Britain’s Premiership will continue with at least five teams taking part in 2026.
In a statement released on Friday, British Speedway Promoters Ltd hinted that efforts to add more teams to a league, currently featuring champions Ipswich, Belle Vue, Sheffield, Leicester and King’s Lynn, are ongoing following the closure of Birmingham and Oxford Spires’ withdrawal.
The statement read: “British Speedway can confirm the Premiership will continue next season, and it will feature a minimum line-up of five teams.
“Planning for 2026 has been subject to a unique set of circumstances, several of which have already been dealt with in the media, concerning the status of the current Ipswich team being placed up for sale, in addition to attempts to bring in new teams, which remain ongoing.
“This has resulted in a delay to the normal timescale of announcements over the winter, but we can confirm the league will definitely be going ahead and teams are planning accordingly.
“Meetings between promoters have resulted in a provisional agreement for a points limit of 37.00 for the top six riders in each team, along with a Rising Star to be selected from an unchanged criteria, with teams having protection to be able to retain their existing Rising Star should they wish. It is important to note that these team building regulations still require ratification.”
Premiership CEO Phil Morris says ongoing efforts to increase the number of teams mean the full make-up of the competition is still being worked on.
But he said: “One way or another, there will be a minimum of five teams next season. We fully appreciate that number isn’t ideal, and we are still working on the potential of having more than five teams. For that reason, we cannot confirm the exact structure at this time, but there will be a full league competition along with play-offs to decide the title, plus the KO Cup.
“There has been a great deal of work going on in the background, not only looking to protect existing Premiership teams, but also with the potential for new teams.
“We do anticipate that we will be in a position to provide more details prior to the festive period, but we appreciate the patience of riders, supporters and sponsors, and we feel it’s important to give everyone some clarity that the Premiership will be going ahead.”