Ipswich Witches owner Chris Louis has told Sky Sports about the financial demands of running a speedway team. Regular funding is the lifeblood of any speedway team, whether it is the paying fans or a much-needed sponsorship deal, and the Witches boss is fully aware of the need to balance the books. Louis has admitted the financial pressures he faces are tougher and tougher as he attempts to prepare Ipswich for a new season. Its a motorsport so obviously its expensive and the numbers increasingly do not add up from the clubs side, the riders side and the fans side, he told Sky Sports.At the end of the day everyone has a budget, whether its the family budget and what you are going to spend it on, the riders budget; whether to buy clutch plates or an engine, it does not matter. Its all relative to the business and it is tougher and tougher. Riders view: Speedway life Danny King gives Sky Sports an insight into the life of a Speedway rider The role of sponsorship is important in all sports but increasingly so in speedway. All British teams have a title sponsor in their team name. For Ipswich, it has been the Ipswich Sackers Witches over the past few seasons, after a local recycling company sponsored the side, and Louis was keen to emphasise the role of sponsorship in speedway.Sponsorship in speedway is more important than it has ever been, as Im sure it is in other sports, said the former British champion. For my club at Ipswich, I can say that probably 10 years ago the club could just about survive without any sponsorship but the numbers dont add up now and without sponsorship - certainly in the six or seven years previous - the club would not have survived.The main income by far is still the terraces and it is now of a proportion of the total income that you cant do without. Sponsorship plays a vital role in the sport With most meetings running at a loss, Louis is keen to find a way to arrest this trend in the future, as the sponsorship money acts more as a safety net rather than a source of investment for improvement at the moment.He said: Basically your sponsorship budget nowadays is unfortunately set aside to offset the money you lose each meeting because very few meetings run at a profit. So you are calculating what you have lost each meeting and calculating that as a percentage of your sponsorship money hoping that you have enough budget to get to the end of the year.Weve got to improve that situation. No business can go on like that and we are looking all the time at improving that.But how do you entice a company to sponsor your team? Why would a sponsor want to advertise with a speedway club? Louis explains how a club sets about gaining sponsors for a season and admits its an aspect his own club is currently working hard on.You go out, you come up with proposals of what you want to give to a sponsor for their money, make it attractive as you can and the important thing is you deliver, said Louis. Chris Louis (l) is trying to boost the profile of Ipswich Witches We are going to up our game in that respect because those sponsors deserve a return for their money. They dont do it for the fun of it, people do have different agendas on why they are sponsoring a club. They might prefer to have an involvement in something rather than purely advertise on TV or in a magazine and put their budget to putting their name on a shirt or race suit.A lot of the time in any sport, particularly speedway, theyre a fan of the sport and enjoy the involvement on a race day and come up on the night and get involved and watch, so it is hugely important.Sky Sports have been involved in the sport having been title sponsors of the Elite League and broadcasting meetings for over 20 years now, but how do clubs source sponsorship?You always start with connections who then make a personal introduction to people. Our long-term sponsors have come from being brought to speedway from another sponsor and wanted to be involved. Saying they had a great night and enjoyed how close they can get to the team which does not happen in other sports and theyve just enjoyed themselves and want to be part of it.As Louis has touched on earlier, although sponsors provide a vital income to any speedway club, the main source of income still remains the general public.Without fans coming through the door, the club would struggle to survive and so promoting the club to current and potential new fans is just as important. Weve got to look at more successful clubs like Poole and look at what they do and improve what we do. Chris Louis We havent promoted ourselves very well to date, but thats another thing we are hoping to change for the better this year. We have a good relationship with the local newspaper which helps and are improving our presence online with a new website coming up in the new year.We are looking to get more involvement with the community and children at local schools in particular. Weve got to look at more successful clubs like Poole and look at what they do and improve what we do. Income from the terraces remains the clubs main income From the business side of speedway to a more touching side of the sport. Having discussed the financial struggles that live within the sport, it will be of no surprise to hear that clubs do not have an array of backroom staff with designated roles on a club salary. Instead clubs are made up from an army of volunteers who dedicate their time to the club purely out of their love for their club.Its all voluntary at Ipswich, said Louis. Clubs differ, the business model is different but at Ipswich we are all voluntary and without that, as important as the sponsors, the club would not survive without the people that readily give up their time to be part of it.There are roughly 40 people from press officers, website managers, track maintenance, track staff, officials, hospitality, turnstiles, programme editing and production, its probably around 50 actually. Also See: Inside Speedway: The Team Inside Speedway: Ownership Michael Gallup Womens Jersey . Diego Costa headed in Gabis corner seven minutes from time to secure victory ahead of the return match in Madrid on March 11. "We know that at Madrid it will be another game, which will also be important and very difficult," Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said. 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"Im ready for this,"Treliving said.Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mario Chalmers scored 19 points with eight assists to help the Miami Heat in a 78-75 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. Hassan Whiteside continued his strong play with 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for Miami, while Chris Andersen supplied 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win. I feel good, Whiteside said. I come out with some motivation. Im happy just to be here. We did a really good job on defense. We were aggressive. Dwyane Wade scored four points with five rebounds and five assists in the first half for the Heat before exiting in the second quarter with a strained left hamstring. He did not return. Kobe Bryant, Jordan Hill and Ed Davis each deposited 12 points for the Lakers, with Bryant going 3-of-19 from the floor. Jeremy Lin scored the final five points of a 7-0 run to begin the fourth quarter for the Lakers, the last of which a transition three-point play that cut their deficit to 61-60. Miami responded with five straight, but Ryan Kellys corner 3 trimmed it to a one-possession game with under nine minutes left. The Heat built their lead to six in the closing minute when Bryant dialed one in from deep to close to within 78-75. Luol Deng was denied at the other end, but Bryants tying effort was short as Miami held on. These guys have been working hard in practices, behind the scenes, said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. When you have such a lonng season, anything can happen.dddddddddddd Each team traded a basket to open the third quarter, then Los Angeles ripped off eight straight points to cut its halftime deficit to 46-44 following Hills shot from in close. The Lakers couldnt quite get over the hump, though, as Shawne Williams 3- pointer put the Heat up 56-48 minutes later. Miami led 61-53 entering the fourth. We got off to a terrible start, offensively and defensively, Lakers coach Byron Scott said. We dug ourselves a hole. Miami methodically jumped out to an 18-0 lead, holding the Lakers without a point for the first 7:37 of the game. Whiteside made a pair of alley-oop dunks during the surge before Bryants jumper ended the drought for the Lakers. Los Angeles inept offense managed to close the gap to 22-12 after the first, its lowest-scoring quarter of the season. Bryant knocked down a pair of free throws late in the second to cut the deficit to eight, but Chris Bosh followed with a dunk and Miami held a 44-34 lead at half. Both teams combined to go 1-for-16 from beyond the arc over the first two quarters. Game Notes Miami shot 42.3 percent from the floor and limited LA to 31.5 percent shooting ... There were six total 3-pointers made in the game ... Bosh went 4-of-17 shooting and finished with eight points ... The Lakers scored 22 points off 19 turnovers ... Miami had a 58-40 advantage in the paint. ' ' '