Attendance at Finals

[skeptic]

About LOS...

The sounds isnt really the best...its a dome. What do you expect?

All I know is there has been some nasty weather over the last 4 years that probably would have cancelled one of the shows over the 3 days. Luckily with the convention centers and a covered stadium... the shows went on.

The sound issues were minimal compared to the first year there. I think they finally have it right.

If you have not been there... buy cheap quarters tickets and experience it for yourself before you complain.

[kirkl]

I think Lucas Oil is a great location for finals. Thursday and Friday are long days and I appreciate the controlled temp, padded separate seats, and ample restrooms. And this is the second straight year where weather would have severely delayed if not cancelled numerous performances in a non-domed stadium. Finally, everything is walkable; I never get a car in Indy. Yes, it is a little boomy but that declines as the crowds increase during the week and it is not so bad as to sway me on the other factors.

[skywhopper]

Well, last year attendance was up over 2010 and DCI released the numbers on the Thursday after finals. So, if attendance was up this year over 2011, expect to hear about it very soon. If attendance was down, we won't hear a peep.

As for historical counts, DCI has reported that 1981 saw 32,427 tickets sold and 36,000+ in attendance for finals. Then, as far as I know there's no official data (at least not in the online DCI news archives) about ticket sales or attendance until the early 90s. Ticket sales for the three-year run in Orlando were pretty low--around 13,400 on average.

But, ticket sales is not the same as attendance, which will always be higher. DCI has reported attendance only for the past four years:

* 2008: 20,534 (Bloomington)

* 2009: 17,865 (approx)

* 2010: 15,900 (approx)

* 2011: 17,363 (exact)

[barigirl78]

I had VIP access to the entire stadium and sat in the press level most of my two nights there. Looking straight down at the crowd, there were numerous empty seats in the 100 level in the closest 5 sections to the 50 yard line. The 300 wasn't much better and I talked to a couple of scalpers I know who travel all over the country to work major sporting events. They both told me it was the worst year in terms of getting good seats and reselling the ones they had at a decent markup.

My observation is that security is so lax that you don't have to buy a good seat to SIT in a decent seat. You can buy a seat in a cheaper section and seek out un-used seats in a more expensive section. People seem to have caught on that they can do this. So a lot of the people in section 100 probably just went up to a better section.

When you see the stadium look full in pictures and video, it's not apparent how many people occupying the seats actually are sitting where they are supposed to. DCI probably doesn't enforce seating because they want it to look good.

This was my first time in an enclosed stadium and the sound was not great. For visuals, the stadium is fantastic, though.

Edited August 13, 2012 by barigirl78

[bluecoats88]

in 1995 I sat on the 50 in the top row of the lower bowl for all of semifinals. was that the seat on my ticket? not even close, but noone was sitting in this primo seat when I showed up at the beginning of the show and noone ever came around to claim it either. so empty seats finals week have been happening for at least the last 20 years because people buy a bunch of tickets for next year and someone always bails.

When I would go to finals week during the 90's I never bought tickets before hand and always bought from people outside who had extras. and I always sat between the 45s and up high enough to get a good read on the drill.

[Phillygwm]

But, ticket sales is not the same as attendance, which will always be higher. DCI has reported attendance only for the past four years:

* 2008: 20,534 (Bloomington)

* 2009: 17,865 (approx)

* 2010: 15,900 (approx)

* 2011: 17,363 (exact)

If you want to give enough freebies away, you can put people in the seats but that's nothing unique to championships. The Cadets have deals for local HS etc. for their MetLife show: Better to have a few bucks and more fans in the lousy seats than to have no bucks and empty seats. I'm sure other shows at large venues do so as well.

Bloomington attendance was high because people were interested in the novelty of what was supposed to be the new stadium, plus the weather was perfect so they probably got quite a lot of walk-ups.

In the grand scheme of things, some people will go to Indy regardless and others will skip because it's Indy. But DCI has a sweetheart deal so it doesn't really matter if half of the fans aren't paying full price for admission.

As an aside, would someone refresh my memory? Which is the "off" year for Indy? 2015?

Edited August 13, 2012 by Phillygwm

[fatbrassboy]

Well, last year attendance was up over 2010 and DCI released the numbers on the Thursday after finals. So, if attendance was up this year over 2011, expect to hear about it very soon. If attendance was down, we won't hear a peep.

As for historical counts, DCI has reported that 1981 saw 32,427 tickets sold and 36,000+ in attendance for finals. Then, as far as I know there's no official data (at least not in the online DCI news archives) about ticket sales or attendance until the early 90s. Ticket sales for the three-year run in Orlando were pretty low--around 13,400 on average.

But, ticket sales is not the same as attendance, which will always be higher. DCI has reported attendance only for the past four years:

* 2008: 20,534 (Bloomington)

* 2009: 17,865 (approx)

* 2010: 15,900 (approx)

* 2011: 17,363 (exact)

Very interesting! My PR age-out year was 1983 and there were 40,000 in attendance. What happened?

[cowtown]

I would guess it to be in the 17-18K range, it looked better attended than 2010 – the club level high 40s section looked almost full which is not always the case….it’s difficult to ever get a sense of attendance there from the stands….they are so steep, you can’t see how full the upper levels are from below

I think we are 5 years into the dome, so half way there !!!!

I like Indy, not the dome so much. I’d love to see Prelims and Semis outdoors if they are to insist on the Dome for finals – sitting in that dark dome just isn’t summer

There were not checking tickets this year but in years (or maybe it was just 1 year) past at Indy there were pretty strict and is slowed down in-and-outs a lot

[Fobo1991]

While we're on the discussion of drum corps in domes, how does the Alamodome in San Antonio compare to the Atlanta dome or Lucas Oil? I've only been to the Houston show the last few years, and I'm considering the idea of attending the San Antonio show but am slightly skeptical of the acoustics in the Alamodome.

[BRASSO]

This was my first time in a domed stadium and the sound was not great. For visuals, the stadium is fantastic, though.

Because of this, you can bet your life that Corps that are saavy are creating their shows now for a visually oriented Finals in an environment in which they will be judged in a domed stadium , rather than an oudoor stadium. I think we can all agree here that for the next 8 years, no Corps will come out in competition with 18 or 20 Contra Bssses anymore knowing the competition at Regionals and at Finals in particular, will be in domed stadiums. ( BD goes out with 12 Contra Basses. They know instinctively that Finals are in a Domed Stadium ) Sports teams routinely prepare their teams for games on grass as well as on artificial turf.. outdoor games, and inside domed stadiums. The game preparations always take these environments into account. As they are by no means all alike and require different approaches and preparations.