I never understood that curiosity of trying to bring a corps on the field without any waranty you will be allowed to compete until the beginning of the summer. How do you sell that to potential members, staff, volunteers? It takes a seasonned and over passionnate director that can take all the pressure on him, not worrying about an eventual decision from DCI.
For an outside director/board, this is a "no go" project. It is not about meeting the requirement, it is : even if you meet requirement, you can't say for sure if you are gonna be there and what your season will look like. No business man would ever invest in that kind of project.
While I understand the DCI point of view and their difficult position (trying to make sure the members are safe and well taken care of, making sure the product they offer to the spectators and show host is good and relevant, public responsability, etc.), I think they too have to abide by clear rules. Like: you succeed evaluation: we will provide you with this.... this and this.