway Forum? To watch Sky Sports News you'd think that speedway doesn't exist - even during the massive story that was the winter of discontent we were treated to very occasional updates, delivered late at night, and revealing very little. Every other sport carried by Sky, and even those the channel does not have the rights for, is pored over in minute detail on the news channel, desperate to fill 24 hours a day, yet speedway is ignored - its best chance of attracting an outside audience editorially overlooked.

And even those broadcasts we tune into every Monday (or Wednesday, or every third Monday, or the last Wednesday in a month when you can eat oysters...) are becoming increasingly like parody. Every episode is a love-in with everything to do with Poole speedway (particularly Darcy Ward and Greg Hancock), with every story examined as to how it will affect the Pirates on the south coast. Reacting on Twitter to (much deserved) criticism of this approach, "Scoop" (who I can only assume earned that nickname on the pick & mix counter at Woolworths, such is his aversion to anything resembling journalism, never wavering from the official line) claimed it was an editorial decision he took to focus on winners - the logical extension of which implies that everyone but Ward, Holder, Hancock, and Woffinden (in the Grands Prix on Eurosport) is a loser. However Pearson may seek to justify it, it is lazy presentation which does nothing to create the stars a sport short on them desperately needs. The power of television, as proved by every reality show, is that it can create bankable celebrities, even if only in the very short term. What little exposure we have could and should be used to this purpose, advertising meetings up and down the country, discussing the talking points in the sport, and building up the minor players as very much major players.

Without this kind of assistance, and with what they have been presenting of late being very much - as someone on Twitter coined it - a #PirateWank, British speedway's involvement with Sky does nothing more for the sport than bring in cash (although even that seems to have been late to arrive), and it's increasingly hard to work out whether that injection of currency is actually a good thing, disappearing as it seems to have into the pockets of riders, and probably then into the swollen coffers of the engine tuners. It may just be that a little less money-for-nothing coming into the sport may actually be a positive catalyst, and lead to a realisation that we cannot continue to pay out what we have been, sums that have almost bankrupted one club this season and threaten the existence of many more.

The alternatives to Sky are not obvious. Eurosport have little in the way of production facilities, and ESPN have been swallowed up by BTSport, a new player and rival to Sky, who may be an option at some point, although there has been little indication they even know what speedway is. Another option would be webcasts - SpeedwayTV opened its doors this weekend, bringing us English commentary for the Polish play-offs, and I'm sure more than one promoter will have an eye on how successful it is. Pricing is obviously an issue, but the SpeedwayTV model of around £20 for a month's coverage (for 2 or 3 live meetings a week, plus access to highlights from other meetings) seems about right.

Sky haven't yet indicated whether they will renew the TV deal, which expires at the end of this season. The prevailing thought is they are unwilling to commit until they know the format of the 2014 season, but the format of the 2014 season cannot properly be decided until the BSPA know whether Sky will commit. An impasse, then, with no sense of impending climax. If only the same could be said for "Scoop" - I get the feeling of an impending climax every time he commentates on a Darcy Ward race...

ITEM: I made the plunge this week and switched from fan to sponsor, even if only in the most minor fashion. To reward the young lads for a season of Midland Development League action (of variable quality, but never less than welcome), I've sponsored the two Coventry representatives in the MDLRC at Leicester, on September 28th. It's not a massive sum - £10 per rider - but it's my little way of giving something back to novices making that first step (hopefully) to stardom.

There are opportunities of this sort all over our sport, particularly for those who really need it. I know that fans of the Dudley Heathens, although they may take the sport far too seriously for the level they're operating at, have been extremely generous with sponsporship for their riders, allowing them to buy better equipment which has aided their development. The great strides made by the likes of Lewis Blackbird, Paul Starke, Lewis Kerr, and others this season would most likely not have been possible without this kind of support, and it's not just for wealthier fans. By banding together, as I know some Heathens' fans have done, a small amount from a few individuals adds up to a significant amount presented as a lump sum.

Events such as the MDLRC present a straightforward opportunity to hand over some cash - alongside the sponsorship of individual riders (and there are still openings available for that, by the way!) you can also sponsor races, race jackets, and all manner of other things. With the event co-ordinator acting as a (hopefully!) trustworthy middleman, the sponsorship gets to those who need it, in the form of vouchers to be spent at the supplies van. But this is by no means the only way to do it - if you are interested in this sort of thing, chat to riders, their mechanics, team managers, and promoters, and see what you can do.

I don't earn a lot of money, and put a good chunk of it back into the sport every time I attend a meeting. But I can afford a bit here and there, and I'm sure you can, too. How about it?

ITEM: I travelled to Perry Barr last Wednesday not in my any hope of a Bees' away victory but because, such is the perilous state of the Brummies' finances, it might be the last time I get to see speedway there for a while. I sincerely hope that doesn't come to pass, because it's a great racetrack, even if riders race there for what amounts to late or no pay.

The highlight of the meeting - other than an angry Scott Nicholls about to land one on a fallen Ben Barker until he realised that the "brain in his toolbox" Cornishman had hurt himself in taking them both off - was reading the latest installment of Promoter Wars in the programme. It's an open secret that there has been a state of civil war at the Second City club for some time, with forces lining up behind owner Alan Phillips or his hired lackey Graham Drury. The sensible ones are the ones who've stayed well out of it, or quit the club rather than deal with one or the other or both.

The previous week's Judgement column, penned by Drury, took a potshot at Phillips over the Ben Barker transfer affair, with Drury seeimgly washing his hands of it, and claiming he had no involvement in the deal, something quite at odds with comments at the time. Drury even promised/threatened to have the BSPA take a look at certain aspects of the transfer that he felt were contrary to whatever rules are in place - the same rules that are usually ignored by promoters trying to sign other clubs' riders after those riders have already verbally agreed a deal with their parent club, I presume.

In last week's programme, Alan Phillips hit back, using his column in the programme to remind Drury that, no matter what position Drury felt he held at the club, Phillips and Chris Luty were the owners, and that was the end of the matter. It was reminiscent of a parent gently rebuking his errant child, and it remains to be seen if further Judgement columns will continue the feud, or if Drury will consider himself told off and go sit in the corner.

As funny as this all is - and, let's remind ourselves, this situation only arose because Birmingham have spent more than they can afford in the pursuit of success - it really isn't something that should be done in public, or at least not by bitching at each other through programme notes like a pair of hissy teenage girls. As always, promoters should think, "What would Charles Ochiltree do?" and try to stick as close to that as possible. As incoherent as his Talking Time programme notes were, I don't recall Ochiltree dissing Mick Bell in them...

Whatever the future is for Birmingham speedway (and I hope there is one), I can't see eith man being involved. Successive promotions have been unhappy with certain individuals behind the scenes and perhaps the Perry Barr offices need a clean sweep to sort out what seem to be longstanding issues. I wish them luck.

ITEM: With the play-offs forcing clubs to look for fixture fillers, there is often the odd interesting fixture away from the big prizes at this stage of the season. A few years back, Swindon staged a four-team tournament with the Robins taking on teams representing defunct clubs Reading, Oxford, and Cradley Heath. This, indirectly at least, led to the revival of Cradley as Dudley, and the success story that has played out at "Monmore Wood".

Sheffield, Scunthorpe, and Leicester have also looked back to the glorious past and instigated a round-robin tournament using the old 13-heat formula, with an accompanying, old-style second-half. Abandoned at the end of the 1987 season, nostalgics everywhere have called for its return, citing the reduced racecard as the perfect embodiment of a speedway meeting. The top riders met each other just once using the old formula, which meant heat 1 was the race to see - an explosive start to the meeting setting the stage for what followed. And happiness, as they used to say, is 40-38.

With an uncertain future ahead, the BSPA could do worse than consider a switch, and I'd certainly hope they keep a close eye on goings on at Owlerton, Beaumont Leys, and the Eddie Wright Raceway over the next few weeks. It might even help with prospective new tracks who have curfew issues. Nothing should be uninvestigated before the AGM, and everything considered. We're at a huge crossroads for the sport and you don't get many chances to set things right.