GLASGOW have revealed that they plan to host speedway meetings on Saturday nights at 7pm next season – moving from the club’s traditional Sunday afternoon raceday.
Following the announcement, which was made at Saturday’s end-of-season dance, owners Michael and Gerry Facenna explained the reasoning behind their decision to apply for the change, which will be put forward at this week’s BSPA conference.
They said: “We have now been at the helm for two seasons and in this time we have managed to double attendances on a Sunday, which is great; however the increase in attendances we experienced in our first season of ownership wasn’t repeated in our second season and this is despite significant investment in marketing, such as our billboard campaign around the city.
“In order to fund a competitive team that is going to challenge for trophies, the club has to stand on its own two feet financially and it’s no secret that the club is losing money. Whilst we are in the fortunate position of being able to cover the deficit, it is not in our nature to run anything at a loss and this is one of the reasons we have decided to apply to move to Saturday night racing, to see if we can further increase the attendances.
“The alternative is to cut our cloth based on current income and operating costs, however this would result in a much less competitive team and we are certain Glasgow Tigers fans do not want to go back the way in this regard. As we’ve said from day one, if and when the cub starts to turn a profit, 100% of this will be reinvested into the club.
“We are very aware of the fact that we have raced on a Sunday afternoon for the last 17 years and that our proposed change will not suit everyone, but in a city of 600,000 people it would be remiss of us not to explore other options to further bolster our income. We will honour last season’s pledge that there will be no increase in ticket prices next year.
“A lot of the initial increase in attendances came from speedway fans coming back, where they had perhaps fallen out of love with the sport or the dilapidated state of Ashfield. We now need to grow our following further and we believe there is a better chance of doing so by moving to evening racing.
“It is no coincidence that the vast majority of other speedway teams up and down the country race at night. The consensus is that speedway is a better spectacle under floodlights and unquestionably the track is easier to prepare and maintain, which in turn will create better, more exciting racing, as could be seen last Monday in our KO Cup final against Newcastle.”
The pair have other plans to enhance the racenight experience for fans in an effort to up the entertainment at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.
They added: “Over the winter there will be further investment in the stadium, including a substantial upgrade to the lighting. We have also made a significant investment in a giant 40 square meter TV screen, which we will use to enhance the show even further. We hope to broadcast live replays on the screen and the scoreboard will help new fans engage more quickly with the racing and increase the chances of them returning.
“We will also be able to do an enhanced parade and rider line-ups before a race, akin to how speedway is covered on TV. It will add to the excitement when everyone is waiting on a referee’s decision should the referee wish to view the replay before making one, in the same way you get the suspense in cricket or rugby when they go to the TMO.
“We believe that a speedway meeting should last around one hour 45 minutes and we have work to do in that area. We also believe that in today’s world, having 15 minutes of motorbike racing is not enough to attract fans to the sport. We want to provide an engaging experience for supporters from the minute they arrive until the minute they leave and we believe that moving to racing at night will help us to achieve this.
“Cliche or not, children are the future and it’s been fantastic to see the amount of children turning out each week to try and beat Roary in our kids’ race. We understand that moving to evening racing may make it more challenging for parents to bring their younger children along, however hopefully the fact that it’s a Saturday night and that there’s no school/nursery the next day will help make it easier for parents.
“One way that fans can help support the club is by using our Den Diner facility, which is open seven days a week and can be hired out for functions such as christenings or kids’ parties. We’re also keen to hear from anyone who would like to get involved in promoting the club or who thinks they can help with attracting new sponsors or fan groups. All help is very welcome.
“Finally we’d like to thank the fans for joining us on what has been a great journey so far. To see and feel the emotion at the stadium on Monday night when we won the cup makes all the effort that everyone puts in, including all our volunteers, very worthwhile.
“Have a great winter and we’ll see you all next year when we’ll once again launch our attack on winning the treble!”