The list of one-time popular speedway venues that have sadly now long been closed is huge, and we can only hope and pray that no others get added to that list anytime soon.
As many of them did, of course, double up as greyhound racing tracks, that is also another sport that is in terminal decline, with bookies themselves now choosing to buy and operate a number of greyhound stadiums across the UK to ensure they have live races to show their betting shop punters.
That does pose the question, could the gambling industry have stepped in many years ago to have helped save many speedway tracks by offering to sponsor such events, and even include them in the daily schedule of sporting events they beam live to their betting offices?
No one will know the answer to that question, but what was apparent since 2006 onward was that plenty of bookies did place too much emphasis on their fixed odds betting terminals, which at the time were raking in the cash and neglected to keep the focus on their one-time bread and butter punters.
When the UK Gambling Commission recently announced the maximum stake punters could bet per game on those gaming machines was to be dropped from £100 to just £2, bookies suffered the consequences, and their profit levels dropped dramatically.
By that time it was too late for them to court once more their original sports betting customers, as many of them have made the switch over to betting online, where these days it is possible to get much higher and better odds than a traditional bookie can offer.
The pandemic did also sadly force the hand of some speedway stadium operators to close for good and moving forward there is unlikely to be an upsurge of new tracks being opened.
What has also become apparent is that bookies much prefer offering computer and software-driven games, some of which are actually speedway-themed games to their customers rather than real-life events.
The main reason they do so is the costs of operating those games are negligible compared to sponsoring real speedway events that they could offer betting markets on, and I doubt any bookie will be looking at sponsoring any speedway racing events in large numbers moving forward.
However, there are of course those who say speedway and gambling should not go hand in hand, but let’s face it these days the only way many sporting events can go ahead and continue is by being sponsored by well-known companies, and sadly many of them who are prepared to sponsor sporting events are gambling-related companies.
If this post has spurred your interest in gambling and you fancy doing so online, then there are many things you need to be aware of other than simply spending some time looking to find a site that suits you.
You need to ensure the ones that you do become a customer of are fully licensed and regulated, as that way you will always have the peace of mind in knowing no matter what, your funds are safe, and you will always have access to your winnings and will have them out in a timely fashion.
Plus, make sure that before you set about gambling in any shape or form that you always set yourself some limits and make sure that you always stick to them, for gambling online whilst it can indeed be fun and entertaining when things are not going your way it can be an expensive pastime if you end up getting carried away and lose all sense of reality when doing so.
