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 Lester Hayes Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Erik Harris Jersey .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. http://www.cheapraidersjerseysonline.com/?tag=lyle-alzado-jersey-online . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. Tim Brown Jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Bruce Irvin Jersey . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. LOS ANGELES -- Derek Dietrich will always remember his first major league home run, and the fact that it was a timely hit for the Marlins was a bonus. Dietrich tied the game with a three-run shot, Juan Pierre singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Miami dealt the Los Angeles Dodgers their eighth straight loss, 5-4 on Friday night. The Marlins tied the game 3-all in the fourth on Dietrichs three-run homer with two outs. Placido Polanco and Marcell Ozuna sandwiched walks around a strikeout by Justin Ruggiano and a pop foul by Greg Dobbs before Dietrich sent a 3-2 pitch into the right field pavilion while playing in his second major league game. "How special," Dietrich said. "So many greats have played here. It kind of brings chills. Im glad my family got to see it." Miami ended its own three-game losing streak in the matchup of cellar dwellers. The Marlins have the NLs worst record at 11-25, and got outscored 11-1 during a three-game sweep in San Diego. "Weve been waiting on a big hit," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Got a young kid up there whos taking advantage of an opportunity." Rookie Jose Fernandez (2-2) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, struck out seven and walked two for his second major league win, having won at Philadelphia last weekend. "I keep learning every start," he said. Fernandez threw 17 consecutive strikes at one point in the game. "Hes one of those guys that you want to get to early because, as he gets settled, hes going to get better as the game goes on," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He was aggressive in the strike zone and he wasnt afraid of anybody. He was coming right after us." Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to earn his fifth save in six chances. Former Dodger Pierre singled to left field in the seventh, giving Miami a 4-3 lead. Adeiny Hechavarria grounded into a double play, scoring pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan, who doubled off the top of the wall in centre field. The umpires reviewed the play and upheld second base ump Chris Gucciones original call after Marlins manager Mike Redmond came out to discuss it. "It was a big play at the time and I just wanted to make sure they got it right, and they did," Redmond said. The Dodgers blew an early lead for the second straight game in equaling their longest skid since dropping eight in a row from Aug. 22-29, 2008. Five of the losses have been at home, tying their longest such skid since May 28-June 11 last year. At 13-21, the Dodgers are last in the NL West and have yet to win in May. Mattingly is facingg rampant speculation about his future with his high-priced lineup failing to contend.dddddddddddd Ronald Belisario (2-4) took the loss, giving up two runs and three hits in one-plus innings. He walked one and struck out none. The Dodgers have scored three runs or less seven times during their skid. Sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier continued to slump, combining to go 1 for 8. Kemp struck out twice. Rookie Matt Magill made his third career start for the Dodgers, giving up three runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked four in his second straight poor outing. The right-hander didnt make it out of the second inning last weekend at San Francisco. Los Angeles closed to 5-4 in the eighth when A.J. Ellis singled in Kemp, who led off with a single and stole second. They had the tying run on third when Dee Gordon grounded out to second base to end the inning. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but pinch-hitter Tim Federowicz flied out to centre to end the inning. After trailing early, Redmond noticed a change in Fernandez. "He came out up in the zone in the first and then he turned it up after that and was lights out," the manager said. "He pounded the strike zone and kept guys off-balance." The Dodgers staked Magill to a 3-0 lead in the first on Adrian Gonzalezs three-run homer. Carl Crawford led off with a single and Nick Punto walked to set up Gonzalez. They led 2-0 on Wednesday and ended up losing 3-2 to Arizona. Fernandez said that his first pitch after the homer "I felt like now Im pitching. Im young and trying to get adjusted to the game." NOTES: Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke and LHP Scott Elbert made their first rehab appearances for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in its game at Lake Elsinore on Friday night. Greinke allowed eight runs -- three earned -- and six hits in 4 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked none. He broke his left collarbone in a bench-clearing brawl at San Diego last month. Elbert was expected to throw one inning of relief while rehabbing from left elbow surgery. ... Marlins INF Chris Valaika had two pins inserted in his left wrist Friday in Miami. Hes expected to be out six to eight weeks. ... The Marlins shuffled their rotation for Sundays series finale. RHP Tom Koehler will start in place of LHP Wade LeBlanc. ... The Dodgers selected the contract of OF/1B Scott Van Slyke from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned IF/OF Elian Herrera back to Albuquerque three days after he had been called up. They also transferred RHP Chad Billingsley to the 60-day DL. He had Tommy John surgery on April 24. Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Jerseys China Cheap Basketball Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys China Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys ' ' '